MonoStitching

I took one of the monoprints that I didn't really like and screen printed the (hand drawn) design on it.
The screen print image is the stitching guide as well.

You can see several painted layers on the fabric - magnolia leaves (in white).
The orange-ish portion was from a vine in our yard.
I rolled a transparent blue paint onto the plate then placed the vine stem onto the gelli plate.  I then removed the stem before pulling the print.

I drew out a design that I saw on a kleenex box, then created a thermofax screen out of it.
I screen printed it onto the top of the fabric surface.
It's in white, well light grey now that I think about it.
It is also under the red thread. I used it as a stitching guide.
Boy, did it make the hand stitching easier!

And just for grins, here is the back of the fabric.
I love the way the design looks that way as well.

It's just an experiment at this point.
It may or may not go into another piece.
Either way I am enjoying the meditative action of pulling thread.

More Monoprinting

Here are a few more monoprints from my two day session.
These are not color blocked as in the last post.
Again, I continue to use BOLD colors instead of my familiar muted color palette.
I think that I have about 6-7 layers on most of them...not enough on some pieces and too many on others!

This one in particular -

You can see in the bottom of the photo that there is at least three layers of all over color on it(albeit similar).
(as an aside, I use transparent fabric paint)
There is another 5 layers of images that were added via screenprinting, stamping or a similar method.
I really liked it better before I added the last layer of color from top to bottom.
But I can go back in an lighten it up later.

This fabric measures about 17 x 12. I work both sides separately
As one side dried, I printed on the other side.

This is the back of a different piece of fabric. I forgot to
photograph the front side!
But you can tell the color is awesome!

A close-up of the back

Even though this "only" has three layers, it is one of my favorite pieces.
I love the color combo as well as the shapes/etc.

This isn't really dark at the bottom. It's a shadow.
I love, love the color combination. I screenprinted
the (hand drawn) poppy on the gelli plate before
pulling the print. as well as the Queen Anne's Lace in
the upper right hand corner.

You can see the stamped flower on the right hand side
of the fabric in this shot. I love all of the subtle
shapes in this type of surface design.

I may post more if I get a chance.
I really must get to some "house" type work!

Monoprinting on Fabric

I've spent a couple of days monoprinting on fabric, using my Gelli Plate (love it!).

I have the 8 x 10" plate so I usually cut my fabric a little larger.
Some time ago I had signed up for Carla Sonheim's Gelli Plate Printmaking online workshop.
It's a self directed class at this time but was originally set up as a 1 week class.
There are only three videos but, wow, what awesome videos they are!

I don't take a lot of online workshops (mainly because I have been sooo disappointed in most of them) but this class is well work the money (only $25!).
I've been printmaking with my Gelli Plate for a couple of years but I had never thought about it in the way that Carla teaches it.
I watched the videos again to refresh my memory (you get unlimited viewing time!) as well as to get some inspiration before setting up.
I spent the morning printing away.
Here's a peek at what I did.
I may use these as they are or I may decide to add a few more layers.

I will mention this before I post the photos.
I usually work in a more muted color palette - lots of cream, white, black, tan and rust.
I am challenging myself to work in a more colorful palette.
What you will see below is a direct reflection of that challenge. I must say I am loving it!

 Most of these pieces measure 9 x 12 inches. Since I am layering the prints it is easy to make them any size you want (not just the size of the Gelli Plate).

As I said before, I may or may not print more layers on top of these...

Prints on Silk

More samples of eco printing on silk fabric.

a variety of leaves

bolder colors from these leaves

you can get some really cool "ghost" prints as well

beautiful, beautiful prints on silk

Eco Monoprinting on Cloth

If you're spent any time reading my blog, then you know that I love paper and cloth almost equally.
I use them almost interchangeably in my work.
The last few blog posts are evidence of that.

I shared a few photos of a few of those prints (on cloth and paper) but I created a stack of them that I haven't shared.
Here's a few of them on cloth.

cotton fabric

cotton fabric 

cotton fabric with leaves from a neighbor's yard...

Silk fabric dyed with Goldenrod (a weed  around here in SC).
I think that the black areas came from a mold (or something like that) that
began growing in my little bundle.

Silk dyed with yellow and red (or purple) onions.
Notice the lines form the string that I tied the bundle with.

Silk fabric dyed/monoprinted with yellow onion and some weed
from a local pasture. A common weed here (green, no flowers)
that is every where in upstate SC. Also has a few
Oak leaves wrapped in the bundle.

Walnut tree stem with various other leaves
in bundle. Soaked in walnut "juice".

Eco Prints/Monoprinting

I have fallen in love with natural dyeing...perhaps the printing to be exact.
I have always picked up leaves, pressed them between pages of a book or tacked them onto my inspiration board. I often use them in my artwork (check this out).
I can almost remember where each one came from, what I was doing the day I picked it up and who I was with.
I love trees, rocks and moss...all of this is evidenced by the amount of these natural items in my studio (and car, and patio, and my husband's vehicle, and in the kayak...).
Now I have another way to use it in my artwork!

I tried several different ways to print the leaves of a local eucalyptus tree. They grow well in my area and are able to live quite well through the winter.
Even though I don't have one in my yard, there is a huge tree not to far from my house...
a steady supply of leaves to play with!

This is a "ghost" print on a piece of previously dyed cotton fabric.
Notice the green fern monoprint in the upper right hand corner.

Here is a close up of the fern monoprint (an unexpected  extra!).

Look at the awesome color! (silk)

True. Love.
(on silk)

Eco Prints

I've been experimenting with natural dyeing and eco printing.
What a ton of work but man-oh-man, when it begins to work the way you envisioned it, it is beautiful.
It is addictive.
It is all consuming.

Or maybe I am a bit OCD and once I find something I really like, I jump in with both feet.
Both hands.
Silk fabric.
Cotton fabric.
Organza.
Watercolor paper.
Handmade paper.
Bristol Vellum paper.

(you get the picture??)

Here are a few pieces that I ooh'ed and ahhh'ed over when they came out of my caldron.

300 lb hot press watercolor paper

300 lb hot press watercolor paper

110 lb Exact Index paper with beautiful muted colors
and embossed areas from the thicker leaves.

110 lb Exact Index paper with the same muted colors
and embossed areas.

 The paper really accepts the color from the monoprint much better than fabric.
Well -except eucalyptus...silk fabric not only accepts the color from the eucalyptus, it revels in the marriage of the two.
The first few times that I tried dyeing or printing with eucalyptus were disappointing.
Only pale yellows, maybe a hint of green.
The following one is on linen. While I do like the pale colors, I was really looking for the bold orange-ish color that I had seen other natural dyers obtain.

Then I began to break away from what I was reading and started doing things the way that I usually do...
the mad scientist way.
I combined a bit of information from this book, or this book, a little from a variety of blogs that I found, threw in a dash of (my) logic and the colors began changing a little bit.

Look! Look! I see a little bit of color change going on!

I'll end here but will do a post later this week showing the rest of my "experiments".