Pursuit of Color

I mentioned that I was consciously trying to use more color in my art making.
I am your basic neutral color gal - white is a wonderful color- as is cream, gray and black.
And rust.
Love the color that rust gives up.

I talked about the colorful monoprints that I made in this post.

Here is another colorful  monoprint posting.

I love to see artists use bold color and I almost envy their command of it.
But I have never really used a lot in my own artwork.
So I have set out to do a few small pieces doing just that.

Here's the beginning of the first one.

lovely sheers atop handpainted cottons

vintage purple sheer (not a lace or a sheer but...an open fabric.
I guess.

thermofax print

running stitch over screen print with reverse applique

yummmmm

More color to come!

Summer Work

I'll continue showing images of what I have been doing in my absence.

You saw some of the drawing that I did. But there is more.

I drew the following images and tweaked them in PSE (Photoshop Elements) (making the lines fatter and more graphic).

After getting the images like I wanted them, I used the outline to make the (positive? negative?) opposite printing screen. (wasn't that an awkward sentence?).
Like this -

One screen printed the color of the flower or leaf and the other screen printed the outline, enabling me to use all kinds of funky colors.

I used a piece of paper that I bought long ago (but liked the pattern on it) as a guide, I laid a pattern that was pleasing to me.

Here's a couple of shots of the project in progress.

I taped down my cotton (PDF) fabric
before screen printing.

Wonderful sparkly gold paint.

It looks beautiful after I add the outline.

I tried several different brands of fabric paint on this project.

Adding the pink background

I really don't have an idea of what I will use the painted fabric for - I just created it to stay inspired while was feeling particularly uninspired. 

Sounds ridiculous but this is the type of thing I do to keep the creative muscles pumping. 

Kinda like priming the pump to get the water flowing, ya know?

Holy Cow!

I can't believe that it has been almost a month since I posted!
It must be true that the older you get, the faster time flies. It sure seems true to me.

What have I been doing in all that time?
I'll see if I can round up a few photos to show you.


I scanned one of the doilies that I made years ago and converted it into an image that is suitable for a thermofax screen.

The doily was too large for the scanner bed
so i had to seam it in PSE.

What a beautiful screen! I'll try to remember
to post photos of fabric that I screened with this.

I've been drawing some.

Okay, drawing a lot.
When I am relegated to the couch (with an ice pack) (back/hip issues), I tend to draw or hand stitch.
Or read.

Here's a few of the drawings.
I made most of them into thermofax screens for my personal use. I need to put them into my Etsy shop but haven't had the mojo to do it.
If you see something you like and want a screen, email me about it.

I love these shapes.
They look so sensual to me.

This is an abstraction of a shadow that I saw on my wall one night.
I loved the shape and quickly sketched it out at about 3am.
I went back a few days later and tweaked it a little.

That poppy shape keeps creeping back into my drawing.
I love the possibilities of it.

I just realized how out of place this image is with the other ones.
It began life as paint blob and, thanks to PSE, became this
wave type thing.
Or maybe stripes from a tiger.

More to come.
Maybe the color will appear next!

FREE Access to Over 400 Art Videos!

Artistsnetwork TV is offering a FREE four day pass to view the wonderful videos on their site.
I've taken advantage of this offer a couple of times before and always enjoy the wide selection of art related workshops.

Try it out!
I do not receive any compensation from the site, I just think it's a great deal.

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...