JULY WORKSHOP REMINDER

On the 28th, 29th and 30th of July, I will be teaching about printing specialty surfaces on an ink jet printer. The class is titled Creating Designs on Textiles and specialty paper from digital prints. We will cover the A to Z of printing on many surfaces. We will be working with lutradur, tyvec, organza fabric, canvas, watercolor paper that has been previously dyed, a substrate we will make from gel media and cheesecloth, pima tex cotton and poplin. Think that covers most of them. In the 3 days of the class we will use inkAID to coat the various surfaces and learn how to get a quality print. We will use my Epson R2400 printer for the prints and the class will be a hands on class. After learning all the information from this workshop you will be able to use your inkjet printer and print digital images on a wide variety of surfaces. This will be a great class, so if you are going to be in the Flagstaff, Arizona area at the end of July, you can go to the website and sign up. You can also email me for more information. It does say that this is not a beginning workshop, but I will work with all levels of ability.

Above you see a few different surfaces. The first one is a print on cream mica wrinkle paper. The second pic is what the mica wrinkle looked like before printing. The third surface is one that I made from gel media, cheesecloth and inkAID. The forth is a metallic wrinkle paper. This surface was scratched a little before printing.All the surfaces were coated with some type of inkAID before printing.

In the Works

This is what I call the reincarnation of Yosemite Falls. That piece is in the post for Dec 3, 2007 entitled Yosemite Falls. I took it apart and tried some little textural samples from my textural journal and this is the beginning of putting together the pieces to finish what will be called Forest Surfaces 7. This is a first look and after some of my deadlines this week I hope to finish it by the end of May.

What aTreat!

I am staying with my daughter, helping her take care of our new grandchild. Ryan Sabrina came into our life on May 2, 2008 at 8 pounds 7 ounces, 21 inches. She is of course a little sweetie, but what grandma wouldn’t say that. It’s been 30 years since I had my last and having a baby to hold and rock to sleep is no less enjoyable. What a little miracle she is and how exciting to think of what she will see in her lifetime. Ryan is a great sleeper and after the first 2 nights home when she wasn’t sleeping at all, that is a wonderful thing. Right now she is on pretty much of a 4 hour eat and sleep schedule, how I wish mine had done that.

I am writing an article for Cloth Paper and Scissors with a deadline of June 1. The article will appear later this year, so I have lots to keep me busy in between caring for baby. At the same time I am reworking the art from Yosemite Falls I took apart.

On the 13th of May I leave for Omaha for my other daughters wedding. I will post pictures of the family and more artwork after that.

Enjoy!

Forest Surfaces 6

As I work the studies from my textural journal I am experimenting with a variety of fibers and surfaces. Forest Surfaces 6 (7" x 7") started from another composition recently completed on Yosemite Falls. I took that piece apart entirely to rework it, I just didn't like it. That artwork appeared in another post on December 3, 2007. Currently I am reworking other parts of that same artwork.

Expanding the surfaces I am working with is inspiring. Next year I will be teaching a workshop in printing on uncommon surfaces with an ink jet printer, at the Surface Design Association Conference. More on that soon……

Forest Surfaces is composed of several layers:
Twigs are seen on the top, they have been tied into strips of fiberglass screen. The digital prints are on the following surfaces- canvas, organdy,tyvec and lutradur distressed, with dyed canvas and dyed cheesecloth mixed in.