Monday, September 8, 2008

Digital Fabric Journal: the beginnings













Lots of work to do in my studio this week. One focus is a new journal using fabric as the base. Next month I will be teaching several workshops in Ft Collins at the Artists’ Nook and some ideas have been rolling around in my head on ways to combine digital media with fabric. Inspired by working new surfaces, I started to put together a journal that has a fabric base.

On Friday, Saturday and Sunday this week I am teaching a workshop on digital printing on uncommon surfaces. Should be an interesting and creative week!

I am posting pictures of the beginnings of my fabric base journal. I love working and creating on new surfaces. Here is a description of how it all started:

1- I cut 15” x 11” pieces of muslin, silk and pima tex cotton.
2- I painted the pieces with acrylic paint
3- Once that was dry, I coated the pieces with Golden clear digital ground ( by the way the digital grounds from Golden are on sale through the end of September at Jerry’s Artarama)
4- I designed images to over - prints my fabrics in Photoshop.
5- I used carrier sheets to run the fabrics through my printer.
6- I cut the fabric in half the long way leaving me with pieces 15” x 5.5”
7- Using gel media around the edges, I put 2 printed pieces back to back with a piece of colored silk in between. One of the pieced pages has dyed burlap in between.

Using forms of digital media and surfaces I have finished a couple of the pages.

The first set of pages posted in pictures-

digital print on canvas, some of which has been cut and woven into aluminum mesh has been attached with gel media.

Second set of pages –

on the left is a printed digital transfer created with gel media, attached to the muslin surface with gel media. The transfer is distressed by tearing and pleating the transfer - rolled digital prints wrapped with wire and hemp cord have been attached to the surface. The right side has a digital transfer adhered to dyed burlap, cut and assembled on the surface.

Third set of pages -

on the left is an assemblage of lutradur printed and heat distressed, torn, layered with beads to float the layers before attaching to the surface. On the right digital printed transfer made from gel media and Golden digital ground clear attached to the muslin surface with gel media

Details views follow at the end of the pictures.

2 comments:

  1. stunning work! and thank you for the digital media tip - just what i needed..

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  2. I totally agree with Natalya. I've followed your website and blog for some time, via Google Reader, and was delighted to find you in the latest Cloth, Paper, Scissors. I have a link to your blog on mine as well. So, obviously, I am quite taken with your superb work and methods. My work has also been revolutionized by digital media.

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