FiberARTS April/May 2009 Issue

The new issue of FiberARTS has a blurb in News and Notes, about my Artist Project Grant from the Arizona Commission on the Arts. I always appreciate magazines including information on my work and FiberARTS is such a great magazine. A picture of Forest Surfaces 12 was included.

FiberARTS recently published an article on Maggie Pavlou, an artist from Los Alamos, New Mexico. Maggie creates clothing from compressed merino wool. After reading the article and ordering some sample squares of the wool I have been experimenting with printing the wool surfaces. That project is ongoing and I have been having success in printing. Now I want to get into some larger pieces to perfect the process. You can purchase this product and others from Outback Fibers.

More youtube videos

Yesterday I posted 2 more videos to youtube.  These videos are a continuation of the series "Expanding the Digital Print to Uncommon Surfaces" .  The first 3 were about coating, printing carrier sheets and then the results.  These last 2 are about the process that takes me from planning to assembling once the prints are finished.  Check it out and  view these videos  Part 4 and Part 5.

The piece that was shown in the 5th part video, changed early this morning.  One of those instant inspirations had me back in my studio to add to the piece.  It ended up having a layer underneath that is a digital print on copper screen with a border of digitally printed hand made paper.  The picture at the top of the post shows the final composition of the video piece.

The other pictures here are a some of the other pages in the start of Book of Forests 1.  This is the first piece of the series with several more to come.  As the piece continues,  it will lead me as far as the layout of the book.  The pages will be 10" x 10" on this one, but who knows what will happen from here.  

Some of the materials used above:

Digital prints on watercolor paper, tyvec, lace paper, metallic crinkle paper, copper mesh, hand made skins, beverage cans and hand made paper

Jute twine, hemp cord, crocheted light weight hemp, copper wire, hardware cloth and waxed linen

Digital Prints on Beverage Cans

Last week I posted a video about digital printing beverage cans on youtube. Here are some of the cans I printed.






The process is fairly simple and gives me an interesting metal surface to combine with my mixed media artwork.

The artwork on the top in this post uses a skin surface made from gel medium and dyed cheesecloth as the base. The skin was sewn to a piece of organdy that has been digitally printed. The layers on the surface of the piece are composed of digital prints on metalic crinkle paper, lace paper and a skin with dyed cheesecloth. There are also pieces of printed beverage cans throughout. The layers were connected with waxed linen that anchors the layers to the skin and organdy base. This will be one of the pages in a open book composition.

KathyAnneArt Etsy Store

I've been working on my Esty Shop - KathyAnneArt. The shop opened in November, with only one art journal. In the last couple of days I uploaded around 23 items. The Amate Bark Book from my February 15th  post is there. As well as some of my Forest Surfaces pieces. Take a look to seewhat's there. When you are there, make me one of your favorite places to visit on Etsy.

Youtube videos on coating and printing

          Yesterday I finished posting some videos on Youtube. There are 3 videos about the beginning printing process for fabrics and specialty papers.

The videos entitled, "Expanding the DigitalPrint to Uncommon Surfaces" part 1 -2 and 3 document how I coat my papers and fabrics, attach them to cover sheets and then print.  

Posting the videos came as part of an internet workshop I am teaching.  In the next week I will be posting videos on printing on aluminum flashing and making skin type fabrics along with a few others.  The next videos will not be public, but only for the people taking the internet workshop.  We will also be working on assemblage.  I will be teaching this internet workshop again before the end of the year.

The designs above came from my visit to the Petrified Forest National Park near Holbrook Arizona.  These are some of the tessellation prints I put together as well as some of the fabric

printed for the videos.

If you would like to check out the videos on Youtube here are the links

Part one on pre-coating fabrics and papers with inkAID pre-coats

Part two on pressing and carrier sheets

Part three printing

Amate Bark Book

Using my Amate Bark Paper prints on the covers, this book was created using digital prints on a variety of surfaces, combined with other elements.

Organdy printed, pieced, collaged
-lutradur printed heat distressed embellished with metallic thread
-watercolor paper printed
-crocheted hemp
-lace paper printed
-kozo paper printed
-watercolor paper cut andwrapped with crochets
-bark paper printed, cut and adhered to printed watercolor paper

Amate Bark Paper Printing

Working on my artist project grant has opened so many creative doors for me. Thinking about all sorts of "what ifs" keeps me imagining what can be developed. Of course images run through my head, bits and pieces that are unidentifiable at this point. Everything will surface in it’s own time. Working on patience is a trick along with focusing. So here is the start of a study of amate bark paper.

This is a cursory look at how the bark is printed. You can download the free pdf explainging the process from kathyanneart.com

Amate bark paper is coated with inkAID semi-gloss precoat, then dried overnight. (This paper was made by someone that lives here in the Prescott area, she has agreed to teach me to make this gorgeous paper from fibers of amate bark)

The pieces of paper, once dry, are pressed from the back side with an iron and set under a huge heavy art book for several hours.

The image is created and sized in photoshop.

The carrier sheet is put together from a couple of pieces of Airiel Paper 17” wide.

Amate bark paper is attached to the carrier sheet with pieces of double faced scotch tape. This tape says it is permanent, but I can remove the bark paper from the carrier sheet immediately after printing……very carefully☺

Carrier sheet with bark paper attached is printed using my Epson 4800.

Once the bark paper is carefully removed from the carrier sheet, it dries over night and is coated with Krylon matte spray.


Don't forget!!
My website kathyanneart.com has a free pdf that explains the process for my printing this bark paper. The title is "Free PDF, Printing Amate Bark Paper" If you follow this link it will take you right to the page in the tutorial collection. The download is free and depicts the complete process.

INTERNET WORKSHOP

Starting February 9, 2009 and continuing thru March 23, 2009 I will be teaching an internet based workshop. This workshop is a complete project from start to finish based on my Sensual Surfaces Series. If you are interested in the CD of the Sensual Surfaces, you can purchase a download of the CD Book INSIDE SENSUAL SURFACES for $20 from kathyanneart.com

*PDF of weekly assignments by email

*Conference calls for discussions during the course

*Learn the techniques for surface preparation and digital printing

*Create your own digital mixed media artwork

*Weekly critiques of work in progress

*Share ideas and discussions with others in the workshop on Google Groups for workshop participants only

*Workshop cost is $125, (discount of $25 if you sign up before February 1, 2009)

For more information, registration and a complete outline of this workshop contact me at kathyanneart@mac.com

ARTFIBERFEST 2009

On June 25 and 26, 2009 I will be teaching at ArtFiberFest 2009 in Portland Oregon. These samples here are different from the ones that will be on the ARTFIBERFEST website. Expect the site to be up by February 1, 2009. Check it out, it will be a great time:)

Here's the information on my workshops!

Cover it Funky - June 25th This workshop is awesome. Not only will you have the fun of playing with fabric and all sorts of techniques, but also you will create you own unique cover. Be spontaneous while we create funky covers. These covers can be used for hard or soft cover journals. This is a quick and fun way to express yourself while creating journal covers.

Pleat it, wrap it, layer it, quilt it, stuff it, sew it, glue it, bead it, stack it, fringe it, crochet it, knit it and the list goes on and on. Your imagination will take you where you want to go. With the techniques presented you will create a cover that fits your own vision and needs. I will demonstrate how to use the covers on various journals.

If you have a journal you want to cover, bring it. Invent a cover and create the rest of the journal later. I don’t know about you, but I like to have covers in several sizes ready to go. This process will get you in the zone to make covers and the more you assemble, the more unique ideas you generate.


Digital Textile Journal -June 26th. Be on the cutting edge and join me for this innovative workshop!! We will print 6 - 4” x 6” images you bring to class in a digital format. These prints will be used to customize your unique fabric journal. In addition this workshop will give you the information necessary to print from an inkjet printer on all sorts of fiber surfaces.

During this inventive workshop, we will print your images on lutradur, tyvec, pimatex cotton, organdy, painted muslin and fabriano artistico watercolor paper. The added bonus to this digital textile journal is that the surfaces will be writable, so you can draw and write on your pages.

Get creative on how the prints are used throughout your personal pages! Expand your thinking on how to use photographs and images in your mixed media art and journals by printing on uncommon surfaces!

Your kit will contain 6 - 4” x 6” pieces of the 6 surfaces we will print during the workshop. This fabric is coated with the digital pre-coats necessary to obtain a quality digital print. Instructions on preparing fabrics with digital grounds will be given. Because of time constraints in a one day workshop, we will not coat fabric, but you will get materials on all the information necessary to successfully complete the process. Your materials will include a source list and you can email me with any questions after the workshop is completed.

Artist Project Grant

On the twenty first of December I received a phone call from the Arizona Commission on the Arts to inform me that I had been awarded an Artist Project Grant for my project “Expanding the Digital print to Uncommon Surfaces. To say I was excited would be an understatement. To me this grant is an honor and it will give me time and money to develop work that will take me beyond my current relationship with the digital print.

The purpose of my project is to expand my art beyond the digital print surfaces in which I have already worked. My goals are to: 1) create surfaces that will extend the expression of my digital prints, 2) contrast digital prints with both natural surfaces and modern surfaces. To accomplish this and other ideas I am working on, I will combine nature with technology. Printing on natural surfaces beyond what I have previously used or made will allow a more in dept experience of ways to create my art.

In the months to come I will be posting the results and information on my discoveries. I am considering doing some book type formats as I move forward with my experiments. There are so many ideas rolling around in my head about where I want to spend my energies in this entire process. I have no idea where this will go, but one thing I am sure of is that I will be sharing all my techniques so that others can learn from what I learn.

Thanks to the Arizona Commission on the Arts and congratulations to the other artists that have received this award.