Monday, December 29, 2008

21.........a day full of fun!

Can you believe it? Only 21 days!! Simply THREE WEEKS REMAINING!!

OK, so I was supposed to go to Atlanta yarnshopping today with my girlfriends Roberta and Teresa, but a family matter came up for them (they are mother & daughter), so they had to beg off. Spending a day with girlfriends yarnshopping in the city can be really, really fun BUT, I have been way behind in my Monoprinting Class with Susan Sorrell, so this free day was actually quite a gift! I got all of my chores done in the morning, and surprise of all surprises: it was 63 degrees this afternoon when I finally hit the studio! Can this really be December 29th??

WooHoo!!!

First on the agenda was monoprinting this guy on plexiglass and fabric:


That's him on the plexiglass after I'd done my final printing.......here he is on my cotton:

I rather like him and was very pleased with his outcome. There are a lot of quilting/beading/embellishing possibilities to consider with him, don't you think?

In this lesson, we were also supposed to work on some 'smushing'......which is the technical term Susan uses to describe the technique in which one plops paint onto one piece of plexiglass then puts another piece of plexiglass on top (that's where the smush comes in), then the two pieces are separated and the fabric is applied. I thought this, my first piece, was quite nice:

I can imagine collaged fish swimming through those weeds, can't you?

Then I plopped a bit more paint onto one piece of my plexiglass, liked what I saw when I smushed them, but didn't have any fabric, except for a wet piece of cotton that I had already done a 'dud' monoprint on. I grabbed it anyway, and brayered it on the plexiglass. Voila:

Oh my!!!!

So I ran into my sewing room and grabbed another piece of dry cloth, and here's what I got:

Each piece was better than the last............and I won't bore you with ALL of the pics I took, but suffice it to say that this afternoon was one of those magical times when things keep getting better and better!

OK, now the only thing that hasn't been so great is that these pics won't upload with the upside up........so you'll just have to turn your head a bit! In this first one, turn toward your right shoulder and you'll see a ridgeline with lots of trees and a snowcapped mountain in the background:


In this next one, turn your head downward toward your right shoulder once again and you'll see the desert with an overblown cactus:



And below, if you have a stiff neck and couldn't turn your head toward your right shoulder, try it toward your left, and perhaps you'll see what I see:

I love these and just cannot wait to do more!

My buddy Sheila has just forwarded me a bunch of really cute pics from our party last Saturday night, so stay tuned and I'll post those tomorrow!

PEACE, JOY, LOVE....21 DAYS TO GO!!!

8 comments:

Gerrie said...

This wait seems like an eternity. In the mean time, Bush is disengaged and everything is going to you know where. sigh

Those are delightful monoprints!

Carol said...

Love the monoprints. Can't wait to get to my workshop to have a go. We are going to ask on the 5th if we can have access to the new house so we can start moving in. May have to pay rent until the handover day but we really want to start making a move. And that pool is calling in this awful heat...

Eva said...

This is amazing! One can see the fun it was to do these things in the pictures. (I believe that the attitude in which art was made is transported to the spectator). The mountain landscape is very convincing. More of that, please! Reminds me of Max Ernst, one of my favourites.

Joyce said...

Those last three prints are just amazing! I can't wait to see what you do with them.

Beverly said...

Wonderful monprints, I'll have to get another piece of plexiglass to try that smooshing- those are my favorites!

As for W- I'm praying we can survive the last three weeks- it's like he's not even there.

A Fiber Frolic said...

Ah! How exhilarating the process must be and what a high you must have been on . . and there's more to come? Terrific!

Roberta

Barbara said...

Judy, your monoprints are beautiful. I like the idea of 'smushing' the paint between two plexiglass pieces. Monoprinting is one of my favorite processes. We even teach the technique to the children at school.

It is hard to believe that we only have to wait for 21 more days. All eyes will be on our President Elect Obama. Let's celebrate this time for new beginnings.

Peace!

Jeannie said...

What fun! I love the ridge line pieces. They also remind me of coral reefs. I think I may pass on the New Year's celebration and party on the 20th! Cheers.