Sunday, July 31, 2011

Rainy Day Play


Do you ever wake up early, early in the morning, so excited about the day ahead of you that you just can't sleep another minute?  I did just that this morning, and let me tell you, I enjoy that so much more than when I awaken at 4:00 AM and worry about what awaits me! 

Above you can see a portion of the silk that I'm working with.  I've fallen back in love with deconstructed screen printing, and I just can't get enough of it.  I was lucky enough to take a class on this technique with the fabulous Kerr Grabowski two summers ago in Kansas City at the Surface Design Association seminar, and now I'm finding that it's time to revisit and tinker with what I learned there.  So I made up a screen on Friday, let it sit and dry all day yesterday, and then started working with it this afternoon.


The piece above is on silk crepe de chine, while this piece below is on an old discarded t-shirt that had belonged to my husband.  




I think I like this one (now above) almost more than the one on silk - which is often the case because I think I work more freely on something that I don't deem 'precious'.  Are you that way?  Will I get over this??




Above is what I love most about deconstructed screen printing - how the dyes sort of squiggle around on the fabric as the screen deconstructs.  I have very little control over what goes on....and that is a good thing, trust me!  This is again the silk piece...so it does have something that I like on it after all!


The discussion on one of the online groups to which I belong has been about aqua briques - where to find them and how to apply them to fabric.  Linda Colsh, whose work I greatly admire, furnished lots of useful information, and by doing so also rekindled my interest in working with charcoal on fabric (another technique that Kerr had  covered in our class two years ago).  So I stopped by Utrecht this morning and picked up a charcoal brique.  Rubbing it over a lovely CB2 placemat was a messy job (be sure to put some old newsprint underneath if you try it....and wear your gloves!), but I really like the results:




I'll probably 'have' to work with this some more in the days to come!




This is another segment of the same charcoal screen.....this is on silk.  Pretty cool, eh?


It's thundering and lightening outside, raining buckets off and on, but I'm a happy camper!


Thanks for stopping by!


PEACE

5 comments:

Elizabeth said...

I need to have a few days where I wake up raring to go!!! Looks like ou were in it all up to your elbows- what fun!!! I like it all but especially the work on the cotton- I would have said whether I knew the fabric content or not!!
I owe you an e-mail about our trip to CC_ not easy but great beach time!!

Jeannie said...

When do you sleep?!!! I like both the cotton and silk and the charcoal is fantastic. Do you use a textile medium to screen? Now, go get some sleep!

Eva said...

I so agree with you: Sometimes, our projects just get us out of bed! Isn't it a great feeling? So alive and youthful. Congrats to your results, they are a sensation.

Eva said...

...and: the bottom pic looks exactly like the stone square walls of Edinburgh with the golden evening sun on them if you turn this piece upside down.

Diana Parkes said...

Great stuff Judy!