A new way to monoprint!

Are you familiar with the textile work of the English mother-daughter duo, Linda and Laura Kemshall?   I recently viewed one of their free sample videos from DesignMatters TV (DMTV),  Exploring Monoprint.

This method of monoprinting was entirely new to me and I couldn't wait to try it out last night.  All I needed was fabric paint (I used black, and later, added a little green and blue), a Plexiglas print plate, a brayer (or soft, sponge-type roller), plain paper,  fabric to print on, and a ball-point pen.*  Oh, two more items:  tape and a temporary adhesive spray.  (All I had was temporary fabric basting spray, and it worked fine.) 

*Actually, Laura called it a "biro," but it looked like a simple ball-point pen to me.  Can anyone tell me if they're the same?

Assembled supplies for monoprinting, Laura Kemshall-style.

I looked through my design sketchbooks to get ideas for lines and marks to use.  On my first try, I drew the lines on paper first, then copied over them during the monoprint to get this result:

My first print on fabric.

 For the other prints, I didn't draw designs on the paper until it was layered over the fabric and inked plate.

My 2nd print on fabric.

and here's the paper those lines were drawn on:

Before re-inking the plate again, I looked at it held up to a light, and the small amounts of blue and green paints I'd added to the black were apparent:

The plate after printing.

For this to make sense, you may want to see Laura's instructions on the free video.

Here are the other two monoprints I made on fabric.  As it was late in the evening, you can see that my design ideas weren't flowing too freely.

This one features fake backwards writing at the top.

Monopoly houses?  Time to quit!

My next experiment will be to follow Linda Kemshall's instructions from another of their free DMTV shows (further down that page) on Waxing Papers.

Feelin' Lucky!

Quiltopia weekend is here in Salem, Oregon!  Last week, The Oregonian (Portland's daily newspaper) published an article about the event, which included photos of some of the quilts made by my coworkers at Greenbaum's Quilted Forest, the event's sponsor.  I was excited to learn that my quilt Hello Mr. Sun was included in the article -- twice!  (One photo was a full view; the second was a detail shot.)

You may remember this quilt from my post last November.  It was made as a sample for a class I've been teaching, Serendipity Quilts, from the same-titled book by Susan Carlson.  Here are the photos from The Oregonian:

"Hello Mr. Sun" (Photo by Josef Brugger)

The caption read:  Joanna Price, a frequent teacher at Greenbaum's Quilted Forest in Salem, sewed this sun artwork as a class model from a book titled "Serendipity Quilts." An array of fabric art will be on display at the 2013 Quiltopia festival in Salem. 

Here's the detail shot:

Detail, "Hello Mr. Sun" (Photo by Josef Brugger)

Quiltopia is a 3-day festival that includes a quilt show with vendors, plus the Salem Fiberarts Guild's Annual Handweaver's Sale and Demos, both at Mission Mill Museum.  The Quilted Cottage Tour on Sunday is a self-guided tour of two houses filled with quilts.  Other activities involving quilts are also part of the festival.  For more info, click on this link.

I'm pretty thrilled about my quilt being included in the article, along with the many "congrats" I received from my friends.  That little bit of attention and acknowledgment's left me feeling happy, lucky, and thankful!

The Photo Safari Challenge

Photo Safari is the title of our newest challenge.  In August, our group met one Saturday morning at Bush Park (Salem) with our cameras.  The goal was to photograph a wide variety of subjects, including architecture, flora & fauna, shadows & light, manmade and natural elements, etc.  Back at home, we had to choose a set of 12 of our best shots, and at our Aug. meeting, we drew names to determine whose photo set we'd receive.

The Crooked House in the children's play area, Bush Park.  (Photo by Caithlin)

Nancy looking for a subject to photograph.  (I photographed this from inside The Crooked House.)

 From there, the challenge guidelines were simple:  the finished dimensions had to be between 84" and 144" total inches.  From the set of 12 photos you received, you could choose to digitally enhance or manipulate a photo using software, print a photo onto fabric to use in a quilt, or work from a photo to design a representational or abstract composition.  Or your design could simply be "inspired by" one or more of the photos you received.

A basket of bougainvillea hangs inside the conservatory. 
They white-wash all the glass windows for the summer to filter the sunlight.

While discussing a due date for this challenge, most members agreed that trying to finish something before the holidays was asking too much, and that our Feb. 10, 2014 meeting would make for a good due date.  But me and my big mouth -- I had to speak out and say "that's too much time; it's six months!"  Consequently, they assigned a special due date for my challenge piece -- Nov. 11.

Identity unknown, but it's pretty!

Any long-term reader of this blog knows that I have a tendency to procrastinate until the last minute, and sometimes I may have to stretch a due date just a tiny bit to make a deadline.  But I'm truly getting better!   I know that the Nov. 11 deadline was assigned to me in jest, but I'm determined to prove to myself (and maybe to others) that I can meet a reasonable deadline.  And while I still believe that 3 months is adequate time for me to complete this challenge, I know that many members have more demands on their available "creative time" than I have.

I received Caithlin's set of 12 photos and have been musing over design ideas.  The choosing and indecision make up a large part of my procrastination.

Not to get off on a tangent, but does anyone know the identity of the green & silver plant above???

Comments, anyone?  Please!  It's getting lonely in here.