Daily Fiber

More Fun with Printmaking

Posted on October 29, 2021 by Laura Kate

Today I got out my lino-cutting tool to make another stamp based on a sketch. Last week I drew this monarch butterfly, referencing a free-use photograph from UnSplash.

Using tracing paper I transferred the drawing to a softcarve 4 x 6 block. It took me about an hour to carve out the image.

I did a few test prints and touched up the lines a bit. Here is the ink that I chose.

I find the types of stamping ink very confusing. Also, I paid $5 for this pad and there is hardly any ink in it. Eventually I got at least one decent print on a sheet of Canson Smooth Bristol paper.

While there are a few too many “echo lines” for my taste, I decided to carry on. Next came color. I was keen to see how easily paint would go over the permanent ink. I wasn’t terribly concerned that the black would be covered up, since watercolor paint is transparent.

I finished off by adding a little Micron pen – doing some stippling in black and drawing lines in yellow and orange to represent some of the details that I observed in the reference photograph.

I think this came out great. I will probably make several of these prints to use as greeting cards.

If any of you crafters out there in the blog-sphere have a recommendation for printing inks, please share.

weaving

Reblog of 2019 Fiber Object

Posted on October 27, 2021October 27, 2021 by Laura Kate

Today I am posting again an object I created back in 2019. It is a weaving on a slightly unconventional fixed frame that I made from an old picture frame and some buttons.

I call it “Escape from the Tower.” Its inspiration resides in my departure from the world of Paid Employment. I suppose it is a bit of an allegory. It represents the feeling of freedom and relief as I gained complete control over my schedule.

When I thought up this piece 2019, I was teaching fiber arts to elementary students. One month we studied weaving. The assignment was to create a frame using a piece of cardboard and cotton yarn. Since I needed to make examples of each project that I taught, I had the opportunity to experiment with different ways of wrapping the weft yarns around the warp yarns.

Eventually I came up with a tapestry frame that was decorative, becoming a permanent part of the weaving.

You may have noticed that the Tower is on fire.

I guess the devil in me made up that part of the weaving. The golden rope stretching down through the smoke and flames delivers the Tower’s occupants to safety.

I’ve had this hanging in my studio since its creation. Our local art association is having a show and I decided to enter “Escape from the Tower.” Starting next week it will be on display at the town library along with works by other members of our group.

I will be curious to hear what viewers think of it.

embellishing, hand embroidery, recycling

Visible Mending

Posted on October 23, 2021 by Laura Kate

Earlier this week, a friend of a friend asked me to help him mend the holes in his favorite jeans. He didn’t bring any patches along, so I just used needle and thread to weave across one of the holes as a demonstration. That got our conversation started about the concept of visible mending.

The artist I was thinking about is Celia Pym.

An article and some images of her work can be found here:

Celia Pym

The conversation reminded me that I had set aside a pair of jeans of my own that were now holey at the knees.

Perhaps the universe is telling me it’s time to start this project. Despite having an abundance of UFFOs littering my studio, I began working on the jeans.

First of all, I wanted to incorporate patches over the weak-at-the-knees areas. Having been told in the past NOT to throw away fabric scraps, I was able to find some interesting scraps already coated with fusible glue.

It took me less than 30 minutes to fussy-cut some flowers that could cover the holes. I added even more patches just to create a colorful floral field on the denim.

I do intend to embroider over the patches. This will serve to strengthen the patches and unify the design a little bit.

**Getting started with embroidery – pearl cotton**

It’ll take me a few evenings to get all the hand stitching done. But first, I wanted to address the torn logo on the back of the jeans.

These are Levis jeans but the leathery label on the waistband is nearly gone. I used a small pair of scissors with a sharp point to cut away the remaining bits and thread.

Next I made a label of my own and stitched it into place.

Yesterday I purchased a variety pack of pearl cotton thread in shades of pink, purple, aqua, blue and yellow. I’m really looking forward to jazzing up these tired old jeans.

drawing

Lino-Cut Fun

Posted on October 19, 2021 by Laura Kate

On Sunday I posted the sketches that I did in anticipation of a print-making class I was planning to attend. Today I’m showing the fun stuff I made at that class.

The instructor, Justine Cherwick, was quiet, modest and thoroughly prepared. She started us off with a circle-in-a-rectangle design for practice. Each quadrant was carved in a different design.

That was quite easy and very satisfying. Next, Justine transposed our initials in reverse on a blank block and we carved stamps of them.

So far, so good. For our third exercise, we each selected from a group of Halloween designs to carve a 3 x 4 block. I loved this cat with a skull and sickle.

The stray faint lines and dots you see around the edges of the main design are called “noise.” Some artists like this effect, others not-so-much. It’s easy to carve them off after you’ve done your test print.

And now for the big finale. I chose to carve the beach scene. Here is my sketch.

You will have to imagine that the dark marks will become white and the white background will print black. Here is my finished block.

And my print.

For a first try, it’s not too bad. Good enough to encourage me to try making more lino-cut work.

And finally, here are the Halloween postcards I printed and sent to the grandkids.

**A touch of orange and a barbed wire border**

drawing

Sunday Sketches

Posted on October 17, 2021 by Laura Kate

I spent some time this week-end preparing for a class in printmaking. This will be an introductory class for me, since I’ve had no previous training in the art. After dreaming up a few ideas for print images, I started sketching them out. Here’s what I came up with in the space of a few hours.

To start, I went to my photographs of Belize for inspiration. Here is one that I snapped of the beach as seen from our front porch. The view faces east and the time is shortly after sunrise.

Nice, huh? The tree and hammock are silhouetted against the water and sky, so I made them the primary subjects. Keeping in mind my inexperience with carving a print block I vastly simplified the scene. I also chose to reverse the tones and turn day into a night with the moon rising.

Next I went through previous saved photographs. This is one of a monarch butterfly I downloaded from a free use site. I was attracted by the strong contrast of its black body and wing edges with the warm background

For my third sketch I worked from my imagination. I wanted to play with a basketweave pattern, but in an unusual context. The idea of a cloak came to mind.

The class took place yesterday. It went well and I had a great time. I’ll show you the subject I chose and the block and print I made in the next post.