SCREENING - PART 3

.......continued.....

Now we are ready for gratification.... Val is adding dye into a container of dye extender.....which allows the artist to tint the color for her specific purpose.

You can see how much work Val went to....we each had dye stations with various dye containers ready for our use. Her she's placed dye at the top of her screen (her fabric has been placed beneath it). To add more interest, she's chosen to use two colors. With the squeegee.....she firmly pulls the dye through the screen.....onto her fabric below.

TA -DA!!!!! Isn't this just the coolest?!?

Here's what Carol Sloan did......her large image was made using black construction paper & burned into her screen...then printed using 3 colors of dye. Next she used one of Val's screens....a handmade batik design to print a second layer which really added so much visual depth and interest.

Due to time constraints in burning so many screens, I elected to use one of Val's. The design was created by burning the images of ring binder 'dots' onto a screen. I've been trying to figure out a good way of incorporating a bigger variety of secondary designs into my woolfelt projects.....so here I'm using a piece of National Nonwoven's 100% woolfelt for my fabric.

I used several different dyes but less successfully than Carol. Can you see how muddied they got when I pulled the dye through the screen? I should have done just ONE pull through each section.....not several......which is what mixed the dyes so much. Hey......that's what this was about....LEARNING!

AND, I didn't put enough pressure on it in some areas. Val also provided some really good insight.....I might have considered using just one color that was close to the color of my fabric, to achieve a 'background' design....more of what my goal was, rather than such stark motifs.

I was happier with this one......the fabric is actually a slate color.....fiber content a thick nubby silk/rayon.....dye was bright yellow....the screen was Val's.

I used another of Val's screens to apply black dye onto the slate blue fabric....not sure what I'll do with these images....but I do intend to use them.

Nancy Bruce brought a piece of her rusted fabric and screened inside the oval shape. Wow.....this is fun!!!

Believe it or not....we weren't finished. Talented Fiber Junkie member Judy Simmons led our group for the afternoon session on a different approach to screen printing......tomorrow I'll share what I learned......