DECONSTRUCTED SCREEN PRINTING (AGAIN)

The Fiber Junkies is a 6 member group that meets monthly for the purpose of hands on experimenting with new and not so new techniques.  Deconstructed screen printing is one we've done several times and yet we continue to find new  resist items and alternate steps that yield interesting results.

By no means is this post meant to be a tutorial.....rather an overview of the process. Basically, one selects an item/items that will provide texture.  I used various sizes of rubber bands, arranged on plastic that protects the work surface.

 Next a clean silk screen is placed over the items and thickened dye is pressed through the screen with a squeeze.

 The screen is placed in the sun to dry.  The lightweight rubber bands adhered to the bottom of my screen.  No problem, once the dye was dry...they popped right off.  

The screen is then placed over dry fabric that had been treated with soda ash.  The dye is released using clear print past, pressed through the screen.  For this print I had used only one color, but multiple colors are a more common approach.

The first 'print' is usually the lightest.....the following 2-3 prints are generally more attractive as more of the dye releases.

That being said....I was so surprised when the 2nd one I printed was nearly all black. Okay....I get it....I had a lot of dye on the screen and not a lot of resist.....lesson learned.

Kate's small screen was more successful because the rick rack and string were thicker.

But...here's what keeps us repeating this fun technique.....Denny applied glue to her screen and got a good print, even though the lines weren't that thick....surprise, surprise!

 We've discovered sink mats make great resists.  

The image on the left is my screen....and on the right is my 2nd print.  You can see how much more texture the mat provided compared to the rubber bands.

After printing each piece of fabric, it's layered between black plastic, eventually rolled tight and left to batch at home for about 24 hours.  Next, the excess dye is washed out and can be further set with Synthropol.

Depending upon the results I get.....you may or may not see my finished pieces.  But, even if I'm not satisfied.....I can take a page out of Val's book.  Below (in process) she used a previously screen printed dry piece of cloth, renewing it by smearing thickened dye over the pale design.  Brilliant.....I'm one lucky gal to have such willing and talented friends!!
                                  
It's Mary here again.....I'm jumping in....adding to this post because it's generated so many questions.....  hope this helps:

The hanging devices I described been installed by the Arboretum...they wouldn't be my choice for smaller wall art as the wires can be unsightly in my humble opinion!  Basically it's a metal track, attached to the wall at ceiling height.  Twisted wire (ropes/strings/wires...not sure how to describe them) are attached to one end of a metal rectangle thingie, that slides into the track.  Metal hooks thingies are then threaded onto the bottom end of each wire.  This gadget can be positioned anywhere along the wire and secured by tightening a screw.  Each quilt has either a traditional fabric sleeve with a dowel or in the case of my smaller pieces, triangles flaps fitted with thin rigid round metal rods.  I attached loops of fishing line at each end of the dowel/rod and attach that onto the hook (on the wire.)  

I also have begun matting and framing some of my work but haven't yet tried to display them at this facility.  When I travel teach, it's been important to keep the pieces I bring for sale  small and lightweight so framing or using stretchers is not a method that works for me too often.