FIBER JUNKIES - MAY MEETING - SCREEN PRINTING

Continuing the Fiber Junkies May Report.....

 We worked in covered patio....each of us had half of a large raised table to work on, prepared fabric covered work surfaces were also provided!

 We dug into the 4 'texture' containers that I mentioned in the first of these posts to find interesting objects to place beneath our fabric to yield various shapes/patterns.

 Oh...did I mention Denny held a position as a university professor for many years......which may explain the well thought out placement of supplies and work stations.  Tucked in one corner she used old typewriter (or perhaps computer stands) that held all the water soluble products you could possible think of.

 The lower shelves stored the matte medium we used for printing and black plastic bowls to be used as 'slop' bowls.

 Are you sighing yet?  Honestly, this was like entering a candy store where the owner says, "Help yourself".

 This was a good opportunity to use some previously dyed fabrics that, well.....weren't very interesting.  Here I used a combination of a rubbing plate and a black rubber circle coaster.  The medium I chose was pastel oil 'crayons'.

Once the designs are in place, the 'silk screen' is placed over the fabric.  Matte medium is pressed through the screen and the fabric is hung to dry.  The 'hand' is surprisingly soft and the fabric requires only heat setting before use.

 For this one I used a textured rubber floor mat....first rubbing with brown pastel oil, followed by yellow.

 Here's a section of a deconstructed screen printed fabric that didn't quite have enough interest on its own.  The red zig-zag tool is nothing more than a hot pad, while the yellow plastic is a rubbing plate.

 Here's my failure.  It's dyed batting.  I began by rubbing chalk on the other side....which barely showed and flaked off almost immediately.  So I turned it over and used oil pastel.......again, the rough surface of the batting didn't allow the texture to properly develop.  

This fabric had been previously dyed, then painted (using dabs of paint to use up leftovers at the end of a day of working with acrylic paints.  So....I began to do a makeover! 

 Using a pressing plate changed the look of the piece and I know this new design will find a way into something in the near future.

 Denny used an old umbrella stand to make a clothing hanging system for us.

Here's an overview of the great space we had.....two to a table...it was heaven!

Are you still with me?  One more post tomorrow to share the show and tell......