FIBER JUNKIES - JULY MEETING - PART 2

Each Fiber Junkies meeting has a 'theme'; a new technique we'd like to try, or expanding our knowledge of a tried and true one, or simply just playing with our chosen supplies.

 This month we revisited gelli plates.....I know what you are thinking....that's not a gelli plate!  No, it's not and I don't own one so I set about trying to come up with a substitute. 

  I used a USPS padded envelop.....squeezed on acrylic paint and distributed it with a roller, fingers, or hotel door card.  Then I used a variety of tools to create a pattern and printed fabric as usual.  The bubble wrap inside the tyvek helped to add interesting patterns.

 We were all to bring a new tip or trick to share in regard to gelli printing.  Some of us remembered, some didn't...and the ONLY reason I remembered is because Judy mentioned it to me two days before our meeting!! I don't watch a lot of You-tubes, however, I spent time jumping from site to site to find a different approach.  Surprisingly, it was found offered by an elementary school teacher.  She cut bubble wrap into different shapes, had her young students press them onto paint and then print the designs on paper.  The biggest issue was removing the flimsy pieces without making a huge mess.  So, as I was showing our group this idea....Kate suggested using a tweezers to lift them off the fabric/paper.  How many times have I said...this group is so darn clever?!?

 Kate had another great idea......she used plastic wrap to contain paints that she was using....no clean up is necessary!  It worked great on & next to my pretend gelli plate!

 Denny came with another clever design idea and a time saver.  She cut 'masks' using her "Go-Pro"....though she said the next time she'd use file folder paper, rather than computer paper which didn't hold up well.

 Judy did a couple of demos.....this isn't new but we'd never done it before so of course we were all ga-ga.  Using two Plexiglas squares.....she rolled acrylic paint on one and covered it with the other plate. When she pulled them apart the most interesting, almost tree branch like designs appeared.

 You can see here how well the 'tree branches' printed on a previously printed experiment!

I was working with felted-wool again......trying to add surface designs to a bunch so I can make more folded baskets for my space at Woolworth Walk Art Gallery.  The first layer was printed with two colors on bubble wrap.  The results were icky.  So I started used a sponge roller to mesh it all together.  

Judy's 2nd demo gelli plate, printing with leaves.  She had really good results on regular cotton but when I tried it here on the felted-wool.....not so much.

Which leads me to my 2nd demo.  At home, when I was making those little bubble wrap cut outs for everyone to use, I began to realize how difficult they handled.  And that got me thinking....so I dug out some empty yogurt cups....added a piece of bubble wrap to the bottom which was held in place with a rubber band.  I made one for each of use and we all agreed it's a great way to print bubble wrap circles!

 Happily that third layer on my not so wonderfully designed piece of wool helped to save the piece.  It really will look much better when cut and folded into a basket with perhaps a purple felt lining.

This is another one of my wool pieces.....printed with metallic gold paint on sheets of bubble wrap.  I dipped string into a paint filled cup and squiggled it onto the fabric...repeating it over and over and purposely allowed drops of paint to add more interest. This too will be much improved once it's cut up.

We don't normally "assign" tasks of demos or tricks for each of us....WE don't like homework!  However, we all agreed it certainly enhanced the enjoyment of our gelli printing day.  

Next month is already planned.  It will be our first dye session of the summer.  For the last couple of years we had met at Val's from spring to fall where we dyed in some fashion or other each month.  Unfortunately, Val's health required her to drop out so at the moment we don't have a great place to work.  With that said, Val is always in our hearts, whether she's with us or not.   We are all energized to get back to our favorite dye methods now that we found a place that will work for us.  Yes, this is a tease...I hope you'll visit this blog again....even before next month!

Also....go back to yesterday's post.....there's still some fabric for sale.

Visit these blogs to see what other artists have been working on this week:  Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Friday.


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