fabric designs
A piece of my work on show.
6 October 2013
I have a piece of work hanging in a public place.
And I mean in a very public place. It's in Milton Keynes Central Library - on the first floor. In the adult learning section!
It's part of a small exhibition put on by Jane Charles and ACE (Adult Continuing Education at MK).
You can read a bit more about it on Jane's blog here.
You may remember that I have done a couple of City and Guilds courses with Jane at MK ACE. In the past I have posted my progress on this blog.
In honesty, this piece is not part of the C&G work, but Jane was very happy to hang it to show the potential of mixed media and textile work and generally just to promote her forthcoming courses.
That's mine on the right in the picture below.
And you can just make out another of my sketchbooks in this picture (the one at the rear of the table).
There is other lovely work too.
Jane is a lovely lady and if you are in MK do go along to the library to have a quick look.
And if you know anyone who might be interested, point them in the direction of ACE.
The exhibition is on until the end of October.
PVA Glue and Screen Printing
4 September 2013
I use quite a lot of PVA glue - and I guess many of us do. It is cheap and easy to get hold of. A quick trip to Hobbycraft or The Range and stocks are replenished.
However, I don't do that much sticking. I do use it to bond tissue papers onto backing fabrics to make that 'backgound' paper that I use a lot, but I also use it as a resist to decorate fabric.
I have had mixed success with this. The first time I tried it the result was spectacular but it took so long to wash (indeed scrub) the glue out that I lost some of the colour.
The second time I used a different glue and it just let the paint seep everywhere - no resist at all!
But I read somewhere that you could use PVA glue to make screens for printing. So I thought I would give it a go.
The glue I used was nothing special at all. But I did decant it into a craft bottle with a smaller hole to control the flow.
Then I took my screen and masked off the edges with parcel tape. This is a commercial screen that came from a kit. I have had it a few years and the whole kit was a present.
You apply the glue to the underside of the screen so that you don't scratch the design as you pull the ink across in the well.
Here is the design. The glue is still wet so you can see it.
Now this process is not for the impatient (Hilary Beattie - are you reading this?) You have to let the glue dry. In my case I left it for a good couple of days. You know when the glue is dry as it is clear and the design is much fainter.
Then I did the printing!
I printed on both fabric (scraps from a previous dyeing session) and paper.
I used fabric printing ink - in has a good consistency. Next time I will try acrylic paint with a retarder.
I did quite a few print runs (I won't bore you with them all). I started with nice clear colours but ended with a muddy brown as I mixed the ink - perhaps on reflection the blue was a mistake so early on in the print run.
Anyway, you get the gist.
Now you can't wash and use the screen immediately because when you wash it you wet the glue again and it goes all white and sticky. At the very end of my session I blasted the the screen with cold water through the 'well'. The ink did wash away and the glue appears pretty much intact, so I will try a second batch (though I suspect there will have been some degradation of the design).
But a good technique I think - and one to try again.
Lush Designs
11 January 2013
You may remember that before Christmas I spent a day at the Workshop Sale (my retail therapy in reverse so to speak!)
One of the regulars at the Workshop Sale is Lush Designs, and I think that their quirky designs are so lovely that they are worth sharing again.
Lush Designs is the 'lovechild' of Marie Rodgers and Maria Livings (that's a bit confusing) who studied painting and printmaking at Maidstone Art College. They started off in the 1980s doing wonderful and wacky jewelry (if you search on their site you can find a very 80s image of Pamela Stephenson sporting their earrings).
Their love of colour and characteristic quirky prints has been applied to a range of homewares (tea towels, lampshades, sheets etc.) many of which are made in house at their studio at Cockpit Arts in Deptford where they have twice yearly open studio events.
But you don't have to wait that long.
They sell on line, have a lovely shop in Greenwich South London and they wholesale to other retailers so there are a number of their stockists dotted around the country.
One of the regulars at the Workshop Sale is Lush Designs, and I think that their quirky designs are so lovely that they are worth sharing again.
Lush Designs is the 'lovechild' of Marie Rodgers and Maria Livings (that's a bit confusing) who studied painting and printmaking at Maidstone Art College. They started off in the 1980s doing wonderful and wacky jewelry (if you search on their site you can find a very 80s image of Pamela Stephenson sporting their earrings).
Their love of colour and characteristic quirky prints has been applied to a range of homewares (tea towels, lampshades, sheets etc.) many of which are made in house at their studio at Cockpit Arts in Deptford where they have twice yearly open studio events.
But you don't have to wait that long.
They sell on line, have a lovely shop in Greenwich South London and they wholesale to other retailers so there are a number of their stockists dotted around the country.
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