Polish Tea in Deepest Albion

25 September 2013

I don't think that afternoon tea is a particularly Polish custom - but who says that the institution cannot be exported.

So, somewhere in Milton Keynes a group of sophisticated ladies meet for Tea, Polish Style.


Genuine and beautiful Polish china - I checked the bottom!



Perosgi (I cannot spell it!)


Smoked sausage.

Home made jam by yours truly and apple shortbread.


Scones with lashings of clotted cream and chocolate brownies were also consumed, tea and herb infusions were drunk and our health was toasted with a bottle of fizz - because all the best tea parties include fizz!
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Loosing my mojo....

After a glorious week in Southern Spain the return to an autumnal Blighty resulted in a loss of artistic drive and inspiration.

Any how, I gave myself a good talking to, set fire to a few old book pages (as you do)  and hopefully it's coming back. 


The tongs are for health and safety purposes, you understand.



And layered up with thread scraps between dis-solvable film ready for stitching.



I wonder where this will take us. 
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Diversion Into Antique Quilts

16 September 2013

Feather On A Wire: Another of my antique pieces (very photo heavy again! but you like that don't you?)

Have a look at this link.

Sally has some lovely antique quilts.

I'm jealous - I have 1(and 2 vintage, as opposed to antique).  Son No 1 bought them at what I understand was an enormous car boot sale in San Francisco.

But Sally's is a real antique and is stunning.  Drop by for a quick look.


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More Printing - this time using Thermofax Screens

6 September 2013

I was inspired by by recent trip to the Bramble Patch - well if I am honest I actually think I have gadget envy.  

As much as I love the effect of the last printing experiment, with the screen made with pva glue, I really do love the possibilities offered by Thermofax Screens.  And Ms Beattie and Ms Redfern have the luxury of their own! That means that they can produce screens from their own sketches without worrying too much about the cost. 

Now I have had a few screens made from my own sketches, and in the grand scheme of things I think the price is very reasonable, but I can't go printing everything even  though I might want to, whereas with your own machine the costs are much cheaper and therefore you can afford to be a bit more rash.

Consequently, when they were at the BP the ladies had lots of screens with them.


So, because I was in a bit of a printing mode, I assembled my weapons ( some acrylic paints, which are fairly fluid, and a random jar of very old Crafty Notions gold paint.  I have no idea where that came from).

I used a couple of screens that I made when I did the last City and Guilds Textile Design course.







This screen is a favourite.  It was inspired from a bundle of twigs with lichen.  I piled the twigs onto the photocopier - literally a pile - then when I had the two dimensional image I traced the pattern that emerged.  It is spiky but I do like it ( it was what I actually used for my final piece - it had a bit I'd a 1950s feel to it)


So I printed I layers on paper.



Then I added background colour (sprayed brushy inks)





And now I have 4 rather lovely pieces of paper.  

These will just have to wait for further inspiration to hit, for I am off to sample the delights of Southern Spain for a few days ( and no doubt get more inspiration for more work).  This time though I have bought a small pallet of koh I nor inks and I am going to see if I feel uninhibited enough to try to do some sketch booking while I am away. 

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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.
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