Extraordinary Prints from Ordinary Objects - P

P IS FOR POTATO MASHER!

Have you ever looked around your kitchen at all the implements
and wondered what it would be like to print with them? 
Take potato mashers for instance - chances are that you have 
the common wavy looking one in your drawer. But have you 
ever thought about all the different designs of potato mashers? 
Over the years I have collected about thirty of them without ever
duplicating the pattern of the potato masher.....

On this fabric I screen-printed, painted, stencilled and scraped the
pigment. I use my own Colour Vie pigment (www.colourvie.com).
The potato masher is an important part of the design.

A few of my favourite potato mashers.

I printed this tea towel on a slightly padded surface, using
my Coiour Vie pigments (www.colourvie.com) 

If you don't want to print your own tea towels,
you can purchase one of my fun and funky
already printed tea towels at my shop on etsy:
https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/Colourvie

I painted and over-printed this fabric with two different potato
mashers (and also added a few little black and white marks).

First I painted the fabric and then went wild with the potato masher,
removing and manipulating the pigment while it was still wet.

This is a favourite potato masher in all my classes. I found this
adorable masher in a store in Portugal while visiting friends there,
and have never seen another one like it.

The Portuguese potato masher in action. I also scraped
away some of the wet pigment using a credit card and
a plastic lid.

Student work.

Student work using several different mashers and found objects.

Student work using a potato masher and found objects.

Student work using different mashers and found objects.

My Quilt for "IT'S TIME FOR COLOUR" - CQA/ACC Invitational Travelling Exhibition

In my print series "Printing the Alphabet - Extraordinary 
Prints from Ordinary Objects" I am exploring prints, 
textures and colour using everyday objects. 

For this quilt I chose to print with an onion.

"It's Time For Colour" will travel to approximately 20

different venues across Canada and be displayed at 

Quilt Canada 2015 in Lethbridge Alberta. The 40 quilts 

will be auctioned off, with the proceed going to 

The Children's Wish Foundation of Canada.

I printed with an onion - black pigment on white cotton.

Once the onion print was dry, I used
Colour Vie pigments to overpaint
with a rainbow of colours.
www.colourvie.com

I enlarged the onion image, made a silk screen, and
used it to screen print the large onion image on top
using metallic copper pigment.

Finished quilt 12" x 16"

Close up of machine quilting.

Extraordinary Prints from Ordinary Objects - O

O is for ONION

Onions are great little print blocks. Like a lot of different veggies 

and fruits - see my blog entry "A" for Apple!

1. Cut an onion in half (Let the cut onion dry on a paper towel 

for a couple of minutes before you print with it).

2. Mix your pigments (I use my own Colour Vie pigments).

www.colourvie.com

3. It is helpful to print on a slightly padded surface - a piece of 

polar fleece or even just a few layers of newspaper work well.

4. Make a stamp pad from a piece of foam ( or apply pigment

with a foam brush)

5. Print away and have fun!

I printed the onion with black pigment,
then overpainted with a rainbow of colours
www.colourvie.com

 

Student work 

Student work. Yes, you can cut the onion the other way too!

Student work Also in the onion family - Garlic. Makes
a great pattern, but be prepared to get a bit peckish.

Extraordinary Prints from Ordinary Objects - N

N is for Netting

On my printing passage through the Alphabet I have got to the
letter N - for Netting!

There are so many different kinds of netting that you can repurpose:
onion bags, the protective netting you get on your duty free bottles, 
no-slip carpet underlay, the plastic netting on top of mandarin orange 
boxes - even lace (plastic or fabric) - the list goes on and on!
Here are a few examples of what you can do:

The fabric was painted using Colour Vie pigments www.colourvie.com
then stencilled with metallic Colour Vie pigment, using the plastic
netting from the top of a mandarin orange box.

Painted with Colour Vie pigments. Carpet underlay was placed
underneath the painted fabric. The excess pigment was
scraped off while still wet.

I put plastic netting under the fabric and scraped off the excess,
so that the netting appeared like a rubbing . After the pigment had
dried, I placed a different plastic netting on top of the fabric,
and painted through that netting using a brush.

Colour Vie pigments can be thinned! Just add a pinch of salt to your
Base/pigment/Resfix mixture and the thickener breaks down to
become liquid. Now you can use the pigment for spraying
(or dyeing). Here I sprayed through a plastic mesh.

A lace curtain was placed under the cotton fabric,
which was painted and then scraped while wet.

Cool July Workshops

Hot Summer Workshop News

I invite you to come to beautiful Haliburton, Ontario July 14 - 18 to spend 5 exciting 

days with me while learning to design, print and create your own Memory Quilts!

A memory quilt is a unique and beautiful way to commemorate a family event, 

history, trip, celebration, other occasion. You will explore three different techniques 

for reproducing your favourite photos onto fabric in an inspirational and 

encouraging environment. I will show you how to print photos from the computer 

as well as the hands-on gel medium method for generating photographic fabrics. 

For your truly unique Memory Quilt you will learn how to mix your personal 

colour palette using environmentally friendly Colour Vie fabric pigments, as well as 

make stencils, stamps and a variety of textures. The photos and the printed 

cloths produced in class will be used to design anything from a quilt top or 

cushion cover to wall pieces. Just imagine the opportunity for creating 

personal statements on fabrics that you can use in your Memory Quilts 

and other textile projects!

No machine sewing is necessary in this class. $322.53

http://flemingcollege.ca/continuing-education/courses/memory-quilts/014946

Please register directly with the college: 

TFN: 1-866-353-6464 ext. 3 info@flemingcollege.ca

"Dancing Dreams", collage transfers with lace by Gunnel Hag

"Ryvita Dreams Pillow", transfers by Gunnel Hag

"My Great Aunt Johanna", photo print by Gunnel Hag
(She was a weaver in Norrkoping, Sweden, who
emigrated to America in the 1800's and, like so many
emigrants, was lost to her family at home after only
a few years).

"Family - Tribe", photo, paint and screen print
by Gunnel Hag

Student with photo print

The following Saturday (July 19) I will teach “Irresistible Resists” - a one day 

workshop, where you will create gorgeous fabrics with exquisite colour 

and complexity. using soya wax and fabric pigments. 

Also at Haliburton Summer School of the Arts. Truly irresistible! $102.25

http://flemingcollege.ca/continuing-education/courses/fabric-printing-irresistible-resists-workshop/014079

Please register directly with the college: 

TFN: 1-866-353-6464 ext. 3 info@flemingcollege.ca

Soya Wax resist with Colour Vie pigments www.colourvie.com

Student overpainting the soy wax resist using Colour Vie pigments
www.colourvie.com