Today Elizabeth & I taught thermofax screen printing to a group of 6 creative ladies. It's always fun to hear each one's story about what led them to art quilting and wanting to create their own fabric. And also to see the wheels start turning as we share ideas for ways to use screen printing in their work, whether its the main technique or used in combination with other methods of surface design. The more layers, the more complex the cloth becomes. It really is addictive to those of us who are compelled to make something from a blank canvas. What we eventually do with it doesn't matter - its the making it and the process that's most gratifying.
Joan, in the foreground, is using some of her hand-dyed shibori fabric. She's new to dyeing and these were some of her first attempts (!). She wasn't particularly happy with them, but they look pretty good to me!
One of the things Therese does is make felted hats, which she wants to try embellishing with screen prints.
Everyone learned to tape their own screen in preparation for printing.
We used 4 different types of textile paint to make comparisons, and also experimented with discharge paste and thickened dyes. Our students loved having a large variety of screens to print with and try before deciding which, if any, they wanted to buy.
On Nov. 2, we will be teaching again at Artistic Artifacts - the class will be Turn Your Photos into Thermofax Screens. We teach you to use Photoshop Elements to take your own photos and convert them to black & white high contrast images that can be used to make a screen. You can find out more about the class here. Hope to see some of you there!
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