A Very Blue Weekend

I taught my first round of screen printing courses at Blue House Ann Arbor this weekend! On Saturday we printed on t-shirts and tanktops using the oh-so DIY embroidery hoop method. This method is screen printing at its most basic-- use pantyhose, and old embroidery hoop, and some elmer's glue to create an image on your screen, then fill with ink and print! Results with this super-DIY process vary greatly, but is fun to experiment with nonetheless.

Today we covered two-color adhesive stencil screen prints (the same process I use for my own work) and we had a blast making eye-popping goldfish, serendipitous mushrooms, and a lovely flower in growing sequence.

All in all a very successful weekend! Thanks to everyone who popped in to learn printing--it was wonderful getting to meet and know you!

Favorite Things: Brainstorm Print and Design

I had stored in the que a blog post about the lovely little group Brainstorm Print and Design, who sells limited edition screen prints out of their online shop. My favorite was sold out at the time, so I had a second print lined up and ready to purchase. Then, I swung by IndieFixx this morning and discovered they had released another print I'm absolutely in love with and a second edition of the one I liked so much in the first place.


Here they are:

The New One.
Love this for several reasons: 1) Take It Easy is my favorite Eagles song. 2) The vintage styling in the horizontal lines is pitch perfect. 3) Amazing composition

The original print I was drooling over.
Love this one because 1) the brown on brown is a favorite palatte of mine. 2) perfect pine silhouettes, a canoe-- its adorable! 3) I looooove camping.

I can't decide... help!
If you love these, get yourself over to the Brainstorm shop-- they sell out fast!

Saturday Chickadees

We did not go out on the river today as planned (because despite the fact that it is 80 degrees, there seems to be some kind of thunderstorm headed our way) so I listed some of the new work and cleaned house.

I spent a little time flipping through Etsy and when I came across Bee Things my jaw hit the floor. Shay and Jeff live in Dallas and make some of the most amazing bird themed screen prints I have ever seen.

Here's a sample of their shop:

chicadees eating!

a very handsome owl (I'm posting this one for you, Rachel!)

this one drives me to make weird compulsive noises due to sheer cuteness

with eggs!!

a lovely little stack

I haven't made a trade in awhile because I haven't really had the inventory until recently. Before I could even stop myself I shot them a convo about trading some of my work for the top one of feeding chickadees, and they agreed to trade for a few of my woodcut prints, so it all worked out really well and I'm so happy.

I originally thought it would be great in my bedroom, where we have lots of oranges and browns, but I might need to look at it more than that, so it will probably find a home in my living room art cluster.

In addition to their shop you might also want to check out Shay's blog where she shares lots and lots of photos of really beautiful things. I've already added it to my feed because I'm pretty sure that we have the exact same taste.

Thanks again Jeff and Shay for trading with me!
I hope you all have a great weekend!

*update: link to Shay's blog has been corrected. :)

The Case of the Mystery Screen Print Panel

My boyfriend recently acquired this crazy vintage screen print panel

and I immediately set out to try to learn more about it. Now I hate to toot my own horn, but I could make a sizeable part-time income as a professional internet searcher-- I am excellent at the Google. I thought I'd find information right away because its huge and really bold.

I poured over Pop and Op art screen printers and vintage textiles. I searched every single visual characteristic and visited countless pages on retro home decor. Eventually I gave up because this panel just didn't provide me with enough clues-- not signed, dated, titled. It was stretched well, but not professionally. So I'd totally given up and resigned myself to the fact that we'd always have this weird print we knew nothing about laying around.

Then today I casually opened up my Apartment Therapy SF Feed (I don't typically even visit the Apartment Therapy blogs because they go up so often its virtually impossible) and I saw
this!

The exact same print! Well almost-- this one doesn't have that extra set of lines that ours does-- so I'm guessing its a little shorter. To see this ever so serendipitously after combing the internet for hours days earlier really freaked me out.

I've emailed the apartment's owner (an Apartment Therapy contributor) and am hoping she can help me solve the mystery. I imagine she probably found it rather haphazardly too, but you never know.

Overcoming Bobbin Phobia

I have feared sewing machines since 6th Grade Home Ec.

For the record, I never would have taken Home Ec., but it came as a package deal with art class and there's no way I wasn't taking art class. I had done just fine with the cooking portion-- my snickerdoodles came out a perfectly composed golden brown-- when the sewing machines came out. We were going to make a pillow. You could chose a soccer ball pillow or a giant misshapen pig head pillow. Being that I was not even remotely inclined toward sports in middle school, I went with the pig head.

So the whole project was four steps: applique felt face pieces, sew together edges, stuff and close. The tricky part was the little felt pig ears. They were supposed to stick out of the seam (for the record the soccer ball had no complex components like this) on either side of the giant head. I got all turned around and flustered and ended up with one ear on the top of my pig's head and one ear-like triangle hoof on the bottom. Combine that with the fact that I tend to ignore the entire concept of seam allowance, and you have the perfect recipe for pillow FAIL.

Fast forward a few years and I'm trying to use my mom's 80lb ancient sewing machine. I would wind the bobbin, figure out how to get it in there and get the whole thread path figured out and then I would touch the pedal ever so lightly and the fabric would get ripped out of my hands in a pile of 20 yards of thread and tangles and tears. For years I chalked it up to simply not having the touch. I'm confused and jealous by crafters who can throw together a pile of sewn goods in minutes, so in sync with their machine that they can floor it and stitch up a skirt in Guiness Book time.

All this time I have been hand sewing everything-- and that's ok. I am drawn to textiles and to putting pieces together, and sewing has always been part of that where I've had a slight sense of fear and anxiety. I love to hand sew and embroider-- I feel totally at ease with a basic needle and thread, its just that sharp machine sewn look that feels so terribly out of reach.

So I asked my sister if she would teach me how to sew yesterday. She came down with her little blue sewing machine and walked me through it for an hour. Then she left it and her whole kit there with the sharp scissors and the hundreds of needles and thread colors and I made this:




My first pencil pouch. Its a little rough around the edges but I'm still a little shocked I made it-- that I actually managed to sew in a zipper. I did plenty of swearing and seam ripping, and I did learn that I can't really make and sell these-- it would take too long to be worth it due to my lack of experience, but still-- I'm very happy I got back on the horse.

Now that I think about it, I'm always happy when I get back on the horse.

Process Post: Time to go Shopping!

I have the next three days off and will be holing myself up in the apartment making screen prints. The snow is back in SE Michigan (boo) which will make a pajamas and coffee lifestyle much more appealing during my off days.

I have enough materials to get started, but will be ordering again from Dick Blick this weekend to take advantage of the 5.95 shipping deal they haphazardly host every so often. So it seems appropriate to discuss the next stage after ideas: materials acquisition. But! In order to talk about the materials needed to make screen prints, its important to shed some light on exactly what screen printing is, so that's what I'll try to do below and talk about materials in one big convoluted post with lots of non-sequiturs. Ready?

The basic premise of screen printing is stenciling. Remember in the 80's and 90's when stenciling was all the rage and people bought those plastic stencils and tappy brushes and stenciled country kitchen borders everywhere?

(I'm having mauve flashbacks!)

Here's an example of a pretty awesome and refreshing stenciling job in case you're interested in seeing this process work in a more modern way:

(mm... tone on tone goodness. Unfortunately, I've had this photo saved on my computer for eons and have no idea where it came from-- maybe Design Sponge?)

Martha is leading the charge in bringing stenciling back to home decor in a hip way (another story for another day) but I use this example to illustrate the idea that screen printing is really just making a rather complicated stencil-- the methods involved are much more precise though. Instead of the spotty tapped-on look, screen printing results in a smooth, graphic application of ink and can be printed many times with consistent results.

Side note: Here's a Crafter post on freezer paper stencils if you'd like to get your hands on this method without a lot of start up costs.

Obviously, I could talk about stenciling on walls all day, but I'm a renter and doing so makes me sad, so I'll leave it at that!

The most obvious tool you need to stencil is some kind of plate or buffer where paint can be pushed through the exposed areas to create the image. In screen printing this tool is the actual screen frame-- a wood frame with thin mesh stretched tight across the back. Some people make these, some people buy them. I've done both, and am ambivalent about which is better. My DIY spirit says 'make it!' but the cost differential isn't huge. You can get a decent sized screen for under $20.

(from dick blick)

The mesh stretched across creates a sort of blank canvas of tiny open pixels. If you've ever examined a screen door or window closely you notice that there are tiny little negative spaces created between the criss-crossing strands of wire. In the screen frame mesh these spaces are very small, so when ink is pushed through some and not others the results are very precise.

If you printed off the screen right out of the box, you'd get a flat even coat of ink across your surface because all of those spaces in the mesh are open. You create an image by controlling those open spaces. You control the open spaces by blocking parts of the screen so that the ink can't get through.

There are many methods for blocking the mesh in the spaces you don't want printed, and they range from very simple with little investment to very complex with lots of light bulbs and chemicals and fancy machines that burn your image into a screen coating.

I use a very simple method because I don't have the setup for the the other stuff, and I don't like using all of the harsh chemicals to clean the screen afterward. I also like the method I use because it forces me to create simple images. I have a tendency to push an image 'too far'-- the reason why I was, in my own opinion, never that great a painter. If I have direct control over the image I don't know when to leave well enough alone!

Rather than burning an image I've drawn onto a screen, or using drawing fluid to apply it directly to the screen, I use a method where I cut my image out of a film that is applied to the screen. Cutting forces me to think in simple terms. Its a restriction that helps me.

Which leads me to the next supply item: clear Contact paper. I capitalize the Contact because Contact brand works the best. As tempting as it may be to pick up a roll on your next trip to Target (they carry some other knock-off brand) don't do it! You can find it in the housewares section of most department or hardware stores and it looks like this:

(look for the brand Contact! I swear they're not paying me!)

You cut your image out, stick the paper onto the back of your screen and viola! The mesh is open in your image. This will make more sense when I post about the actual process.

You'll need something to print on. I use canvas for the most part because its sturdy, looks great and stretches nicely. You can find canvas on the bolt (also known as duck cloth) at any fabric store for around $8 a yard. I'm not a big JoAnn's fan but I always buy a bunch there when they mail me a 50% off coupon. Do not buy it in the fine arts section at an art supplies store: they charge way more for virtually the same thing.

You can screen print on anything you can get your screen under. Tote bags, t-shirts, furniture, wood, paper-- the possibilities are endless. The ink will do different things depending on what you're printing on. Canvas is great because the ink actually seeps into the thick fabric-- if you print on paper it just sits on top of the surface.




Here's a chunk of my banner-- you can see how the ink reacts to the canvas and pools a little in the valleys created by the weave. I feel like this method provides an extra layer of texture and softness that isn't there when you print on paper.

So next you'll need ink. I have a fun and inexpensive shortcut here, too. You can buy little jars for ink for $5-10 a pop, but I feel like the color is too strong and abrasive. I buy what's called an extender base (a clear fluid with a snot-like consistency) and then tint it with acrylic paint. You can pick up a big ol quart of Speedball Extender Base for around $12.


So you'll need paint too if you go this route. Here's quite possibly the only instance I've ever encountered where craft paint works better. Its more fluid and mixes into the extender with greater ease.

You'll also need:

- a squeegee (like the window washing kind-- Target has an awesome one with a clear handle and black rubber)
- spatulas
- little plastic containers (save your yogurt cups!)



Next time I'll cover the first part of the printing process!

Custom Orders

shh.. its past my bedtime! I had to squeeze in a quick post about two recent orders though.

The first print was created for Jason Rozen of Grinding Tapes Recording Co. Jason originally ordered a single Honeycomb print and then we worked together to create an entire grouping of Honeycomb prints, the larger one with a zoomed in feel that proportionally works out perfectly when hung next to two smaller prints.



It was a challenge creating this larger print-- fitting together images on two different screens was quite the exercise for my often neglected left-brain, but it came out just lovely despite an evening filled with expletives! The larger print is 17x17" and is also stretched (tight as a drum!) onto a custom made frame. The canvas in larger pieces can dent much more easily than the 8x8"s I usually sell, so stretching it as tight as it can go and using lots of staples is much more important.

I also recently finished a project for my dear friends Adam and Joel. They have these adorable matching yellow kayaks, so we thought it would be cute if I appliqued them onto "Someday the Waves"



I embroidered in a hearty brown split stitch onto hand-dyed 'safety yellow' cotton and then used fabric bonder to apply them to the canvas. I'm so glad I used the thinner cotton-- I love how you can see the ghost of the waves underneath! I also fell back in love with embroidery a little bit while working on these prints-- maybe it'll show up in the shop again sometime soon!

I found myself out and out pining for a summer day on the river as I worked on these-- Michigan winters are torture! This week its been exceptionally nasty frostbite-through-gloves kind of cold.

All right, to bed!

Print Preview (Shadow Art Fair Edition)

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I had lots of wonderful traditional food and am fueled up and ready to print like mad over the next two days.

Here is my very first edition of Print Preview! These are two recent prints I will be selling at the Shadow Art Fair next weekend. The top is based on Hazelnuts-- I am drawn toward botanical images with winter leanings this year. Michigan is a gray haze of short days and long nights right now, but you can catch glimpses of beauty in the plant skeletons that remain and in seasonal cuisine. I'm sure hazelnuts are tasty all year round, but they'll always be a Christmastime food to me.




The bottom is a reprint. I have touched on this design (Appalachia) several times and wanted to again make it in green on green. The design is slightly altered this time-- I think it looks a bit more like paperclips. Mmmm... I love brown and green together. I visited the Blue Ridge Mountains with some friends many springs ago, and fell in love with the hills of greenery.