First Day in Santa Fe

I've been friends with Katie for 15 years and we've never taken a trip together! Thursday we leave for Santa Fe hope to be inspired and laugh a ton. I want to get good pictures too. I'll show you what we did...

Ready to Gesso

 

My canvases came out good and now it's time to get them prepared to paint. My composition goes across all three panels as if there are no gaps. I'll post more pictures of the progress.

Stretching the canvas

 

Frames are built!

 

I am working on a commission for a painting and had to go back in the painting studio and fiugre out how to do it again. It wasn't hard but my friend Joe helped me get started and then I was confident enough to continue.

Experiments in Printing

 

This fabric was done using several techniques that I was messing with. Using an empty screen, stamping with a textured paper towel, a stencil that I cut out, and another screen I drew circles on with dye that dried and then released when another dye passed over it.

Finished product

 

Wool covering

 

The wool gives the surface a little more cushion for the ink to absorb into the cloth versus a hard surface. Over the wool is muslin cloth to protect the table from dye and make a smoother surface.

Look at it shine!

 

The table below gives it structure. The surface I print on allows me to print fabric that is wide and gives me room to make a registration on the sides. Under the duck tape is craft felt.

My table is complete!

 

I worked on several ideas that didn't quite seem right. All dealing with wood, it would make a heavy print table that would be hard to manage. I wanted something more portable that I could store easily since I can't leave my table out for more than a few days. I have to share the space with ohter students. My professor came up with the idea of using this styrofoam insulation. I used duck tape to make it hindgeable and so the pins could stick to it without being pulled out by the force of stretched fabric.