Monday, May 30, 2016

Digital Design On Fabric

I muse over life I capture through the lens. Inspired by global travel, my current work is developed through digital alchemy, printed on natural fabrics and enhanced with surface design. I strive to create imagery with color, pattern and repetition to produce a magical moment in time.  
 In ACN’s last call for entry, “Anything Goes”, my juried piece was digitally developed in Photoshop with an image of a Vietnamese girl working on a tourist boat. 


After printing on sumptuous silk charmeuse, I applied potato dextrin and thickened dyes. Her Tapestry (30x60) depicts a woman’s simple life working day to day on the Mekong River, “a tapestry to feel & see, impossible to hold”.  

Most recently I created art quilts with a water theme.  I will take you through a series of steps to give you a better understanding of how this process works.
In this example I began with a photo I took while at the Amazon in Peru.
Next I went into an app www.picmonkey.com and redesigned the photo
Next I went into a folder of scanned images I use to layer the design.  I chose a fabric I had stamped (Hand-carved) with inks.

This is the result of adding the layer.

Working with the same app and photoshop I eventually got this result and had it printed on cotton.

 I enhanced the piece by painting with metallic inks and fusing with foil.  I free-motion quilted and bound.  
                                         
 Can You Hear Her Calling? (23x36).
Over the past 15 years I have intensely focused on learning about and working with dyes and numerous surface design techniques on natural fabrics as my canvas. Coupled with a passion for photography, my current work utilizes both mediums through digital technology. After exploring digital design and printing on my own, I took a full time class at RISD in Providence R.I., followed by classes at Cape Cod Art Association and Quilting Art Quilt Tahoe (Jane Dunnewold). I am passionate about creating digital design on lustrous silk and other natural fibers as art cloth and quilts.
I hope this gives you a better understanding of how this works.!


4 comments:

Unknown said...

Hello Mary-Ellen,
I love the added texture your laying brings to the image. May I ask what printer you are using to print your images and where you are getting your cloth?
Thanks,
Sue

Mary-Ellen Latino said...

Hi Sue,
Thank you.
Since I don't have a large enough printer I send the work out to be printed. I just tried a new company
for the quilt series I did : www.fabricondemand.com
Mary-Ellen

Unknown said...

Thanks for posting this fascinating look at your process, Mary-Ellen. Wonderful color on this. I am looking forward to seeing your work in person at the upcoming Anything Goes exhibition.

Mary-Ellen Latino said...

Thanks Mary - I love color!