Printing with Ink and Paint Textured Thermofaxes

In my last post I shared a method that I use to create thermofaxes for my textured backgrounds. Now it’s time to print some fabric with my altered ink and paint texture thermofax! Below is the thermofax image used to create the textures for an ArtCloth piece called Moon Dance.

After masking out areas that I wanted to remain free of color with freezer paper, I used opaque textile paint mixed to match the purple background (tone on tone).

Then after masking the newly printed purple background and figure, I did the second printing in yellow textile paint for the moon.

And finally after some hand painting, stamping and beading below is Moon Dance finished.

Moon Dance, 60x40”.

Materials; MX dyes, discharge, fabric paint, and glass beads on Fuji silk broadcloth.

Hand dyed, discharged, thermofax screened, hand printed, hand painted and beaded.

It is enthralling to watch a piece of cloth transformed from flat plane to a luminous field of dimension with this technique!

Preview of FiberPhiladelphia

I just got back from the Crane Old School where the "White Space" is being prepared for our installation of " Lines and Numbers" on Thurs... I will send along a preview once we begin. Meanwhile check out what is going on for FiberPhiladelphia at the Crane. My studio assistant is my guest blogger while I am running myself ragged. I have pasted her most recent blog below.  I hope to see lots of you next weekend! 

Dianne

Excitement at The Crane !!!!

Fiber Philadelphia is quickly approaching and we could not be any more excited.  Volunteers have been at The Crane day in and day out, unwrapping works of art from all of the world, assigning inventory, and executing the show under curator Bruce Hoffman

Just outside of Space 102 , one can see Dianne's & Joan Dreyer's show entitled, "Into the Woods."  In between Dianne's 13 foot silk paintings, one can see Joan's sculptures , however, you will have to come see for yourself; we can't give it all away! 

Lastly, Dianne believes that this is the largest scarf inventory she has ever had to date.  Though the high numbers won't remain, we are awaiting a scarf frenzy.  Above are the 9 scarves we finished this week.  Dianne's studio will be open to the public on March 3 and 31st.  Come and view her scarves and studio during this wonderful celebration of Fiber Philadelphia. 

Hope to see you then !!

Francesca van Stolk
Studio Assistant
Guest Blogger

Anderson Arts Center opening

The opening of the show at Anderson Arts Center was Janaury 29. I was very happy with my room! It was bright, looked out at the lake and the pieces were well hung!  Here are a few shots of the space.

The curator was able to hang my 4 artcloth peices side x side on one wall and that looked really good and they got lots of comments!

One of the things that I love about creating ArtCloth is the planning and scheming, followed by experimenting and testing, leading to the creation of my work.

Each time I handle the cloth, adding layers of art techniques, I experience a new excitement. Occasionally I learn what not to do, but more often I learn a new trick and see things in a new way.

Experimenting and playing with imagery to create tools to use to add various textures to my backgrounds is an important part of my process. Like many artists I manipulate photos in Photoshop or with a photocopier to create imagery to print on my cloth.

I also love to play with paint and ink on watercolor paper to find interesting surfaces to use for my textures. I learned this trick while studying with Jane Dunnewold for two and a half years in her ArtCloth Mastery Program. By applying white acrylic paint to watercolor paper and then using India ink washes over the dried paint I can create patterns or designs to manipulate further by enlarging, cropping, and enlarging again. Then I take this fabulous imagery and make thermofax or silk screens and use them to print my backgrounds.

Below are some examples of the process:

 

 White acrylic paint on watercolor paper, dried; India ink wash over it;

sat for 5 minutes, then was quickly rinsed.

 

The image was then scanned into Photoshop and inverted.

  

Afterwards I enlarged and cropped the image and then turned it into a thermofax screen.

In my next post I will share some ArtCloth created using screens inspired by this process.

Until then, I think I hear a tube of white acrylic paint and India ink calling me!

Off to the studio! Cheers!

Jeanne