Screen Printing with Stencils

Screen printing is one of my favorite surface design techniques. It's fast when working on large pieces and it creates a beautifully rich surface when multiple images are layered with dyes. Lately I've been playing with a technique I learned from Jane Dunnewold. The basic idea is to apply acrylic paint to a piece of interfacing to block out a pattern.  Then the interfacing is taped to the back of a blank silkscreen. The paint or dye, when pulled through the screen, will not go through the areas that are painted. It is a convenient way to create a silkscreen without dedicating the screen to one image.

I also tried lutradur as an alternative to interfacing.  It is more open, so it doesn't work as well, although I did get some interesting patterns from it. Polyester window sheer fabric is another alternative. Below are some of the stencils I created and the corresponding print.

Acrylic paint brushed through lace

Acrylic paint brushed through lace

Acrylic paint brushed through lace on lutradur

Acrylic paint brushed onto sheer polyester fabric