Pattern Design Course Progress

One of the morning exercises was to analyse different patterns and to find examples of different types of patterns to put in our Pattern Dictionaries.

Elisha is working out how this pattern was made.

Elisha working with a new stamp she carved.

See below the resulting pattern.

Charlotte's new carved stamp produces a number of appealing repeating patterns.

Another pattern Charlotte produced with her new stamp.

Connie made several stamps using hot glue. They make a distinctive mark.

Teaching at Victoria College of Art

I spent 2 days getting the Victoria College of Art's Lower Studio ready for teaching in this spring term.

This is the before shot.

Day 2 my well-trained assistant set up the print tables.

All ready for "Pattern Design for Artists"

I enjoy teaching this course because there are always great discoveries to be made.

When is a bathroom not a bathroom?

Daughter Elizabeth went to work on another under-utilized wall in my wet studio....

... after I was told I couldn't remove that white porcelain thing.

A door on trestles fit into the space making a great print table.

With the door taken off the shower it is easier to get into the rinsing area.
A plastic shelving unit stores waterproof dyeing equipment close at hand.

The other rinse basin is only big enough for the small jobs.
And I get to look at myself while I work - ideal for taking selfies.

Two drawers of print tools.

When is a bathroom not a bathroom?
When it is a dye studio!

SDA Conference Exhibition at the International Centre

The artists

The labels were intriguing.

Jay Rich, 'Indigo Butterflies'

'Indigo Butterflies', detail - side view

Lisa Grey, 'After the Fall' series, 22" h x 15" w, leaf prints

Lisa Grey, 'After the Fall' series, 22" h x 15" w, leaf print

Lisa Grey, 'Morphology I-XII', 10" x 10", mixed media collage

Lisa Grey, 'Morphology IX'
oops, this work is standing on its side and I can't rotate an image while posting.
But don't you think it still reads well and looks great?

..and another in the series.

There were so many other appealing works in this exhibition but I didn't have time to photograph any more before it was time to get back onto the bus and head out to the next gallery.

SDA are to be congratulated on their exceptional organization of Gallery Day.
All members visited all of the exhibitions without any stress or overheating - quite an accomplishment in San Antonio summer heat!

2013 SDA Conference

Naiomi Wanjiku Gakunga standing in front of her work in the Russell Hill Rogers Gallery on the Navarro Campus, after giving a moving presentation about her life as an artist and the importance of storytelling in her culture and her work.

In the same gallery Michael James had a solo exhibition,'Organising Nature`.
This work is titled `The Idea of Matter`, 2010.
He prints digitally manipulated images onto cotton, dyes cloth, machine pieces and machine quilts.

À System of Classification` 2009
Michael was also one of the featured speakers. He spoke of his personal experiences with life and art over his forty-year career. It was one of the highlights of the conference.

Some students had made these felt flowers.

They kept appearing and disappearing in different garden beds around the campus.

Sheridan Institute Textiles Department

After attending the Memento mori exhibition opening I looked in on the textiles department of the Sheridan Institute.
Burners for natural dyeing and protein fibres.

Washing machine and dryer

Various steamers 

Materials prep counter

Vented box for mixing dye stuff

Long padded print tables and racks of silk screens 

Light table

Long firm print tables.

What a place to be a student!

Playing Around with Bubble Wrap

 

 

 

Kerr Grabowski says you need to/have to pop the bubbles before using the wrap.
That is a fun part of the technique.

Eco-Printing aka India Flint & More Sampling

I went back to sampling more eco-printing using India Flint's methods.

There was dyeing rather than leaf printing...

...but they weren't my marks.

Did I need to leave a body print, visible evidence I have touched the cloths and left my DNA, just as the trees have done?
Image of Colin Jenkins' stitched body print 'Purge' - (Source: Embroiderers' Guild (2006)  Art of the Stitch  Scholar, Surrey: EG Enterprises, p. 14).

Or maybe stitch into the cloth with my own dentritus, my hair?
Image of Tabitha Kyoko Moses' self portrait, stitched with human hair - (Source: Embroiderers' Guild (2006) Art of the Stitch Scholar, Surrey: EG Enterprises, p. 36).
I sampled but didn't feel the efforts added to my understanding of the trees I wanted to get to know.