Screen Printing Techniques

The messy bits off the edge of the screen were caused by saggy screens. One of the drapery fabrics I used to make screens stretches when wet. 

More embedded screens.

I used a variety of grids collected from produce wrappings.

Extruded technique.

More extruded play using a squeeze bottle full of thickened dye.

Deconstructed Screen Trials

Next technique was to embed a variety of materials on a screen painted with thickened dye.

Once the screen was dry the materials were removed.

This screen produced 4 images before it was exhausted. 

This screen produced 12 images before the dye was finished.
I suspect the variable making the difference is the fabric on the screen.
This fabric is rougher and seems to be able to hold more dye that the fabric used in the previous screen.

Screen Printing - Stencils

I made a print board from insulation foam, an old wool blanket, vinyl and an old poly-cotton bed sheet.
   

Ready to go, starting with primary coloured Procion MX dyes.

Working with a newspaper stencil is the 1st technique on Kerr Grabowski's 'Deconstructed Screen Printing for Fabric and Paper' DVD.
The image fuzziness is an example of learning from mistakes. The cloth was too wet when I rolled it up in plastic and left it for 12 hours for the dye  molecules to bond. The water encouraged the dye molecules to continue migrating.

More often I would be working for a crisper image but now I know how to make a fuzzy one when I want to.
The spots(drips) on this sample show where I learnt the ideal viscosity for the print paste.
Both valuable lessons to learn.

Screen Printing

I am exploring screen printing techniques.
I made a pile of screen frames from stretcher bars, picture frames and bits of wood then sealed them with 2 coats of marine varnish. 

I bought a variety of drapery sheers from thrift stores and gave them a good wash.
I experimented with different ways of attaching the screen to the frame. 

I covered the frame and screen edges with duct tape.

Then I left the screens rest for a few days while the duct tape cured.

Victoria College of Art Textile Graduates

Last night, at Victoria college of Art, 4 people were awarded Fine Arts Textiles Certificates: Esther Paterson (above), Dana Davies, Sonia Park, Michelle Mleinek.
Congratulations all of you on your achievements.

Kati and Sarah help Esther celebrate on graduation night.

Company and Butchart Gardens

We have had lots of company over the summer and most have wanted to visit Butchart Gardens.

The gardens are different every visit.

 

A different flower steals the show each time. 

 

Tree Colour Studies

I continue my tree colour studies each new moon day of the month.
Here is a leaf on the maple tree in July. The chlorophyll has started to withdraw.

 

Here is the same leaf a month later showing very little change. We must have had a cold night back in July.


The arbutus is back to peeling its bark.

There has been no change in the colour of the Douglas-fir branches so I looked at its rough bark.

I also looked at the cedar's bark.
I am stitching these colours in a band across the tree cloths.

Mimkwamlis, Village Island

I also read Totem Poles and Tea by Hughina Harold, a teacher and nurse who worked in the village for 2 years in the 1930s. 

The Mamalillikulla people have left their village and now it is being covered by berry plants, wild mint and old fruit trees.

From the sea the location of the village is marked by the bright white midden shell beach.

Closer inspection of the beach reveals much beach glass and pieces of pottery and porcelain.  

I picked up a few mementos and plan to incorporate them into a work about my visit.

Mamalilaculla

This is one of the books I read this summer while exploring Canada's Pacific coast: A Curve in Time by M. Wylie Blanchet.
A woman/mother of 5 wrote about her summers exploring the same coast with her children.

One chapter recounts visiting the abandoned First Nation's village Mamalilaculla on Village Island. 

Ron and I visited the island and had a most enjoyable time exploring the remains of the village.

 

A fallen totem pole supports a microcosm of new life.