Tuesday 29 May 2018

Monochrome Mark Making

I have booked quite a few workshops at Littleheath Barn Studio over the summer.  These are on top of the Art Cloth course and the studio days I attend.   The most recent workshop was Monochrome Mark Making.

We started by doodling on a page in our sketchbook.

We were supplied with a wooden block each and bits and pieces to stick on to make printing blocks.


Also a piece of polystyrene.  I used mine to copy the patterns from the original doodling.


Liske supplied a choice of blue or white fabric or calico.  I used the blue fabric and calico and printed with copper fabric paint.




We used Formosul to remove colour from black fabric.

Then we were allowed to choose one other colour  I added some darker blue to the teal to get the turquoise with the block printing.  Then I used a Thermofax Screen that Liske had designed but used the teal paint direct from the bottle.

I used the screen again with the copper fabric paint.  I didn't wash the screen between the teal and the copper so got some interesting shades.

The question now is what to do with all these samples.  I expect it will involve cutting them up and stitching them back together.

Watch this space.

Thanks for joining me today.
Bernice


Saturday 26 May 2018

Art Cloth Day 4

Day 4 report.  You can find day 1, day 2 & day 3 by clicking on the links!  Day 4 had its moments.  We worked with formosul which removes dye.  I also used fabric paints and some more thickened dye - not all of these processes were successful.   I had washed all the pieces of fabric before the workshop day which has removed all the manutex.

I used the formosul on this piece through a Thermofax screen.

In close up

I used it on this piece of fabric also

The close up

I also printed fish or birds all over these pieces of fabric using a blue-grey thickened dye.  However I had forgotten that there was no longer soda ash in the fabric so when I washed them when I got back home, the fish disappeared.  Ho hum!
Liske's photo showing fabric before I washed it!

I used the formosul on this piece of fabric using a Thermofax screen and a stencil



Then I moved on to the actual art cloths - one of them is supposed to be the practice piece but they are both working well so not sure which is the practice one any more!

I used the formosul through a screen and a stencil

I also added fabric paint.  But I forgot to iron it before I washed it so most of the paint has disappeared.  There were a lot of wavy lines and stars - although to be honest the lines were a bit too much.  Here's Liske's photo from before I washed the fabric.


The same happened with this one.


Oh well, back to the drawing board!

I also folded this piece of fabric and cut it up to make a book.  I printed on the different pages.

This will be the front cover.

And this is one of the inside pages.

I'm going to handstitch on the pages and then sew them together.  I'll let you know how it goes.

Thanks for joining me today
Bernice


Tuesday 22 May 2018

Continuing in the North West

Thanks for coming back to find out about the next part of our wedding anniversary trip to Liverpool and the north west.

On the Tuesday we visited the two Liverpool Cathedrals.  I loved that they were at either end of Hope Street.  We started with the Anglican Cathedral.


We walked past these beautiful houses.  Central Liverpool was full of beautiful architecture.

The Roman Catholic Cathedral at the end of Hope Street.


Then we drove through the Queensway Tunnel heading for the National Waterways Museum at Ellesmere Port.

 
 
The Manchester Ship Canal, the River Mersey and Liverpool in the distance.

 

 
The building on the left is a Holiday Inn Express.  I'd quite like to stay there.

There's nothing like rust and decay!


Back to the boats!




And then joy of  joys - a big ship went past on the Manchester Ship Canal.



We had a splendid time there and as you can see from the photos the weather was glorious.

After a late lunch we drove on to Nantwich.  Just before we got to the town there was Dorfold House.  It is only open on Tuesday afternoons so we just managed to see it.








The Spring Garden was exquisite.




The building was a lovely mix of styles.


We wended our way home via a short stop in Nantwich itself.

What a fabulous couple of days.  Of course the fantastic weather had a lot to do with it.

Thanks for joining me today.
Bernice