Gum Arabic

This October I think I may be living part time at Littleheath Barn.  Between workshops, studio days and the Art Textile Group I seem to be there once or twice a week for the whole month.  So to start, I went to a Sue Brown workshop on Gum Arabic Transfer Printing.

I love tutors who are organised and Sue is extremely organised and led us expertly through her techniques.  We started by practising on paper.  Here I have printed the one on the right and laid down the next print ready to burnish.

 I added a further print of the moths.

I also tried printing directly into a sketchbook

Sue gave us some calico and a box of bits to rummage through to make two collages.

As you see we tacked them before printing on them.

Then I used the photocopies Sue provided to print on the fabrics.

 I'm not sure about the orange blots, but I could stitch to make them look like flowers.

 Here's my 'show and tell'.

I have to confess that I signed up for this workshop rather late, took Sue at her word about not needing to take anything with me, didn't feel particularly well and had no idea what the workshop was about before I got there, so I am pleased with the results I got.

I think using someone else's photocopies and fabrics meant I wasn't emotionally attached to anything and was able to play freely.  It was quite a nice feeling.

Sue is back next year at Littleheath or you can find her at the yard:ARTspace in Cheltenham.

Thanks for joining me today.
Bernice