blood red

There's been some printing going on around here! This time I've made up a rich blood red ink and printed my banksia pod design with it. I quite like the way it came up against the warmth of the linen.

I use 2 types of Russian linen - a warmer colour called 'flax' and a slightly cooler one called 'oatmeal'.

pic 1: flax
pic 2: oatmeal
pic 3: oatmeal
pic 4: flax

The thing I LOVE about printing on 100% linen is the way these towels wear over time to a gorgeous softness with use in the kitchen. And linen is such a beautiful natural product. Remember this video I posted last year about how it's made?

Oh, and they're in the shop. Of course. Xmas pressies perhaps???

the honey makers

So this one had a hard birth. The design came quick enough but then I wasn't happy with it as just a single colour print. The bees were meant to be just the one (not the 5 here) and it (the bee) was going to be in black too originally. And that all changed as I started printing which meant the bees got added one by one in that bright punchy yellow. I do mostly like a monochrome palette but occasionally I can let myself add a splash of colour to lighten the energy in a print.

So 'the honey makers' is here in gorgeous 100% linen + ready for use.

Some thoughts on process this week....I've been spending time with quite a few creative folk of late due to the 'big story' I'm writing (a PhD - some background on my other world here) and it's been a glorious thing. I've had a number of similar conversations about process birthing ideas for future projects/work. That is, you start working on something and while you're in there with your creative juices flowing it generates ideas for all kinds of other work. It's like you have to be immersed in the creative process to help this other generative process happen. Well in printing over this weekend I felt that happen. My head has been gurgling with all kinds of ideas for future designs and illustrations. Mostly I think it's a result of trialing designs, manipulating them, problem solving on the hop and then eventually resolving the design issues. Something happens in my creative head space when all of that other stuff is working away. Does that happen to you?

ice blue

Sometimes you've got to go with the idea of 'less is more'. Even though the over-printing on the snow gum print was working out I decided that I wanted to have a single print of this design on linen as well. So I mixed up a nice ice blue this morning as an experiment. Then a printmaker on twitter, @meganjmcpherson, suggested that the coolness of the blue against the warmth of the linen worked because it does in nature. This was the image she used to make her case:

which kind of makes sense to me. So it's listed here in case it takes your fancy.

creating 'snow gum'

Guess what? More screen printing!

These are a few pics of a new design, 'snow gum', in progress. I was inspired by the beautiful shapes of eucalyptus snow gum tree leaves. They're so soft and round and very different to other eucalyptus leaf shapes which are often much longer and more pointed. I also wanted the print to have the appearance of floating on the linen.

I ended up making it a 2 colour print on the flax coloured linen even though I like the single colour (turquoise) on the linen also. I was keen to experiment with some overprinting which is how the 2 colour print (in turquoise and white) came about.

The last pic is of the design in progress with a layer of drafter's film over the top. This is what I've been using to create stencils because it's reusable even though it's harder to cut than paper. I really like it as a material for creating stencils.

Snow Gum in the 2 colour format is now available in the shop. Happy dish drying!

giant succulent blossom

Last weekend it was a hive of activity around here. A friend of mine swears people are possessed with a wave of creative energy as the moon is waxing (building to a full moon). Anyone who was out and about on Wednesday night this week would have witnessed that big, beautiful, luminous moon hanging low in the eastern sky. It was full or close to it. As I was cycling home (north) I found it near impossible not to look to my right (east) and stare at the moon. It was so, so, so lovely!

I think my friend was right about that creative burst. I was drawing and designing, cutting stencils and printing like a fiend all weekend. And it was so much fun!

So here's another product of that rush of activity. Giant Succulent Blossom, Black in 100% linen (this one is oatmeal). Those of you who've visited this blog before know how much I'm obsessed with succulents and succulent flowers. Here's more proof of that!

Along with the new banksia pod designs, these tea towels are also now in the shop.

What have you been making lately?

banksia pod red

My banksia pod tea towel is now available in a deep, dirty red after a morning spent screen printing. These are 100% linen and I've printed on both the warmer 'flax' type (pictured) and a slightly cooler 'oat'. So you can take your pick. I'll be listing the oat one in the shop later today. If you haven't tried these towels before then you're in for a treat. The quality in Russian linen is exquisite and will soften over time as it's used and washed and loved.

blue

And then there was blue.....
But screen printed this time. Once again on 100% flax coloured linen tea towels. I cut a stencil by hand and modified the design just a little so it could be screen printed. I've decided to call this design banksia pod because it was inspired by some ink paintings of pods I did last year. M just told me these work really well with our kitchen colours. But I am letting them go: if you fancy them they're in the shop now.

hand work

Finally, a product from my 3 colour screen printing effort with Harvest Textiles. Now if I could only find the perfect cushion insert and get rid of the crappy one I currently have inside it. Any suggestions?

I can't stop thinking about sashiko embroidery lately. I've never tried it but am keen to. I'm thinking something simple to start with like this pattern of mine in red on black calico. But maybe even that's too ambitious??? Only one way to find out.

black and white

I don't know where these headless dresses are going, do you? I've been drawing these for the last few weeks and they keep multiplying.
And this is a close up of one panel out of a set of four purchased from Spacecraft in Gertrude St at their recent sale. Black, grey and white wild fennel screen printed on canvas. To go above our bed. Looks like that wall isn't going to be wallpapered after all. But am I complaining?

hozuki cushion

All finished as of this morning: hozuki screen print cushion cover. Printed on a natural cotton/linen blend fabric. I know the hozuki pattern is quite bold and might not be to everyone's liking but it sure does give that old green arm chair of ours a lift. We've been meaning to get that chair (and its pair) recovered for several years now. See this previous post for an explanation of hozuki.

hozuki love

I think I'm starting to get my printing mojo back. It's been missing a bit these last few months and I think it's because I've had so much writing to do for my other work that all my creative energy was going in that direction. So no mojo left for printmaking. But lately I've been getting out my tools and playing again. This makes me so happy.

Tonight I tested this screen print design. I hand cut the design on drafting film and did this wee test run on a scrap of natural cotton/linen blend. The design draws from a previous woodblock print of mine called 'hozuki', or Chinese Lantern plant in English. I think these plants are an exquisite, magical gift from nature. This lovely pic of one below is from jam343 on flickr.

dan mccarthy: screenprints

Dan McCarthy: The Woods

If this print wasn't already sold out I'd be lining up to purchase it. American printmaker Dan McCarthy's screenprint The Woods. Someone who loves printing and drawing trees as much as I do! And look at those sweet little owl faces in the trees! Little eyes peeping out at us. Click on the image to get a better look. Oh and he has some cool screen printed t-shirts for sale too. Thanks to printinteresting for leading me to his site.

hanabi print tea towel

Screen printed by hand on cotton/linen blend fabric in bone. I even made the tea towel! Now that was a lot of fun. It didn't take long for my teenage memory of sewing to kick in again once I put my hands on a sewing machine. The tea cup in the first pic is one of my favourite pieces from a pottery village called Shigaraki near Kyoto.

Hanabi means fireworks in Japanese. Thanks to hiki-san for the name suggestion.

particles in chocolate brown

For a long time now I've been wanting to put part of a screen print design I did a months ago on fabric. And yesterday I did! Introducing: particles in chocolate brown ink on natural Indian cotton. I don't have a professional set up at home so this was quite a challenge. Since my previous print on paper had been made with a hand cut paper stencil that had the lifespan of just that one printing session I had to hand cut the stencil for particles again. Mixing the ink for the exact shade of chocolate brown took longer than I expected. These pics make the ink look black but it's a delicious, dare I say very edible shade of chocolate brown.
And because the Indian cotton I printed on is in a lovely natural shade I'm quite excited about how well the chocolate brown sits on it. I printed about 2 metres of fabric using the placement method of screen printing which took a while as I had to take care not to smudge wet ink I'd just printed. I'd like to use the fabric to make a shirt for summer based on the design of one I already have. Or even some simple serviettes. Now if I only had a sewing machine and could sew!

not quite paper

I'm working with a new material I've just discovered called drafter's film (thanks Libby!) instead of paper for hand cut silk screen stencils. It's harder to cut than cartridge paper but definitely tougher and more tear-proof. When I was cutting out my dragonfly this morning I liked the way it looked on it's own, all kind of papery and fragile and then decided to put it on top of my favourite antique Japanese lacquer box. Doesn't she look sweet?

fragile particles

Finally. Screen printed. Using a hand cut paper stencil.
Click on an image to see close up.
More pics here.

jezze's prints

A little while ago I discovered the work of Jezze, a South African screenprinter. I just adore this particluar print of hers: 'girl with mud in her head part 1'. There's something really earthy and lovely about it. You can read more about her work and inspiration on her blog. She also makes gorgeous blockprinted cotton tape like this: