FURTHER RESULTS OF SILK PRINTING TEST

Clear Matte Ink Aid

This is the sample from the second row from the left which is the Clear Matte Ink Aid.  The results have had no discernible change in hand, but the top and bottom are considerably more transparent than the middle.  Charmeuse was less transparent from the beginning so no reason to have it be more so because I printed on it!

SEMI-GLOSS INK AID

These seem self-evident don't they?  No change in hand, transparency dependent on the print itself with darker areas  losing transparency accordingly.  You be the judge!

GOLDEN DIGITAL GROUNDS

The Charmeuse continues to have the most distinct printing with great detail.  I wonder what I would do with it?  Thread Painting/collage/ who knows!

I have a new machine so I will be using the clear organza to sandwich some Arbutus leaves;-))) 

This should be very fun.  I am very glad I did this test as it got my focus again for my Fall studio time!

MY MOST CURRENT WORK

This is my 4th piece in my Bark Series #2 that is part of the Fibre Art Network's www.fibreartnetwork.com show entitled 'FROM AWAY".  It has been shown at CQA in Halifax in May and will be touring for the next two years.  It is on our website www.fibreartnetwork.com. Although I haven't seen it "live" yet I hear it was very well received at our National show.

I use the Tyvek layer for the top layer, carving it with wood carving tools and using heat tools on it along with the Lutradur layers underneath.  I machine-sewed buttons on the lower layers as an experiment to separate the layers further.  Threadpainting was on the lower Green Bark layer.  The layers were all hand sewn together with additional beads to connect the layers on the top.  Because I don't like the white edges that seem to inevitably come when I burn the Tyvek I used a black fabric pen on every edge.  It helped me not to have it yelling at me visually! I used to think I wasn't a detail person, hmmmmm.  I even enjoy hand work.  

FIRST RESULTS OF SILK TEST PRINTING

WHITE MATTE  CLEAR MATTE SEMI-GLOSS MATTE DIGITAL GROUNDS
                [THESE 3 VERTICAL LEFT  ROWS ARE INK AID]                     [GOLDEN ON RIGHT]

 This is the first row of my Silk Test [from the left hand side above]

WHITE MATTE INK AID


My biggest disappointment was that none of the silk really took well to the kind of carving and burning I do with my various wood burning and heat tool.  I wanted it to act like the Tyvek but it didn't, instead it followed grain lines when it burned and simply looked burnt.  Not exactly what I was looking for.  

I have the heaviest silk(Charmeuse) in the centre with the lightest(Organza) on the bottom and Habotaii the lighter at the top. All started off a light cream to lessen the variables.  I put the Charmeuse in the middle as it is the heaviest weighted silk and I was expecting darker more intense colours which would be a good comparison for the lighter weight Habotai and the very light,translucent Organza. The results indeed showed the Charmeuse printed silk as quite dark and highly defined images but I was surprised at the clarity and dark values in the Habotaii as well!  The Organza was definitely lighter with less of the dark values, no surprise really.  The hand of all changed dramatically.  Much stiffer and more dense which has some value as well! The darker the print the less transparency which was really brought home to me! 

BTW!!! I have just discovered the latest Photoshop Elements 11 which has light pages rather than the darker ones so I think I'm in Photoshop heaven at the moment.

Back to the test--Kathyanne White's mini workshops-"Digital Printing Silk Surfaces" & "Designing Intriguing Surfaces" were particularly helpful although I still needed to do it myself as I am so tactile & visual! Kathyanne has really got some great videos and pdf's with a tremendous amount of information.

SILK PRINTING 12" X 19"--EQUIPMENT & SUPPLIES USED

ARBUTUS BARK SAMPLE TO PRINT FOR SILK TEST

WORKTABLE FOR PREPARING CARRIER SHEETS WITH SILK ATTACHED

EPSON 1900 READY TO PRINT THE SILK SAMPLES 

PRINTED ONE AND NEXT ONE JUST FEEDING ITSELF INTO PRINTER

SILK PRINTING TEST

SILK HABOTAI; ORGANZA; CHARMEUSE GROUPED INTO 4 ROWS FOR INK AID (3) AND DIGITAL GROUNDS(1) TREATMENT

I have been seeking to add silk to my Arbutus(Madrona) series as a top layer to replace the Tyvek layer.  Tyvek has such good definition while taking well to  my burning and carving manipulation.However, I would like to  explore the different silks which  will take on  whole different qualities that I haven't even thought of yet. So I can't wait to start using the silks I have printed!  

The silks I have used are from Maiwa (online from Vancouver,B.C.)--3 different weights:-Habotaii; Organza; Charmeuse.  Organza is the most transparent while the Charmeuse proved to be the least transparent but the easiest to treat! 

Ink Aid was used in three of the four treatments I applied (to one side only):-

White Matte; Clear Matte; Clear Semi-Gloss. 

Golden Clear Digital grounds were used for the 4th treatment. 

  

I have results that I will post on another blog so stay tuned!  

PACIFIC MADRONA/ARBUTUS STUDY

I just couldn't resist posting this today as I have a little time.  This is a time study of my Madrona/Arbutus trees that are performing so beautifully.  The plan is to take pictures of the same part of several trees about 1-2 weeks apart. This is one tree whose bark is just spectacular imo.  What do you think? I am also gathering the peeled bark from the ground with the intention of doing more dyeing with some  it and also by putting some gel medium on some beautiful pieces for some sort of mixed media piece. Playing around with Elements I hope to extract this tree from it's background ...that's one plan anyway!

Studio picture

 After returning from our SAQA conference in Denver, I came home to our very sick doggie "Traveller" who sadly passed away 5 days later.  So I haven't really felt much like writing or being in the studio for that matter and we still really really miss him. Of course those who don't have animals think I'm nutz.  Some days I think they are probably right!  Well back to my real reason for posting.  An overview picture of my studio. TADA!

MY STUDIO LOOKING SOUTH WITH BACK TO DYEING ROOM.

 I tried to download a video of my studio yesterday with little success so I am posting a picture  instead!  While  labeling it which may be stating the obvious it will give you some reference when I next post.  The view of the trees has changed as we removed most of the Douglas Fir to save our beloved ARBUTUS.  I  have more light than EVER! Will post other pictures but this seem like a good start for now!