Thursday, May 6, 2010

Deconstructed Screen Prints


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Last Sunday I drove down to Athens, Ga. and spent the day with Elizabeth Barton learning something about deconstructed screen printing. Today as I pulled a few shots of my efforts onto my MacBook I saw the slideshow option and decided to put the pictures in that format.

The results of my experiments are modest but I learned a good deal. In order to bring the fabric home on Sunday I rolled them up while they were very wet and they bleed a good deal.


What you are seeing:

1. A yellow and black print where I attempted to pickup the texture of a woven plastic onion bag. There is a second image of this at the end which has been washed. It held the color very nicely.

2. The drop cloth from under several prints. The color here is very strong....go figure.

3. Several versions of the 4 unit spiral before washing and then there are some of this screen after washing later on.

4. Green and yellow print again trying to pickup texture from the onion bag.


I think the most important points I gathered from this day in the studio were:

1. Let the prints dry out before covering. I never understood just exactly what that ment. The work really needs to feel dry to the touch.

2. Use a screen that is the correct mesh such as 10xx or 12xx (you should verify this information) I tried printing from a screen that was too dense and it was a total waste.

3. Don't put the thicken dye on too heavy. I made this mistake on the dense screen so I had a double bad whammy and it was a waste of effort. The prints are very sketchy. I haven't washed them as yet so they are not pictured.


I have no idea as to how I might use this fabric or if I will use this fabric. I was simply experimenting to learn the technique. When I see a need for this process I hope to be able to use it successfully as I love working with the screens and dye and I will be trying again.

Thank you for dropping by and I love hearing from you.