Playing with Pattern

I have been working at the art museum this week and haven't been in the studio at all.  But last night I felt like doing a little something.  So, I took out the fabrics I had printed at the woodblock workshop.  Do you remember this?

I cut several of them into quarters and started playing with different arrangements.  There are so many variations you can do.  It is more like traditional quilting in that you have a consistent block but changing the arrangement creates different patterns.

Here are some options playing with nine squares.

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Then look what happens when I add a few more squares.

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I could also off set them for more options.

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Or add some solid squares (which I would put in the corners of this one).

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I have more photographs than this.  Now I don't know which one to choose.  Which is your favorite?

More Woodblock Talk

The woodblock workshop at Wingtip Press was a precursor for an event taking place on Oct. 12 at the Idaho Historical Museum.  I'm not sure what the official title of the event is, yet, but there will be steam roller printing that day.

BSU students and community members will work on 4' x 8' wooden blocks that will be printed on fabric sheets with a steam roller.  A similar event has taken place in Boise before which I wrote about here on the blog.

While our instructor was here for the workshop, he shared insights and experiences from the annual steam roller printing event that is held in Missoula, Montana in celebration of Dia de Los Muertos.

Below are some of the pieces he brought to show us.

This skull was printed on a sheet that had butterflies on it.  Below are some smaller examples of prints on paper.

The picture above demonstrates a four color reduction print.

I am excited for the Oct. 12 event.  It will be a busy weekend because on Sunday, Oct. 13, I will be having my open studio as part of the BOSCO event.

Woodblock Workshop part 2

Sunday at Wingtip Press, we finished up carving and printing our woodblocks.  We were told we could bring t-shirts to print on.  The first day I didn't bring one because I didn't think I would want my design on a t-shirt.  I didn't realize we were going to be able to print some of the instructor's blocks.

I had planned to bring a t-shirt yesterday.  But ended up forgetting it.  I did have several pieces of my dyed fabric to print on, which was my intent the entire time.

Here is my block with the very simple design of a passion flower.  I had the hardest time trying to figure out what design I wanted to work on for this workshop.  I went through many ideas and finally just decided on this simple idea.

That blue on the block is a wash of acrylic paint.  It helps you see where you have already carved. This is a great idea that was new to me.

My block all carved out.

Here is Cassandra carving away on her block.

And here is Cassandra's finished design printed on paper.

This is Katherine's beautiful block all inked up and ready to print.

Anna Webb shows off her print on neon colored paper.

First time carver, Kurt, shows off his print.

This is Christy's finished design.

I really like this design from Josh Olson.

I was so busy taking pictures of everybody else's prints, I forgot to take some of my own.  I printed on several different colors of fabric and did a few on paper.  Cassandra asked if she could print my block on one of her t-shirts.  Here it is below.

I'll show you some of my prints on fabric after I pick them up from Wingtip Press.

Woodblock Workshop

It's been a bit quiet on the blog.  I have not been feeling well the last couple of weeks.  After a second visit to the doctor, I am finally on some antibiotics and am feeling better.  Just in time for the printmaking workshop I have been taking this weekend at Wingtip Press.

Yesterday was the first day and we are going back today.  The instructor is James Bailey, an art professor at the University of Montana.

We are creating woodblock prints using mdf board (that you can get at the hardware store).

Here is the instructor with one of the blocks he had carved previously with some of his works displayed on the wall behind him.  Below is the design printed on a t-shirt.

We had a fairly large number of participants in this workshop, partly because it is leading up to another event in October, which I will tell you about later.

Here are some more of the instructor's artworks.  I think most of them are not woodblock prints, but linocut or something else.

Above are the progression of steps for a reduction print using Sentra board. 

We finish carving and printing today. So I will show you the results later.