Building a Composition

Turtle Spirit II, in progress
by Gayle Pritchard

In my previous post, the central panel  of Turtle Spirit II was finished. By showing you the piece on my working wall here, I hope you can get a sense of how the finished composition was built, piece by piece, literally.

As I mentioned before, I sew my compositions in sections on a tear-away backing. This makes it easier to work with the sections on my sewing machine, and it allows me to join unusually shaped edges to each other with ease.

To the base composition, I have added two side panels of African fabric, each of which features one of my hand-made cyanotype prints appliqued in place. I already envision how I want to quilt these side panels with long, broad stitches in perle cotton, and can hardly wait to begin sewing them! Along the bottom of the original panel is a single piece of unusual striped fabric, to which I have pinned various fabric remnants to be appliqued in place. I like this method of working. It is the same process as when I create a paper collage. The elements are auditioned by placing them on the main composition where it is very easy to immediately see what does or doesn't work. The finished art quilt will also have an additional layer of design, which is the quilting stitch itself. Unless you make quilts, it's hard to describe how much adding that line to the surface of the piece can change the surface, directing the eye in unexpected directions. I can also later add additional layers of fabrics and surfaces, such as stitched and printed attachments, to further enhance and complete the composition. I can respond to the composition throughout each stage of the process, adding and taking away until the piece is finished. All of these potential features are in my mind as I place the elements for this layer of the finished work.

The base layer of Turtle Spirit II, almost done!

To the striped bottom edge of the top's center panel, I added a narrow strip of fabric to create a visual edge. Underneath, a section of African fabric matching the top central panel is repeated, edged on either side with an exciting fabric that has a directional design, and more snippets laid on the surface to consider for applique.

Considering future structural problems, I decide that the two bottom side edges need a fabric underneath them to make it easier to bind the finished quilt when the layers are assembled. (Trying to bind those shaped side edges is a problem I definitely wish to avoid!) I don't want the fabric I use to jump out visually, though, because I like the illusion of the sides being slightly shorter than the bottom central panel. My solution is in the next picture. Ignoring the purple and blue backing fabric, which will not show on the front when the piece is finished, can you tell what I added or changed?

Sunprinting, Chapter 3

A sunprint made from a negative transparency
of platic fencing. I am using this print in my
new quilt, below, Turtle Spirit

 Despite the winter weather, I have dreams of summer and sunshine, and cyan printing helps me remember that warm weather is coming again.
My last post promised to show you how to turn a cyan toned sunprint into a sepia toned one. Why would you want to change it? Well, because you may need a different color for what you are doing. If you tone to sepia, the print will be lighter in tone, and you can also paint or otherwise add color to it, if you want to. Alternatively, you could use setacolor paints, which allow you to print in every color of the rainbow. In my case, I am printing several sizes of my grandmother using various techniques, then sewing them onto a quilt she made that I recently repaired and recreated.

For sepia toning, everything you need is in your kitchen.

While there are other ways, this is how I turn a cyan print into a sepia toned print:
You will need 1 - 2 T. of baking soda
2 C. hot (but not boiling) water
Glass or plastic pan to fit your image (size matters only if you're working with watercolor paper; fabric can be scrunched)
8 - 10 teabags (black tea, orange pekoe, Lipton's)
Wooden spoon
What to do:
Dissolve 1 T. of baking soda in hot water in a glass or plastic pan. Let the water cool slightly, then agitate your sunprint in the mixture until the color begins to fade. Quickly remove and rinse in clear water. This happens very quickly. You now have a yellow print, the interim stage. You might want to try a test print before you do more. Let dry. Iron flat, unless you are working with a paper print.
Note: You may need up to 2 T. of baking soda, depending on how many prints you are working with, and how large the pieces are. Multiple prints will begin to exhaust the baking soda chemical reaction, and you will need to add fresh water and baking soda.

Yellow print, the interim stage: it looks like
nothing is there, especially before it dries.

Make a tea dye bath:
While your print is drying, bring the tea kettle to a boil, and steep 8 - 10 teabags in 2 C. of water for 10 minutes. You can adjust the color by adding more or less water, more or fewer teabags. After 10 minutes, remove the teabags and discard.
Pour the tea dye bath into your tray or pan, and submerge your yellow print. Leave it there at least 10 minutes or until it is the color you want. Play around with determining the color tone you want in your test print. Also, if there is any sediment in your tea dye bath, or if you are scrunching a large piece of fabric, the color may be uneven. Stirring while the yellow print is submerged will help keep the color more even if you are concerned about that.

Sepia-grandma and cyan-grandma. Now I have more color options.

I will make a series of these prints in various sizes to create a collage composition for my piece. More to come! In the meantime, I am finishing the composition on Turtle Spirit, which also incorporates sunprints.

This is a detail shot of my design wall showing my newest piece,
Turtle Spirit, in progress. The side panels both have sunprints
appliqued in place. The turtle, though blue, is an indigo dye, and
not a sunprint.

Sunprinting, Chapter 2

On the left, two sunprinted fabrics; on the right, the same
image on paper.

If you read my last post, you'll see how I used the sun to print the images of my grandmother you see here. Since you can only really see the quality of the printed image after it has completely dried, I waited. It's winter, and my drying rack is next to my furnace, so I didn't have to wait very long! I ironed the fabric and had a look.

The same image printed twice. On the left, no clamped glass was used.

As you can see in the picture, above, I ended up making two prints on fabric. Why? Because I forgot a crucial step in obtaining a crisp print, especially when using transparencies, and especially in the winter: I forgot to cover my fabric with a piece of clear glass clamped in place. The resulting blurry print on the left is blurry, in part, because I failed to clamp the glass on top, making a secure contact print. (It's also blurry because I did not iron the fabric flat enough before printing it.) After it dried, I realized my omission, and immediately reprinted the image, as you see on the right. The result? Even though my fabric is old, when printed correctly, it still gave me a decent print. That has been my experience over the 25 years I have used this process, and is also why I never hesitate to buy yardage when purchasing pre-treated fabrics.

The same image on treated paper.

While I was at it, I grabbed an old but unopened package of treated sunprinting paper I picked up at a recent library sale. These are the Super Sunprint Kits often found in museum stores. I clamped the glass on top of the paper as described in my last post, opened my sliding back door, and let it sit on the threshold dangling over the snow to catch the sun. It was later in the day, and it was dangling, so you can see that there was still some blurring that occurred as a result of the position of the sun and the minor movement of the substrate the paper was clamped onto. I got one very clear print on paper, and the two blurry ones are interesting, and will still be used. You may notice that the print on this text-weight paper is not as dark as on fabric.

The print on the left is on fabric. On the right, is a print
on high quality watercolor paper.

Each surface gives a slightly different effect. Notice how the contrast is increased on the watercolor paper print here. When rinsed, the background reverts to white, and since the image I used had a lot of negative space, it produced a crisp print.

Mother Shrine uses a sunprint.

In Mother Shrine, the cyanotype print on fabric of my mother is also in high contrast. The difference between this one and the watercolor paper print is that the image of my mother is printed on fuschia fabric instead of white or aqua, therefore the contrast is lessened, though the image is still clear.

You may be wondering where the variety of pre-treated fabrics and paper come from. Although you can purchase cyan printing chemicals and treat your papers and fabrics yourself, I have always ordered mine from Blueprint Printables. They have been around longer than anyone else, have consistently high quality products, and great customer service. You can even send them yardage of your own fabrics to treat. Tune in next time to see some examples of that, and about how to turn a cyan print to sepia.

Cyan print on the left; on the right, a cyan print on watercolor
paper turned sepia. It's really easy!

Sunprinting, Chapter 1

The transparency of my grandma and me.

I woke up this morning, a cold winter day in Cleveland, and the sun was shining brightly. I got excited, but not for the reasons you might think. I have been waiting for a day to do some sunprinting, and, even in the winter, today was the day.

I got up and quickly pulled a few items together. I have been working on a piece about my grandmother. Usually, I run to Kinko's or Office Max to get a negative transparency made, usually two of the same image to be sure the sunlight is thoroughly blocked in the dark areas. This time, I wanted to try printing it out on my very old inkjet printer, and happened to have a compatible transparency to use. It came out pretty well.

Although I want to try the newly reformulated Liquid Light, i.e. Jacquard Solar Fast, I already have some, albeit very old, pre-treated sunprinting fabric. I cut a piece to size in the dark, quickly ironed it in the dark, then pinned it to a board with the negative transparency on top. To take it all outside, I placed a piece of plain paper on top to keep the fabric from being exposed too much while I moved it.

The transparency pinned to the
sunprinting fabric

Everything covered with plain paper

I checked the timer feature on my phone, then ran out into the garage, where the sun was shining right into the doorway. In this part of the country in the winter, the sun is low and not as bright, so sunprinting can take a bit longer. On a hot summer day, 3 minutes of exposure is plenty. Today, I allowed 4 minutes, and checked it before allowing another half a minute. The only variable here is that my fabric is very, very old, so the print may not come out as desired. I also did not use a double transparency sandwich, so I may get a lighter print. No matter. I am seizing the moment! The print is drying now, so stay tuned to see how it turned out.

Yes, sunprinting in snow weather!

After exposure, the print is "set" by rinsing it in
lukewarm water until the water runs clear. Here
is the fabric on the drying rack. One it is rinsed,
it is "set". You can't wash out what was there. At
the drying stage, it may look like nothing happened.

Speaking of Flying

The past several months I have been very busy with a design project for hire, which I can't tell you more about right now! In the meantime, though, here is a small collage I finished recently, Flying Man. It utilizes found paper, photo transfer images, hand printed cyanotype imagery on paper, hand made crystalline paper, all on a nice, heavy weight watercolor paper background. It sold recently, and has been shipped to the buyer, so I wanted to show you a picture of it while it was on my mind.

The new year is here, and I have high hopes for 2013. Hope it's a great year for you, as well. Here's to making lots of art this year. Get busy!

Flying Man, a collage by Gayle Pritchard

No Fear of Flying

As mentioned previously, I have been doing physical therapy on my hands for months now. So, what to do when one can't work a normal schedule? Well, my solution has been to reorganize both of my work spaces here in the house. My friend Ginny came over to have a look, and to give me her expert suggestions. The "blue" room, my office, has to accomodate my second laptop, a scanner, a pull-out futon for a guest bed, as well as inventory, collage papers and cardstock. I have also rearranged the blue room glass-topped desks to make room for my yudu screenprinter. I'll post pix when everything is clean and put away!


 In my last post, I showed you a silk rubbing from Mexico I had found while reorganizing my space. Here is another unfinished piece I found, a class sample of a black and white photo transfer on silk. I decided to make it into a collage, but I needed to paint it first, so that the bright white of the silk would blend in more with the cyanotype-printed fabric I wanted to use with it.

I used Jacquard paint with a watery brush to paint the transfer on silk.

The painted silk in the composition. I used cyanotype prints made
years ago, and created my collage from the scrapbag. The
wings are hand appliqued.

 

Here is a detail of the top of the composition, in progress.



Granny Would Be Proud

For Sadie Jane, two page artist book spread by Gayle Pritchard

We have family visiting (again) and in last night's conversation I got on the topic of Granny Pritchard, my husband's grandmother. The cyanotype image on the left is a picture of her on her wedding day. Anyway, I was remembering last night that it was Granny Pritchard who taught me how to make pie. I was in my early 20's, in her kitchen, my trusty old Betty Crocker cookbook in hand. I made notes all over the illustrated pages about making pie crust. Granny had a lot of tips, such as keeping the water for the pie crust in the freezer, along with the dough fork, pie plate and all other utensils until ready to use. Her most important tip, however, was to place her marble rolling pin in the freezer until it was time to roll out the pie dough. I proudly own her marble rolling pin, and I dutifully place it in the freezer as soon as I begin gathering the ingredients for pie dough. It works like a charm. Now, if I can just find a member of our family's next generation who is interested in learning how to make pie!

I am traveling again this week, this time to watch my baby granddaughter while her family moves into their new home. Instead of bringing my bag of art supplies, I am bringing my idea journal and a small quilt I am finishing. I don't anticipate having a lot of free time to sketch or work, but always like to have something to grab when I do find a few minutes. That is always how I accomplished so much when my own children were small, and why I prefer to sew by hand: it's portable. I pieced, appliqued and quilted many artworks while sitting at dental or doctor appointments or school activities, or even waiting in my car to pick them up.

Once I return home, I have a lot of artwork-work to catch up on. I also desperately want a playday, since I got a Yudu home screen printer for my birthday.

Here you see it sitting on my dinner room table. It is now in my temporary "garage" studio, calling my name. I have watched several online links demonstrating how it's used. Fortunately, I have done silk-screening before, although it was many years ago at the Cleveland Institute of Art. They, of course, have a wonderful facility, with very large work tables and a separate wet room. With the Yudu, everything is self-contained. The screen size is limited, but I am hoping it will be sufficient for my needs right now. I'll keep you posted!

Creating Layers in Art Quilts

The beginning stages of my piece, I Hear Voices

I use a lot of photographic techniques in my artwork, not because I am a terrific photographer, but because I work with layering. Using personal photographic images connects well with the intimate nature of my artwork.

I am not the gifted photographer in my family. My husband, who took the self-portrait in the I Hear Voices photograph, is amazingly talented, and very creative in his approach. My daughter, editor of photography books for Lark Books, has one of those very fancy, professional cameras, and creates the most amazing imagery. All of this is lucky for me, because I always have a source for imagery, and people who can help me manipulate the images for my own purposes.

I have taught Polaroid transfer techniques for many years, after learning how to do the process using my (okay, our) slides at the Cleveland Institute of Art. I bougt a Daylab, Jr. and went to work. Since Polaroid is discontinuing the manufacture of the film, I am desperately seeking new sources. I recently joined a group I found online, The Impossible Project. They are in Holland, and are trying to keep the film production going. I hope they are successful.

Chris, my Polaroid transfer on paper

Princess of Dun Aengus, my Polaroid transfer on paper

Now that spring has arrived, I am really itchy to do some cyanotype printing. Cyanotype printing is a very early photographic technique that has not changed much since it was developed in the mid-1800s. Chemically treated paper or fabric is exposed to sunlight and whatever objects or transparent images are placed on top serve as the 'negative.' While I have often used this process to print objects, I really like to utilize photographic negatives for the technique.

Cyan print on cotton of pebbles. I used a color photograph my husband took, enlarged it on a photocopier, then printed it onto a plastic transparency.

For the quilt shown below, I asked my husband to take a series of "body parts" pictures for me: ears, eyes, hands.

I used a cyan print of my hands, which was then layered with sheer silk organza, in the center of the piece.

My Hands Don't Look the Same Anymore, art quilt by Gayle Pritchard

Now that I have my garage studio space set up, I think I will do some more prints. Would you like to see how it's done?

Cyan print on watercolor paper. This greeting card is available in my etsy shop.

The Artist Grandmother

Now that I'm a grandmother, I have been making baby clothes again. When my own kids were babies and my husband was still in college, I had to make do with what we had. I recycled sweaters, coats and usable cottons to make all of their clothes. I started making quilts in earnest about the same time. The first Christmas we were married, I got my first sewing machine, a $99 Singer. I still have it. It's the machine I use to stitch paper.

When I was still living at home, I sewed on my grandmother's converted treadle machine. Having come very close to getting kicked out of Home Ec. in Junior High for making a bikini instead of an apron, it should have already been clear to anyone who knew me that I was going to follow my own path.

When my first granddaughter was born last December, I was thrilled. Although I have sewn several things for my grandson, I admit that making fancy baby dresses for little girls is a lot more fun than a Thomas the Train pillowcase. I made her this dotted dress outfit for her first Valentine's Day. I now own more baby patterns than I ever had when my own children were small. Of course, I never follow the pattern instructions. I prefer to use them as a suggestion, and proceed as I do when making my artwork: do something, respond, do something else; collage and layers upon layers.

Unfortunately, there is only so much time in any given week. Because I work at home, it seems I am always at work. Right now, at this particular moment in time, I am finishing a manuscript, updating my website, trying to get my etsy store up and running, watching my grandson two days a week, and trying to get artwork done in my studio. Add in the everyday duties like grocery shopping, paying bills, cleaning, laundry, and, well, my head is already spinning. I find it difficult to juggle it all sometimes.

I have two studios in the house, both upstairs. One is a writing room, with all of my research materials, files, reference books, and two desks next to the windows. The walls are painted my favorite blue, and the futon gives me a great place to sit and read. My friend Susanne loaned me an awesome square and very tall bookshelf. It is a life-saver; it holds a ton in a few square feet.

My art studio across the hall is another thing. It's too small and too crowded. With all the projects I have in progress, I have simply run out of space to store it all, let alone find anything.

My grandmother was very artistic. Even though I was still little when she died, I remember how she always encouraged my artistic efforts. And when she was able to finally have the time, she started making art and craft pieces for the sheer enjoyment of it. She was the only grandparent I knew, and I absolutely adored her, even though I only saw her a few times a year.

As a grandmother of two, with a new baby girl due in the world this summer, I cherish taking some time away from work to make special things for my grandchildren. With the new line of baby clothes I am in the process of designing, the hardest part is not making everything for them. I have told their mothers that the baby girls will be the recipients of my learning curve process; the prototypes go to them, or, as in the case of Baby E's Valentine dress, are designed for them. Some patterns are just too intricate and detailed to try to make and sell.

I finished this dress this week. Well, it still needs buttons and a label, so it's mostly finished. Look for it soon in my etsy shop. To avoid internal conflict, I purposely made it in a size that will not fit my granddaughter. Alright, yes: I have enough scraps to make another dress for Baby E.

My latest attempt to solve my space dilemma involved cleaning the garage, and setting up a workspace there. My husband's band-mate, David, loaned me a spare tabletop from his stash, and voilà, a work table.

I added another of my glass-topped desks, which will be a good place for a second cutting mat. I spent the day moving my paints and collage papers, tools and non-fabric work in progress there today. I hated to take the time to move it all, but it really was time well spent.

Now that spring has arrived, I have several warm months ahead. I will soon be good to go for cyanotype and seta prints, hammering, and messy atomizer painting. Can't wait!