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.

New Year New Schedule

My sketch of oranges, inspired by a postcard Jill brought
to art night.

I have been having a lot of fun with my new schedule this year. With the support of my art group friends Jill Milenski and Gail Crum, I spent the first few weeks of this year reorganizing my schedule. Last year I did quite a bit more sketching, thanks to Jill's influence. She is such an amazing painter, that seeing her work on a regular basis inspires me.
Gail and I co-taught several classes together at Small Studio, and since we meet nearly every Monday night, we are constantly interacting and supporting each other's goals. Gail excels at her assemblage work, and it is fascinating to work together with her each week, since our approaches are quite different. All in all, meeting together regularly has helped all of us be more productive.
Among other things, my new schedule includes taking at least 10 minutes to write in my journal, and 10 minutes to make a sketch. What fun!

Twice the Fun with Transfers

Gayle's mending tape transfer of ancient text
onto hand painted fabric

I have been having fun with transferred images since I was a little girl playing with Silly Putty and the Sunday comics borrowed from the newspaper my daddy was reading. I learned early on how lighter fluid squirted on the back of a magazine picture would transfer it to another surface. (You might cringe at thinking about lighter fluid, but I grew up in the 1960s when many people smoked, including my parents, and they always had a container of lighter fluid to refill their  lighters.)

I love the layering possibilities, and how personal images and photography can be transformed.

I will be teaching an introductory Image Transfer workshop at Small Studio in May. I hope you can join me to learn these fun techniques!

Making Shrines at Small Studio

Friends and fellow artists joined Gayle for the Enshrined class.

 As promised, the Enshrined workshop at Small Studio Productions was loads of fun. Gail Crum joined me to co-teach the class, and Ginny at Small Studio has affectionately dubbed us The Gales, and now in her new blog post, Gale Force. That about sums it up! Gail was in the very first Shrines class that I taught some twenty years ago. She says the class changed her life. All I know is that she has been creating shrines, assemblages and collages ever since, and is an amazing artist. It was fun to teach a class together.
There were several long-time friends in the class: Phyllis, Karen and Clare from the "Dye Group", a cadre of women artists who have played together for decades and still keep a journal about what they are doing. Clare just retired from the art department at Malone College, but is teaching her amazing encaustic techniques and other workshops around northeast Ohio and in Columbus at QSDS.

Phyllis, Karen and Clare are "Dye Group" buddies. Gail Crum
co-taught Enshrined with me.

Former studio mate and amazing painter Pam Dills came with two of her friends, neither of whom had done artwork before, but both of whom made amazing pieces. In addition, Zelda, Kim and Denette joined us, and made absolutely stunning shrines with their selected objects and stories.

Enshrined class students working away.

Kim's shrine about her garden-loving grandmother, in progress

More workshops to come, the next on May 17th. Hope to see you there!

Enshrined

Detail, Gayle Pritchard's
Pharmacy Shrine

I am so happy to be teaching a new workshop, Enshrined, at the end of March. I hope you will join me and my teaching partner, Gail Crum, for this fun workshop! Your choice of two shrines (styles shown below) is included in the workshop fee. Gail and I will show you how to develop your theme, make it meaningful and personal, all while building your shrine in class. Can't wait!

When: Saturday, March 29th, 12 - 4 p.m.

Where: Small Studio Productions, 26113 Detroit Rd., Westlake, OH

Phone (call to sign up): 440-808-8599

$50 includes the half day workshop with two amazing teachers

and your choice of the shrine styles, shown below.

Gail's Paris shrine

Front view, Gayle's Pharmacy shrine. It has many
movable parts. Check it out at the shop!

Back at Last





Gayle's TagTalk card, one of many created over the decades from
upcycled materials. See more at NoMoonNight

 
Back at last ... yes! I cannot begin to express to you how happy I am to have access to my blogs again! Special thank yous to Haley at Blue Mountain Reiki and my husband, Chris, whose efforts thwarted google's universal log-in quagmire and set me free! Hurrah!

So yes, nothing earth-shattering to report today. I am suffering from some sort of wintertime malaise that involves nausea and a muddled head in the midst of sub-zero temperatures, unusual in degree and duration even for northern Ohio.

Undeterred, however, I am so very happy to be back and to have THIS frustration resolved. Can't wait to "talk" some more.

 

At a Loss

Rest in peace, Cheri.
You will be missed.