Play Day

Thursday I had a "play day" with Peggy and Kay, I invited them over to paint, quilt, whatever. We started out with a watercolor collage that Peggy was working on, and kept getting out supplies, and books. We passed around Artists trading cards, and planned to paint some background papers/fabrics. We ended up doing a "Collagegraph" technique. We glued different elements to a base of mat board, to make a printing plate, I am going to demo it at our next textile group meeting. It can also be used as a rubbing plate for Shiva Oil Sticks. We used flat toothpicks, string, corrugated cardboard, rug grid, and foam sheets to cut out shapes. We painted everything with a base coat of acrylic paint to seal it. Next week Peggy is coming over and we are going to print with the boards we made. We also made rubbing plates with a "wood fiber" filler from "Elmer's Glue" We smeared the filler through plastic stencils, up to about an 1/8 inch depth, then pulled up the stencils, to leave a raised area. Later it was sanded smooth, and sealed with paint. I made one fabric print last week, with a print plate with stick on letters. I used a foam roller and acrylic paint to print onto a piece of hand dyed fabric I already had. It was difficult to gauge the wetness and coverage of the paint on the roller, too wet and it bled, too dry and it wouldn't print. I also tried a solid rubber brayer, but it wouldn't hold much paint. I love the fabric that I got, it was layers of black, dark green and lighter green alphabets, onto a dark navy green dyed fabric. I used the plate to rub on teal frosted Shiva Oil Pastel also, and it added a depth and shimmer to the whole piece. I don't think it photographed very well, but I loved the results.