roycroft-printmaker

74. My Demonstration

2009-07-03T15:23:00.019-04:00

Inside the Copper Shop on Saturday morning I printed the first color for my demonstration. (See post # 72) I had mixed a nice soft red that was further softened when I printed it on the brown paper.

After cleaning the ink from my screen I started to work on the second color. I painted drawing fluid wherever I wanted to print black. I had decided to have the seat and some corner designs red. I didn't put any drawing fluid in those areas - only where I wanted to print black.

After going through spreading the screen filler, washing out the drawing fluid, drying the screen and printing with black ink, I realized that I just didn't like it. The elements in the corners make it too busy. I was happier with the red print.

Some day I will redo this idea.

Later, on Sunday I made a different two color print. I'll show it to you in my next post.

Sunday at the Copper Shop was quieter, there were fewer people and the second print was more satisfactory. Later in the day there were some rain showers. I was glad that I wasn't out in the parking lot with the other exhibitors.

73. After the Roycroft Summer Festival

2009-07-03T14:32:00.010-04:00

Saturday was a beautiful day here in Western New York. The sun was shining and the temperature was in the 70s. The Festival was very well attended in spite of the road construction along 20A. It was so crowded in the Copper Shop that there were times when we could hardly move.

There were so many questions, I was happy to have Mary Schichtel with me to answer some of them. I didn't get anyone to take photos of me printing, but I took some of Mary printing her Christmas card. She designed a great little Arts and Crafts frog card. It would be printed in three colors. Here is a photo of her printing the first color; a light, bright green. After printing all of her cards with the first color she painted little holly leaves and part of the eyes on the screen with drawing fluid. Then she spread filler over all, washed out the drawing fluid, let it dry and then she printed with a darker green. Later, she went through the same process and printed small, red holly berries at the ends of the frogs feet.

first color

second color

72. First screen is done

2009-06-21T19:30:00.027-04:00

In this photo I am spraying the blue drawing fluid with cold water. It dissolves leaving just the screen filler on the screen.

I will continue to spray until every bit of drawing fluid is gone and the screen is open wherever I want to print.

My first stencil has been made; all I have to do is let it dry and I am ready to print. I need to mix a color. I will use Speedball textile screen printing ink. It comes in all of the primary and some secondary colors. The red that I am thinking of will be darker and softer than the red right out of the jar. Sometimes, I just put a wet screen outside to dry.

I don't need to do that now. I'm not going to print with it until Saturday at the Summer Festival. It will be good and dry by then. I'll mix my ink and pack up everything that I will need for my demonstration. I hope that you can come to East Aurora and say hello. But, I will find someone to take photos of the printing process and I'll post them on this blog. It is impossible for me to photograph myself printing. I did take these photos with my left hand while holding the hose with the right.

ROYCROFT RENAISSANCE

SUMMER FESTIVAL

June 27 & 28, 10 - 5

I will be in the Copper Shop Gallery, across Grove St from the Roycroft Inn

71. Spreading the Screen Filler

2009-06-21T14:40:00.015-04:00

After completing the drawing fluid, I hold the screen up to the light to see if there are any pin holes in the drawing fluid. I correct these, make sure that the screen is dry and get ready to spread the screen filler.

The screen is elevated above the table with four blocks, cans, etc. These are placed under the frame of the screen. I have a piece of mat board with a nice straight edge ready as well as an old iced tea spoon. The mat board is about 2" shorter than the inside of the frame and larger than my image.

I mix the filler very well and put about 2 teaspoons on the far side of my screen on an area that I had varnished when I made the screen. The mat board will be held at about a 45 degree angle and it will spread all of the filler across the entire image. It is important not to let the mat board bow - it needs to be kept straight. This has to be done in one pass. The drawing fluid is very water soluble and will smear if you go back over it when it is wet.

If you should run short of filler just dry the screen (you can use a hair dryer) turn it around and repeat the process.

Leave the screen in it's horizontal position so that it can dry completely. You can use a hair dryer to speed things up. After the screen is dry take it to your laundry sink or outside to a garden hose and wet both sides with cold water. Then increase the water pressure and spray away all of the drawing fluid.

70. Painting the drawing fluid onto the screen

2009-06-20T15:11:00.000-04:00

With the design in register under the screen I will start outlining all of the areas that I want to print. I decided to use the RR mark and have painted around it. I have also painted around the small squares in the corners of the print. I use a watercolor brush and keep a container of water and a paper towel nearby to wash the brush.

I have small pieces of mat board separating the screen from the drawing so the fluid doesn't go through the screen onto the drawing - this will create pin holes in the drawing fluid and mess up my print.

In the photo on the right all of the drawing fluid has been painted onto the screen. I have filled in all of the areas that I outlined.

All of the blue areas will be able to be printed.

Everything that is white will be the color of the paper. I plan to print on brown paper.

My idea is to print the first color, maybe red or green. I will need to print more than I expect to have in my edition.

Then I will paint more drawing fluid wherever I want the second color be. Again I will spread screen filler over all, wash out the drawing fluid let it dry and I will be ready to print the second color.The second color will cover the print except for the chair cushion and a little of the first color as a border around the edge of the print.

I may add a third color - I'm not sure. The screen is ready for the next step.

69. My Chair - Summer Festival Demonstration

2009-06-19T15:27:00.010-04:00

This will be a simple reduction print . I started with a drawing of one of my dining room chairs; it was made by the Buffalo Chair Works (Buffalo Chair works was originally Edwin Sikes and Co. It changed to Buffalo Chair works in 1875 and went out of business in 1919. It was located in Buffalo New York.)

I want my design to fill the printed area. I have decided to print this on a brown, recycled paper. The paper is 81/2" x 11". Instead of printing the chair I will print the background and the chair seat. The brown paper will be the color of the chair. I have glued my drawing onto an 8 1/2" x 11" piece of print paper. I have placed the Roycroft Renaissance mark on my drawing - I may print it - I may not.

Two registration tabs have been glued and taped at the lower right hand corner and one is on the right almost to the top. The print paper will butt right up against these tabs. They will act as stops when I place my paper against them.

With the drawing taped in place I can see it through the transparent screen. I will paint directly on the screen with Hunt Speedball screen drawing fluid. Everything that is to be any color will be painted with drawing fluid. Even though I will be printing at least two colors every area to be printed any color must be covered.

This can be confusing at first. Reduction prints get their name because you reduce the printed area for each new color. The first color will be underneath all successive colors; it will be the largest printed area. Then by painting drawing fluid into the open areas of the screen a stencil is created for the second color. The first color will show wherever you don't put any drawing fluid. Continue this process until you have all of the colors printed. Three colors is enough to get really interesting prints, but you can print as many colors as you want.

One thing to realize right at the beginning is that you can't go back and print more of the first color after you alter the screen for the second color! You will always be making a limited edition. Print lots of copies right at the beginning -- more than you think you want, because you'll probably ruin a few in later stages.

68. Roycroft Summer Festival, 2009

2009-06-19T13:21:00.009-04:00

THE RAILROAD DOESN'T COME HERE ANY MORE,
BUT YOU CAN STILL COME TO THE SUMMER FESTIVAL

SATURDAY AND SUNDAY, JUNE 27 AND 28, 10 AM - 5 PM
Main (Rt. 20A) and South Grove Sts., East Aurora, NY

I will be in the Copper Shop Gallery with a display of my work and I will be demonstrating the process of screen printing (my way). Mary Schichtel will be with me - we will be working on our prints and will be able to answer any questions that you have.

Last year I put my demonstration on this blog. Afterwards, I decided that it was too complicated, this year I have designed a simple reduction print in two or three colors that I will be developing during the Festival. I will post the preliminary steps in the next few days and the final print after the Festival.

I made this little print titled "Pennsylvania Railroad Station, East Aurora, NY" (5" x 8") in 1997. The design was selected to be a premium for patron members of the Roycrofters At Large Association. The edition was 250 - the first 150 were the premiums, the remainder were mine to market after one year. The print was made with two screens, one had the black background, lettering and detail and the other screen was used to print all of the colors.

67. The final print

2009-05-23T15:28:00.015-04:00

I started this print on April 22, daffodils and tulips were everywhere.
It is now late May, Bleeding Hearts, Forget-me-nots, Lilacs and Columbines have taken over.

This was the most ambitious print I have made in a long time. The blogging has helped me to keep on track.

I was very concerned that the first screen wouldn't match up perfectly when I printed it over all of the other colors. I was very disapointed when I did print it, it matched up perfectly but the colors didn't look right to me.

The small photo on the right shows the original blue vase and the
final light green after I reprinted it.

The light green was too bright (see post 66) and so was the blue vase. After printing over them,
I was very pleased. The slight change in these colors made all of the difference in the print. Now I am going to mat and frame one for my dining room. I have just posted this print on my web site.

66. All of the colors have been printed with the second screen

2009-05-22T16:24:00.010-04:00

White is the last color to be printed before I go back to my first screen and print a dark color. In traditional block printing a key block was made first. I sometimes make a screen that has the line work that accents the design and holds the colors together. This is similar to a key block.

The next step will be to print the dark color with my first screen (April 29). I don't like to use black, it is just too dead. I will mix a very dark brown that will compliment the dark oak and walnut frames that my husband makes for my prints.

I wasn't happy with my print when I added the dark brown.

The light green was too bright. In this photo, I have printed over the light green with a softer, duller color.

I was able to do this because
I still had much of my stencil on the screen. I painted drawing fluid into the areas that I wanted to be softer. I was careful not to cover any of the dark brown that I had just printed. I left small bits of screen unpainted so that the light green would show through in places. A Future stencil was made and the new light green has been printed over the old.

This worked so well that I decided to do the same with the large blue vase and some of the lettering at the bottom of the print.

65. Light green has been printed

2009-05-20T19:11:00.008-04:00

I have just printed with light green ink. It is on the vertical tulip area, the base of the goose bowl and a small spot on the mug. The stencil was made with Future and drawing fluid within the screen filler stencil.

The tulip flowers were blocked out with crayola crayon. I didn't even have to draw the outlines on the screen as I did earlier in post 61. I wasn't going to put a book under the screen for texture, I just wanted to let the yellow show with softer edges.

I simply used the print under my screen to show me where I should use the crayon and rubbed the crayon there.

After printing light green I cleaned all of the Future from the screen again before making a Future stencil for the white geese.

64. Two more blues

2009-05-20T13:51:00.012-04:00

I have printed two more blues. Future stencils were made within the first blue stencil. First, a lighter blue was printed. And thenan even lighter, slightly different blue was printed on the vase and the goose bowl. These were reduction stencils within the first blue stencil.
After printing these I cleaned all of the Future from the screen with ammonia.
This left the screen filler stencil from post 63. in place for the rest of my colors. I will use Future stencils for light green and white. Then I will print my first screen on top of all of the colors.

The photo at the bottom of this post is a close-up of all three blues.

63. Working within the screen filler stencil

2009-05-18T19:28:00.011-04:00

I have started to paint drawing fluid into the stencil that I just made. I am careful in the areas where my color is not confined by screen filler. In any other place, like the lettering, I can just brush it all over the area.

I will use Future to make my stencil for the blues. I will print everything with a deep blue ink and then paint drawing fluid into the openings to make reduction stencils for the other two blues. There is just a touch of blue in the vertical tulip designs. The rest of this will be a light green as well as the bottom of the bowl. These areas and the geese are protected with the Future stencil.

Now I have printed the first blue. It is close in value to the green.

I didn't want the lettering across the bottom to stand out. When I print the first screen over the colors the words on the left will show more.

I think that I have just five more colors to print; two more blues, light green and white, then I will be able to print the first screen on top of everything - I hope that it comes out the way that I envision it.

62. Tan over green

2009-05-16T16:01:00.009-04:00

There are a few places that are to be tan on top of the green that I have just printed. The Future stencil (clear)and the screen filler stencil (red) are still in place on the screen. I have painted drawing fluid everywhere I want the tan color. There is a little on the foliage and on two of the pottery pieces.
I spread two coats of Future over all, wash out the drawing fluid and print tan.

After I print tan and wash the ink from the screen I remove the Future stencil with ammonia.

I want to make another screen filler stencil on top of the previous ones. This time I want to block out the tan and green and leave all of the areas that are to be blue, light green or white open.
I have outlined the words "Saturday Evening Girls" and added "Paul Revere Pottery across the bottom border. I have carefully painted these areas as well as the ones that will be any other color. This includes parts of the vase, the bowl and the mug and a wide stripe across the top and the right hand side of the border.
Then I spread screen filler as I did in post 53; dried the screen and washed out the drawing fluid. When this is dry I will proceed to make Future stencils within the screen filler stencil on my screen.

61. Crayola crayon rubbing

2009-05-15T15:25:00.015-04:00

I am ready to print, but first I will deal with those daffodils that are on the vase. I want to make them less intense than the fresh flowers in the vase. The actual vase has some green glaze over the yellow in this area. There was no Future in this area and it will print green. First, I traced the outline of the daffodils directly onto the screen with a soft pencil. I found a book that had a textured cover for my rubbing. I placed the book under the screen and rubbed the crayon into the parts of the flowers that I wanted to show as yellow. There is a section of My Manual on my web site that tells about rubbings. The crayola acts as a blockout with the water based ink and allows me to have a texture in my print instead of just solid color.

You can see in this photo that the yellow on the vase recedes. I will be using the same technique on the tulips later.

This small photo shows the green ink on plain white paper.

60. Another screen filler stencil

2009-05-12T19:34:00.020-04:00

The most intense area in this print will be the yellow daffodils. I want to keep them as they are until I print the first screen with my line work over all the rest. I have painted screen drawing fluid on the screen everywhere there is to be any color except yellow. I have even covered the yellows in the vase and the vertical tulips - I will be dealing with these differently. The drawing fluid looks wet even when it is dry. After it is completly dry I will spread screen filler over the entire screen as I did in post 53. Then I will wash out the drawing fluid. Screen filler will cover the yellow daffodils. The outer margin, the vertical tulips, the pottery and the foliage of the daffodils will still be open. I will be able to print the rest of my colors within this stencil using the Future floor finish method.

In this next photo the yellow daffodils have been blocked out with red screen filler. The next color that I will print will be laurel green. I have painted drawing fluid onto the screen wherever I want to print green. I have covered the yellow daffodils on the vase with drawing fluid, I will deal with them later.

There are areas of drawing fluid that will be a lighter green, blue and tan. The largest area will be the laurel green. This will be on the outer border, the foliage of the daffodils and parts of the pottery.

I will use Future floor finish for my stencil this time because I want to be able to go back and print the tulips and the pottery after I finish with this stencil. Now - two coats of Future, wash out the drawing fluid and dry the screen and I'm ready to print.

I have mixed a shade of green ink that I call laurel. It is a soft medium green, similar to the “mat green” glaze on so much Arts and Crafts pottery. Again, I am using water soluble Speedball Textile screen printing ink.

59. Another yellow will be printed

2009-05-06T15:43:00.010-04:00

With the Future and the screen filler stencils still on the screen I have painted screen drawing fluid wherever I want to print a slightly deeper yellow. I want to have some texture on the daffodils, the two tulips will be solid and the geese will have the darker color on their feet and bills. Then just as before I spread two coats of Future let it dry and then washed out the drawing fluid.

I will print with Speedball Acrylic screen printing ink this time. The deep medium yellow isn't available in the textile ink that I usually use. The Acrylic ink works perfectly with the textile ink - it just can't be used on fabrics that will be washed. This color is very close to the first yellow that I printed. It shows up better when printed alone on white paper as in this next photo.

After printing this second yellow I clean the screen and remove the Future stencil with ammonia. The red screen filler stencil will stay on the screen.

Both yellows have been printed and now I will go on to the next step.

58. Making the Future Floor Finish Stencil

2009-05-05T18:58:00.013-04:00

After painting drawing fluid everywhere that I wanted to print yellow I followed the directions in the previous post to make the stencil. The screen was raised above my table with blocks and a small amount of the thickened Future was placed on the hinged end of the screen. I drew all of the Future toward me, across the entire screen with a strip of mat board held at a 45 degree angle. When I reached the end of the screen, I let the mat board rest against the frame and quickly dried the Future with a hair drier. Then I turned the screen 180 degrees and pulled the Future that was still on the screen back across to the other end. I dried it again. Now I had two coats of Future on my screen. I let it dry completly. Then I sprayed it with cold water to remove the blue drawing fluid and let it dry again. I would have taken some photos for you, but the Future is transparent and it wouldn't have shown. There is always some residue of Future left in the stencil where you don't want it. Brush it away with a good stiff brush. The drawing fluid kept it from getting into the mesh of the screen.

I have cut about 36 pieces of fawn, Stonehenge paper 15" x 19" for my edition. This is a 100% rag paper with a nice deckle on two sides. I place my paper onto the screen bed, up against my register guides. The screen is in place and I have mixed a very intense yellow Speedball textile screen printing ink with some Speedball transparent base. This will allow the fawn tone of the paper to modify the yellow.

I place a good amount of ink on the far side of the screen and squeegee the ink, pulling toward myself. I repeat this for each of the 36 pieces of paper. This photo shows the first color printed.

I lay the wet prints around my studio, on the counter tops and even on the floor. I don't hang them up because I need to keep a steady pace so that the ink doesn't dry in my screen. The whole room took on a bright, sunny look as I filled it with my prints. When I had printed all of the paper I scraped up the ink from the squeegee and the screen. Then, back in my laundry tub I washed every bit of ink away with cold water. The screen filler and the Future stencil stay on the screen.

This print combines a screen filler stencil (screen 1) and Future stencils (all on screen 2). I'm not sure of just how many colors I will be printing with screen 2.

The white paper that shows is the glued down first print that will stay on the screen bed until I am finished. It was set away from the register guides.

57. A Future Floor Wax Stencil

2009-05-05T16:08:00.013-04:00

Future floor wax isn't really a wax. It is a hard acrylic finish. It cleans up with ammonia. The last bottle that I bought says "Future Floor Finish". The following is in "My Manual" on my web site http://www.dorothymarkert.com/

I made this print "My Cup of Tea" with one screen using this method - there are 7 colors in it. The Daffodil print on this blog will be made with 2 screens.

USING FLOOR WAX (FINISH) TO MAKE A MULTICOLOR PRINT:
I have been using thickened Future floor wax for many of my recent prints. The Future is reduced on the stove by simmering about 1/2 hour, or until it is about half the volume that you start with. You might think that you have ruined your cooking pot, but it cleans up completely with ammonia and warm water.

I start by using drawing fluid to cover all areas that are to be any color, sometimes this is just a rectangular block. Drawing fluid is painted onto the screen everywhere except where just paper will show, often this is just the margin around the image. Then I spread screen filler over the screen. I let it dry and wash out the drawing fluid. This leaves all of the areas of the design to be printed open on the screen.

Then I start by painting all of the areas to be the first color with drawing fluid. When it is dry I cover the screen with prepared Future. I use almost the same technique that I use to spread screen filler. The screen is elevated above the table top and a small amount of Future is poured onto the blocked out area on the top of the screen. Then I take a strip of mat board and pull the wax across the image. I leave the mat board tilted against the bottom of the frame and quickly dry the image area with a hair dryer. The I turn the screen 180 degrees and pull the Future back across the screen in the opposite direction from the first time. I wipe off any heavy deposit of Future that is on the screen filler with a paper towel. Again I dry it with the hair dryer. It is important to work on just the top side of your screen for all the steps.
Let the screen dry thoroughly. In the winter I put it by a heat vent and out in the sunshine in the summer. When it is completely dry, I use a sponge and cold water to dissolve the drawing fluid and wipe down the screen. After it is dry again, any residue of Future in the print area will come off by using a bristle brush.

The resulting stencil can then be printed with the first color, just like any other stencil. The Future stencil is more delicate than a screen filler one. You should not expect to wash the ink from it and print it again. After printing the first color, I wash the ink from the screen. I think of the Future stencils as temporary and the screen filler stencils as permanent. Ammonia easily removes the Future and doesn't disturb the screen filler. Only a strong detergent and very hot water will remove the screen filler.

I can use the existing stencil for a reduction stencil by painting into the open areas of screen wherever I want to print the second color. Or after washing off the ink, I can remove the stencil by applying clear household ammonia (not sudsy) directly onto the screen and rinsing with cold water. This will remove the Future and leave the screen filler. Do not use detergent ammonia, it will remove the screen filler.

When the screen is dry, drawing fluid is used again to create the stencil for the second color. This is done either on the ammonia cleaned screen or as a reduction in the openings in the Future that were made for the first color.

Repeat the process for as many colors as you want to use.
This process can be combined with other techniques.

I often use two screens, one a detail, the outline and final color to be printed , made with drawing fluid and screen filler. I print this on a glued down paper on the screen bed.
Then, using that image as a guide I use the Future method on another screen for the colors that will be printed first. After printing all of the first colors, I print the stencil on the first screen on top of all of the rest.

A mask of screen filler can be used over again to make prints of the same size. It is easy to spread the Future on the small area that the screen filler leaves.

I know, it sounds involved - but if you go step by step - it works.

56. Preparing to print yellow

2009-05-04T14:07:00.010-04:00

Here is my second screen.

Everywhere I don't want to print with this screen has been blocked out with the red screen filler. This was done in the previous steps.

Now I am getting ready to print the first color of my edition. I have chosen to print yellow first because it is translucent and it will not cover other colors well.

With the second screen hinged to the screen bed and the dark print underneath I painted drawing fluid directly on the screen wherever I wanted to print yellow. This included the daffodils in the vase and on the vase, the two tulips in the vertical band and the beaks and feet of the geese. Again, I let it extend beyond the outlines because I know that the other colors that I will be using will cover the yellow ink. You can click on the photo for a close up. I have to be much more careful when I get to the other colors.

The screen is throughly dried before I continue to make a stencil with Future floor wax. That will be my next post.

55. The second screen

2009-05-03T12:19:00.012-04:00

I have my second screen hinged onto the screen bed; the print from the first screen shows through the transparent screen. Again, I separate the screen from the bed with a few strips of mat board and paint blue Speedball drawing fluid wherever I want to have any color other than the dark from my first screen. The rim of the goose bowl and most of the mug will be left as plain paper as well as the margin around the print.

I didn't put any drawing fluid onto the large dark areas; but I did extend into it about 1/8 of an inch. I tried to paint the drawing fluid so that it would split the outlines on the bowl and mug. I will be printing all of the successive colors with this screen.

The next steps will be to spread the red screen filler over the entire screen, let it dry, wash out the drawing fluid and dry it again as in posts 53 & 54.

54. Washing out the drawing fluid

2009-04-29T11:40:00.007-04:00

The screen has been set into my laundry tub. I have a garden hose sprayer attached to my faucet. Cold water is sprayed onto the blue drawing fluid which is so soluble that it rinses away easily leaving the red screen filler stencil. I first wet both sides of the screen with cold water and then increase the water pressure, aiming at the drawing fluid until it is gone and the stencil is open.
This screen is hinged onto a board with loose pin hinges. When I take the screen out of the hinges in order to work on it,I know that it will go back into the same position on the board because of the hinges. I will print a few from this screen including one on a piece of print paper that I will glue down onto the backing board. I will use that print as a guide for all of the colors. I can touch up this stencil by painting a little screen filler wherever I don't want any dark ink. It is easy to close areas but hard to open them up.

Here is a print made with this screen. It was printed onto a piece of print paper that was glued and taped onto the screen bed. It was place slightly away from the registration guides so that it wouldn't be in the way as I printed. I will leave it there while I print all of the colors except the color from this first screen.

I printed a few of these with black Speedball water based, textile ink; I like to use them to paint with water colors to see how my color scheme will look. The last one to be printed was the one on the screen bed. Then I washed the ink from the screen with cold water. I was careful to remove all of the ink from both sides of the screen, the corners, etc.

Then I put the first screen away. I will not need it until I print all of the colors with a second screen. That screen can also be hinged to this screen bed. I will use this second screen to create all of the colors in my print. The print on my screen bed will be the guide for the other colors. I have a pencil line that shows the outer edge of the finished print.

53. Drawing fluid has been completed

2009-04-28T14:13:00.013-04:00

53. Everything that I want to print with my dark color has been painted onto the screen with blue Speedball drawing fluid. I'm glad that it is blue and I can see the lights and darks in my composition.

The lettering and the vertical tulip design weren't in my original drawing. I laid them out on separate pieces of paper and slipped them into place under my screen so that I could paint them.

The drawing fluid is water soluble; I can make changes by washing out anything I don't want with clear water. The area needs to be completly dry before I can paint more drawing fluid into it.

The photo is a little distorted, the print will be a perfect rectangle. There are pencil lines on the screen showing the edges of the finished print.

When I felt that I had everything that I wanted on the screen, I held it up against the light to check for pinholes or any skipped places in the drawing fluid. Then the screen was dried completly before the next step.

The screen was raised horizontally above my table with 4 blocks. I put about 3 teaspoons of dark red Speedball screen filler across the far side of my screen and with a piece of mat board I drew all of the filler across the entire screen with one pull.

Because the drawing fluid is so water soluble it would smear if I went over it again with the wet screen filler. If there was a problem and I needed to go back over it, I would just wait for it to dry before putting on a second coat. I tried to keep the mat board from bowing and at a 45 degree angle to the screen. The entire screen was covered with filler. I used a hair dryer to help set the filler and left the screen in it's horizontal position to dry completly.

52. Saturday Evening Girls

2009-04-23T15:08:00.008-04:00

I have long been aware of the Saturday Evening Girls and their wonderful pottery decorations. There is something in each piece that says “Spring and Joy” to me. I have been reading "Art and Reform" by Nonie Gadsden. It tells of the belief in the power of art to uplift and inspire.
My design combines some this work along with Marg’s daffodils.

The Saturday Evening Girls Club was a library reading groups for high-school-age girls at the North End Branch of the Boston Public Library. It was developed by reform-minded local philanthropists to educate and assimilate immigrant girls and to keep them "off the streets." The Saturday Evening group included the oldest girls, many of whom had dropped out of school in order to contribute to their family's income.

The Paul Revere Pottery was established to offer these girls a healthy and safe environment to earn their wages, surrounded by their peers. The SEGs, as they came to call themselves, decorated the Pottery's bowls, plates, vases, and other forms with stylized imagery of animals, flowers, landscapes, and other designs in earthy tones of blue, green, yellow and brown. The playful ceramics could be personalized with names, initials, or moralistic mottos. In the workrooms, someone would read aloud to the girls every afternoon along with the small staff: potter,designer, kilnman and assistant. The Pottery's production and the height of their artistic achievement and success peaked in the mid-1910s.

Exerpts from”The Art that is Life” by Wendy Kaplan
and the collection of the Museum of Fine Art, Boston, MA http://www.mfa.org/index.asp

This is a good explanation of the SEGs http://www.arts-crafts.com/archive/pottery/seg.shtml

Back to making the print - The drawing has been placed under the screen and taped down. I have the screen separated from the drawing with strips of mat board to keep the Screen Drawing Fluid from going through the screen onto the drawing. I can move these strips to wherever I am working. Then, as I can see the drawing I simply trace the lines that I want to print and fill in the background wherever I want my dark color. The drawing fluid is water soluble. I can erase any mistakes with clear water. When designing my print I felt the need for a verticle element on the left. This will probably be a different color. I will leave it empty until I decide just what to do with it. The same with the outer borders. I often think about this type of area while I am painting the main part of the design. I'm not sure of what I will do - I'm thinking about the words "SATURDAY EVENING GIRLS". I use a water color brush to paint the drawing fluid onto the screen. The straight lines were made with an old fashioned ruling pan and a straight edge. I will keep on painting until everything that is to be my dark color has been painted with Speedball Screen Drawing fluid.

51. Daffodil Days

2009-04-22T14:12:00.009-04:00

I have been thinking of working on a new, large print. It would be made with two screens; one would have all of the dark line work that would outline the images as well as a dark background.

It would serve as the key block in traditional block printing. This would be printed last on top of the colors that would be made with the second screen. But even though it would be printed last I need to make it first and print one in register as a guide for the other colors.

My neighbor's daffodils called to me. She was away and I knew she would approve, I went across the street and picked myself a nice bouquet.

This was my inspiration - the intense yellow is just what I wanted.

I made a working drawing of the daffodils.

I put them in a different vase along with some other pieces of Paul Revere Pottery decorated by "The Saturday Evening Girls". I found the vase and the rabbit mug on the Internet.

The goose bowl is from the book "Art and Reform" by Nonie Gadsden.

This drawing has been mounted onto a sheet of print paper that is the same size that I will use for the edition.

It will be placed under the transparent screen and I will paint drawing fluid directly onto the screen wherever I want the ink to print.

The bold, black lines on the original pottery were created with the cuerda seca technique. The lines of the designs were deeply incised into the clay body before filling them with black tinted wax.

I hope that I can capture these expressive lines as I paint them with my drawing fluid.

50. Winter Class

2009-02-27T10:25:00.013-05:00

For the past five weeks I have been teaching a screen printing class at the Centennial Art Center here in Hamburg. It is a great place to have a class. On Sunday afternoons we have the building all to ourselves. It was a functioning one room schoolhouse until the 1950s. The deed to the land states that it can be used only for educational purposes. The Town of Hamburg, NY owns the building and the Art Center organization runs the programs. I am a charter member and I have taught there for many years. This winter, I had five students from past years and two new ones.

above

Mary painting drawing fluid onto her screen.

right
Laurie spreading screen filler over her entire screen with a strip of mat board.

I took advantage of the class to take some photos of some of the steps involved in screen printing. It is hard to photograph myself working.

above

Linda printing a light green onto her flowers.

right - The prints are spread out to dry. The whole room looks like spring in spite of the snow whirling around outside.

My next class will be at the Roycroft Campus on Saturday, March 28 in the Copper Shop in East Aurora. It will be an introduction. We will be printing just one color, but the same basic process can be used for multicolor prints. For more information. Artisan classes.