Gelli, Print, Wash, Cut and Stitch

I've been using these Khadi paper zig-zag books for printing and stitching. The paper is really strong and thick and can take lots of wet paint. First I mono-printed the flowers and then used Procion dye to colour them and the background, I used wet on wet to get lovely graduated colours. Next more flowers were added by stitching on layers of organza from both sides and then cutting the excess away. I deliberately placed some of the images over the folds in the book so I could cut partly round them to give a pop out effect.

The tea pots were first printed with a Gelli plate using stencils and combed paint in a range of blues. I then mono-printed on the teapots which were based on a photo I took of a teapot at the art gallery. I made one teapot smaller on a photocopier and overlapped them. The teapots were painted with dye which lets the print underneath shine through. Again I placed the images on the fold so they could be popped out.

These poppies were mono-printed on ordinary cartridge paper and then coloured with dye and popped out along the fold.

I don't think these are finished yet, I may work into them more with bleach or paint. Come back soon to see.