Today I’ve been combining block prints with Gelli® prints using freezer paper to mask off sections.
The one below did not come out how I wanted but I think the distressed look might be nice to sew into later.
I’ve also been printing some fabric for the collaborative project. I’ve left the masks on here so it’s more of a surprise for the others tomorrow when the design will become clear.
After a short break to deal with some COVID infected family, today I was back in the studio carving print blocks. These were carved into foam using a soldering iron and I printed them out on paper to see how they came out. Tomorrow I’ll be using them with the Gelli ® plate.
Tiiu and I arrived at Midland Junction Arts Centre for our first day in the studio as artists in residence. First thing was to get some colour on those white walls.
And here we are hard at work
Today I’ve been looking closely at Klimt’s paintings and isolating patterns I’ll be able to use for print blocks and quilting. Klimt uses a variety of geometric shapes such as squares, rectangles, circles, ovals, equilateral triangles and isosceles triangles. Added to these are spirals, zig-zags, and eyes.
I’ve prepared some foam block ready for carving tomorrow
I was thinking about my upcoming artist residence and wondering what my goals should be? What should I aim to achieve? I’m sure the organisers over at WAQA and the Stitched and Bound exhibition committee have the goal of promotion of the association (there’s a free plug link girls!) but what of the goals of individual artists? I went looking on the internet to see what other artist say about getting the most out of a residency. There was surprisingly little to find.
Many residencies have a “live in” component where artists can really make the most of immersing themselves in their art without any interruptions from their everyday life, some are even fully catered! Unfortunately for me this residency is not one of those. However one of my goals of this residency is to really have a large amount of uninterrupted time to get into a project even if I do have to go home and make dinner each night. Having the time and space to fully explore a theme will be wonderful.
Other advice is to explore (and be inspired by) the local area around the residency. But this is Midland! Say no more. A piece of advice I will be taking is to catch up with other artists working at the same time at the gallery and be inspired by what they are doing. For the first week I’ll be sharing the studio with fellow quilt artist Tiiu Stojanovic. I can’t wait to see what she’s making. There are also other artists working at the gallery and I’ll be taking a look at what they are working on.
The last piece of advice I’ll definitely be following is to have a plan but don’t worry if you go off in a completely different direction. Knowing me it’s surprising I have a plan at all; I’m much more interested in process and exploration than in having a finished piece or new body of work.
Keep an eye out here to see how I go.
I’m proud to announce that this coming week (and the next) I’m representing the West Australian Quilters Association as one of several artists in residence at Midland Junction Arts Centre. The artist residency program runs alongside the Stitched and Bound textile exhibition. I’ll be spending my time printing fabric using the Gelli® plate, lino cuts and other print blocks. I’m hoping to create a nice stash of fabrics in the style of the artist Klimt who you’ll probably know from paintings such as “The Kiss”.
To begin with I’ll be studying some of Klimt’s painting and identifying shapes and patterns suitable for print blocks. Next I’ll be carving these designs into lino and also carving some into craft foam with the soldering iron. I’ll be using these blocks in combination with the Gelli® plate to print some fabrics which I then hope to stitch into a Klimt inspired quilt. Perhaps they will be similar to the designs below but with lots more gold just like Klimt’s paintings.
If you would like to visit you are most welcome anytime the gallery is open (Wednesday to Saturday).
