Pods, Pods, Pods, and Mono Printing

 And so the lockdown continues- case numbers keep rising and it seems people are so doing the wrong thing. I am sick and tired of people who think they are above and beyond- get real people this is a panademic, not your unfriendly neighbourhood flu.

I have been trying to achieve some work but because of lockdown I am unable to get a hold of the fabric I normally use to dye, so I have had to be sparing with what I have. I doubt whether I will be able to get fabric in the near future as I get it in Melbourne and Melbourne is locked down for awhile yet.

I am supposed to be having a small exhibition at the small gallery at ArcYinnar starting in October but who knows, however work still has to be made in anticipation of it happening even if it doesn't. I thought I would make work inspired by walks in the Crinigan Bushland Reserve where I walk almost daily. 

I purchased a cold press laminator last year and it sat and stared at me in its box for quite some time. But I finally set it up a few months ago and have been having quite a bit of fun with it. It has been great for printing lino onto fabric. It is not any faster but the evenness of the pressure means to overall print is better. Then awhile ago Jennifer Nieuwenhof showed a video of her monoprinting technique on paper and I thought I might give that a try on fabric! I can only get two prints on fabric as the fabric absorbs the printing ink, and I am using textile printing inks- but am rather chuffed with the results. I have used things found on my morning walks in the bushland reserve so these will be great to use for my exhibition. I love that I have been able to use foliage from my morning walks. 

This is the cold press laminator and some of the prints I have  made. I am not sure what brand it is as the box does not say nor does the piece itself. But it has two orange rollers. The pressure is adjustable and it has a small hand crank. I am using a piece of wood ply as my bed and it is 65 cm wide. It was around $140 delivered- and with the fun I have been having with it I  think that is really good value!

The image above is the first print- so that the foliage creates the negative space.

This is the second print showing the shadowing of the first print and with the foliage inked again. I just love how the kangaroo grass comes out int he printing process.

The piece above has been hand stitched ( this is A4 size). The image below has been machine stitched.

And my Pods, Pods, Pods class is running again on 19 September. there is still plenty of time to join into the pod making fun ( i have become a bit obsessed and tend to stitch them whilst binge watching stuff on my laptop at night). Once you get the hand of them, they come together quite quickly and there are three variations on offer which include a pod, a pomegranate and an urchin.There is a button below the last photo for the class which costs $25 and consists of pdf notes, video and we will have a zoom session a week after instructions have been delivered so we can share and ask questions.

The photo below shows a detail of the dots and colonial knots of the sea urchin.