Printing and playing with geospun textiles

Hello ... thank you for visiting today

I'm hoping to get this blog back on track now as I have a few weeks where I will have a little more time to devote to blogging and there is so much to share ... so I shall get on then ...

Biddy Picard

I love to visit galleries every chance I get and I'm very lucky that there are many exhibitions of beautiful and inspiring work close to where I live. I do try to keep up with as many as I can and I have a growing collection of art cards, original prints and small original pieces of work which I keep in my sketchbooks

Recent exhibitions have included paintings by John Piper and beautiful ceramics by Linda Styles at The Lighthouse Gallery in Penzance and the exhibition of work by The Penwith Printmakers at The Crypt Gallery in St. Ives

I think I pick this catalogue up each time I go but it's very useful and explains all the different types of making an original print ... intaglio printmaking including etching and stone lithography, relief printing including collographs, woodcut and wood engraving, monoprinting and screen printing and also contains information on the members' work. So interesting to see the many different styles of work too

I went with my friend Jo to see the current exhibition after our Crow Day. On that particular day Carol Lander was moderating and I was so pleased to meet her and be able to chat to her about her work

meeting Carol Lander

Carol creates the most beautiful linocut prints often featuring sead heads and seed pods which is a subject close to my own heart

I fell in love with the image on the left which is called "Moon Flowers" and I was so lucky that Carol sent me a copy of the print on a card in the post to me

thank you so much Carol ♥

moon flowers

Carol was very generous with her time and explained how she builds up the layers of her images by printing and then cutting into the same linocut several times to create prints that are many colours and shades. This method means only a limited number of prints can be made and can never be reproduced

This is another card I bought which was printed in this way
I chose it because of my love of the umbelliferous shapes

if you are ever down in St. Ives when this exhibition is on
I would recommend it

coming up ... at The Crypt Gallery, St. Ives
September 24th - October 7th

an exhibition of work by
Brian Busselle, Stuart Thorn and John Higgins

St. Ives Society of Artists Gallery in Norway Square regularly have original printed work by two of my favourite artists Peter Wray and Marie Keeling. I have been collecting small original prints on cards by both artists

Peter Wray

original collagraph by Marie Keeling

Marie Keeling

I'm saving up to go on a workshop with Peter Wray
but they get pretty booked up so will probably be next year now
something to look forward to!

Peter Wray

love this print by Peter Wray because it reminds me of Cornish lichen found everywhere in St. Ives on the granite walls and rooftops

and I'm noticing printed designs everywhere right now
they are especially popular at the moment

late summer prints in Country Homes and Interiors magazine

and an article on Angie Lewin and her printing process and designs
in the September issue of Handmade Living magazine

and this would have been the appropriate time to share with you some dry point printing I did on a workshop with Jesse Leroy Smith but, as I write this, I'm not sure where the prints are ... so no doubt they will come out in a later post at some stage ...

... instead I shall share with you
a new material that I've been playing with ...

it was sent to me by Chris Gray of Butterfly Threads
and she calls it butterfly geospun textile fabric
she is currently selling it on her stall at The Festival of Quilts
and she will be at The Knitting & Stitching Show, Harrogate

Chris sent it to me because she knows I love to heat, melt and bond things. It's a white fabric very similar to fibretex but softer

I painted a large fat quarter size of it with watered down acrylic paints in colours of St. Ives bay. I found it best to give the fabric a good soaking in cold water before painting. Then left it to dry outside on the washing line

once the paint was dry
I cut into strips and zapped with my heat gun

the strips crinkled up nicely and the colours deepened
oh I had such fun!

I love these!

and then I made some beads

they look a little "alien" with knobbly bits on
so I highlighted these with gold
I think I will keep them ...
I shall enjoy using them in my projects

this past week I have been listing more of my beads in my shop
there are still just a few left
and I shall be listing more over the weekend

and I can take custom orders for the next three weeks
if you are interested in a particular colour scheme or size

just let me know what you would like to see in the shop

my shop

I just got back from a wonderful trip to The Festival of Quilts
where I met up with so many lovely, lovely blog friends

the quilts were amazing and I took loads of photos
also did a little shopping too ...

I will get my photos organised and post some of the quilts here
have a lovely weekend and thank you for visiting

Carolyn ♥