kimberly ollis
828.403.6477
  • Home
  • Galleries
    • Scriptural Art Quilts
    • Therapeutic Art Quilts
    • Artistically Enhanced Photography
  • Shows & Events
  • Workshops & Techniques
  • Contact
  • Artist Statement

Shibori Class

7/21/2012

0 Comments

 
     We had a wonderful Shibori dyeing class today!  We were a small group, but that meant we could giggle and play all we wanted, and that we did!  I have been promised pictures, so I will happily post them when I receive them.
0 Comments

Deconstructed Fun Tutorial

7/12/2012

0 Comments

 
     I had some time to myself yesterday, thanks to my wonderful Mother and Father-in-law, so I was working on my Healing art quilt and had some thickened dye left over.   I try not to waste anything, so I thought about what I could use it for. I have been missing deconstructed screen printing so much, I decided to get in there and have some fun!  Carpe Diem!!  Nothing in visual art grabs me and moves me quiet the way interesting textures and organic shapes do!  And in my work I am constantly looking for new ways to make a new kind of mark.
     This technique was one of the first I learned about as a new fiber artist, but as many of you know, every time you use a technique, you learn something new.  If you haven't done this, try it, and don't have any preconceived expectations when you do.  Just say, "whatever it looks like, that's what it is," and go from there.  In my opinion, this technique produces some of the most interesting designs and patterns EVER in surface designing!  Here's what I did, and how it turned out:
Picture
The first step in making a deconstruction screen (after the actual screen itself is ready--that's a whole other tutorial :), is to decide what flat objects you want on your screen to create the lovely texture you are seeking. I knew I wanted to use leaves in the foreground and something textural in the background, because you want to fill up your screen space if you can. Once you put your items under your screen on a print board, mix your dye color with your print paste (more on this later) and using a Squeegee apply the thickened dye to the screen making enough passes to saturate the screen. Leave everything as it is, removing nothing, but try to see if you can turn it over and let it dry overnight. You can dry it manually with a hair dryer, if you can't wait (I understand :) If you can't turn it over without disturbing it, then leave it upside down on the table to dry. I used tape, because the green safety screening did not want to lay down flat. This is the back of the screen after it had dried overnight. Sorry, I took the other two apart before I thought about snapping a picture.
Picture
Here is my favorite little screen of the three. I think the little leaf trio in the middle is adorable. The background was created using some text filled scrap booking paper that I painted with house paint to make it reusable and washable. This screen is sage green.
Picture
See what I mean about the unusual texture? I love it! This was done with my left over brown thickened dye. This is the screen you see above with the safety screen on it. The safety screen did not show up as well as I had hoped, because it was not making continuous contact with the silk on the screen.
Picture
The final screen was the largest, and contained only a variety of leaves to create the interesting patterns. I love how these look! This one is a muted purple to match my studio where the art quilt will eventually hang.
Picture
Now that your screen has dried over night, you will need pre-mixed print paste (clear is used here, you can also use another color of dye if you wish), a squeegee, your screen and some dry fabric that has been pre-soaked in soda ash solution (combine 1/3 cup of soda ash to one gallon of warm water and keep in an air tight container to be used until it runs out, soak fabric for at least 15 mins. then hang to dry--DO NOT PUT SODA ASH SOAKED FABRIC IN YOUR DRYER, YOU WILL HAVE TO BUY A NEW DRYER IF YOU DO!) Print paste is made in a blender using 4 tsp. of sodium alginate, 3/4 cup of urea and 4 cups of water, you need to make this at least 2 hours before you print with it and keep it refrigerated for best results.
Picture
Pin your fabric to your print board or table with T pins, then pour your clear print paste in the "well" of your silk screen, as you can see that I've done here. It doesn't matter the exact amount, I just make sure there is some all the way across the screen, you can add more anytime you need to.
Picture
Wearing your gloves, hold the squeegee at about a 45 degree angle and drag the clear print paste across the screen, using a pretty good amount of force. You will need to make several passes to get the screen wet enough to transfer the dried dye to the new piece of fabric. As I said before, I used clear here, but you can always use another color of dye that has been thickened also to achieve another kind of look.
Picture
Here is what the printed fabric looks like. Purple was the screen color, then the white areas are where the dye color adhered to the screen and then transferred to the new fabric using the clear print paste.
Picture
Here is the chocolate brown piece that looked lighter in the screen picture because I held it up to the light so that the patterns would show up nicely for the camera.
Picture
Here is the little leaf cutie. Still my favorite. I hope this sagey, olivey green doesn't wash out too much, I really like the color!
Picture
You CANNOT forget this last part, you must "Batch" your fabric after you have done your screenprinting on it. It won't lose all of its color if you don't, but it will lose a lot of it, so don't forget. To batch fabric, you simply want to wrap it in plastic and expose it to heat of some kind, this will increase the amount of time that the dye has to interact with the fabric, making the molecular bond stronger and producing more vibrant and true to life colors. I use a heated blanket to batch my fabrics, I wrap each piece separately in individual pieces of plastic, wrap them up making them kind of air tight, and place them in the folds of the blanket and turn it on high over night. My blanket does not get very hot, so I have to use the high setting, which seems to work perfectly. I have also found it works great to put the wrapped plastic in the rear view window of the car outside, if it is hot outside. You have to find a way to expose the pieces to heat while they are bonding with the dyes. Some people steam their fabrics, but I'm not a steamer, I tried it and didn't like it...
Picture
I couldn't resist sharing this picture that I spotted while I was rinsing out some dyed shirts that I made for the Arts Center. It took me back to the days of when I started working with dyes in the kitchen about 8 or 9 years ago, and when I had to keep my print paste in the fridge upstairs, because I didn't have another place to store it. This is a "no-no," always try to keep your dye materials separate from your eating area, if you possibly can. I am so thankful to have a place now to work, which is NOT in my kitchen and dining room!
     So, there you have it, Deconstructed Screen Printing, it's fun, it's fool proof , and it's very forgiving!  Have a blast, and if you want to know more about it, check out Kerr Grabowski's DVD, that was my favorite place to learn about doing it!  She's the creator of this technique and she is very entertaining to listen to and watch.  Wait for the line, "dirty alginate, sounds like the name of a band," giggle, giggle--she is hilarious! 
0 Comments

Sunprinting with Ferns

7/8/2012

0 Comments

 
     After going for a long walk in the woods yesterday, I spotted some beautiful ferns that screamed, "take us home and do some sunprinting with us!"  And so, I did.  I love this technique, it's easy to do, and basically fool proof.  Here's how it turned out.
Picture
I watered my paint down, one part paint and two parts water. Hurried and put my ferns on top of the wet fabric and pinned the ones that had attitudes and didn't want to lay flat (hint: it's a good idea to do this if there is a breeze blowing too), and put them out on my deck to bask in the sun for one hour, that's all it takes--if you leave it longer, it begins to blur the image.
Picture
Here's the whole lot after it had time in the sun and I brought it in the house and took off the leaves. I used fabrics that were given to me by a dear friend. One piece was a soft yellow, another a soft pink and the other a pretty rusty orange. I used indigo, oriental red, and velvet brown paint colors, I'll give you the link to the kind of paint I used later in this post.
Picture
Another shot of the fabrics. You can see that I just did lines of color with my foam brush, just really organic, not trying too hard. Also, I soak my ferns in a bowl of water for at least 15 minutes before I do this, because I think it helps them to relax and lay more naturally on the fabric.
Picture
This is a close-up of the original soft yellow fabric.
Picture
Here is a close up of the original soft pink fabric.
Picture
Here is a close up of the original orange piece.
     Now, I will heat set these colors with a hot iron, making sure to cover all of the fabric.  After that, I could paint on top again, add another layer of leaves and add more depth and texture to the fabric, and these fern impressions would remain; or I could use it as is.  The colors are washable as long as you heat set with the iron.  I used Pebeo Setacolor Transparent paints for this project, in indigo, oriental red, and velvet brown.  Give this technique a try, it's quick, it's easy and lots of fun to do and see what comes out in the end.
0 Comments

New Jewelry Piece and Art Quilt Beginning

7/2/2012

0 Comments

 
     I completed a new necklace and pair of earrings today.  I love the shell beads, lower right and upper left, that were broken and just nest together with the most beautiful shades of deep rose and dark gunmetal gray mingling inside.  This necklace can be dressed up or down, and will wear very comfortably with no large beads in the back to irritate your neck.  These pieces will go to the Valdese Heritage Arts Center for sale, as well as in my online shop.  I hope you like them.
Picture
     Facing two new health challenges, I decided I needed a healing tree art quilt near me daily, so I started this new piece.  It will hang in my upstairs studio and contain only scriptures about healing.  Here you see the batiked tree on heavy weight cotton.  I used a tjanting tool, and later a large brush to fill in the outline of the tree, using melted soy wax.  This fabric has been pre-soaked in soda ash solution and is pinned with T pins to my favorite print board (I'll have to do a post on how we made this print board, because I love it so much, you must make one for yourself, so you can love yours too!).  Now it is ready for the thickened dye, which I usually apply with an old credit card for the background.  This is how most of my art quilts begin.  In this piece, I dry brushed some of the soy wax into the background as well to give it an aged, antiqued look.  Right now, I'm picturing purple colors to match my studio, and maybe some brown and maybe even a little blue in there somewhere.
Picture
The pink areas is where you can see the colors of the print board behind the fabric through the melted wax. Sometimes I take the waxed tree off and scrunch it up to create lots of veining for the dye to run into, but this time I plan to leave it on the board and apply the dye without breaking the wax up.
0 Comments
    Picture

    kimberly ollis

    Forty something artistic soul finding her way through life discovering new insights almost every day through the gift of "making."

    View my Work

    Burke Arts Council
    and
    Valdese Heritage Arts Center

    Archives

    November 2014
    October 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012

    Categories

    All
    Commissioned Work
    Therapeutic Work
    Tutorials
    Website Updates
    Workshops

    RSS Feed

    Artists I Love
    Jamie Fingal
    Beth Bailey
    Kristi Steiner
    Wen Redmond
    Rayna Gillman
    Melanie Testa
    Jane Dunnewold
    Lisa Kerpoe
    Lotta Helleberg
    Vyvyan Emery

    Check out the cool stencils offered over @ Stencil Girl
    http://stencilgirlproducts.com/

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.