Saturday, May 17, 2008

Monoprinting Challenge

Monoprint challenge. Spread paint onto freezer paper or sheet of glass. Make a design or not, lay fabric over the paint, brayer fabric to create a tight bond, pull the fabric off and you'll have a new piece of fabric to play with. I love this technique! It's been years since I've done any monoprinting and suddenly ideas are springing up everywhere. Tips: brayer from the middle out to the edges, this makes for less movement of the fabric and a crisper lift of the print. Use only a couple of colors, otherwise you'll get mud. Use a brayer or paint spreader to evenly apply paint to the surface, make a quick design or use stencils or rubber stamps. I find that I often need to spritz water over the paint before putting the fabric over the design, but then it is 100+ degrees here in the desert right now!
Thank you Carol Taylor for another fun challenge!!!

I'm working on a couple more rusted objects monoprints similar to one posted a few days ago; they're not quite as instant as using acrylic paints or inks are.

Another piece that didn't make the grade for the collaborative. This one was re-worked numerous times before I finally stopped. There is a peeling paint effect that was achieved with gesso over black paint, sprayed with alcohol and rubbed until I liked it. Depth surprisingly occurred when light and dark shades started playing off of each other. This piece didn't jive with the direction of most of the work for the collaborative so it's now in my collection.

Kidney Transplant Update: We received news by mail late yesterday that an important clearance had been overlooked. Who do I blame and shout at?!?! This important neurology status about Stacy's seizures had been omitted from our list of 14 things to have done! It should have been number one. Unfortunately, yesterday the neurologists office phoned and canceled the appointment Stacy for the 27th with the news that Dr. L. can't see Stacy until July!!!!! I wasn't happy about that, but once the letter from Loma Linda was in my hands I hit the roof! One of the anti-epileptic meds would interfere with a kidney transplant anti-rejection med so unless the anti-epileptic med is changed, and that could have been done over the course of the last few months while the other tests had been done, she can't be put onto a transplant list. I'm having a very difficult time coming to terms with how this happened and what can be done about it. Stacy is wounded beyond reason. We're not having an easy time with this news. Dr. L. is one of the few overbooked neurologists in this area, so simply saying that I'll find another one isn't of much help.
I've just spent the last hour putting together the information and my concerns into a thick package of materials that I will carry to Dr. L's office on Monday. Hopefully, he'll see the need to start doing something about the med and he'll phone me. Plan B is to do a sit-in . . . This particular medicine has concerned Dr. L. for quite some time and he has wanted to wean her off it while trying another med. We're just a little late getting around to it. So, the saga continues . . .

Quote: Sally Huss to the rescue again!! "Give up your concerns, not your attention, but your concerns."

2 comments:

Carol said...

Oh love this is awful, why is nothing ever easy! I find hat he who shouts the loudest gets the help so go shout loud! Love the rust print and glad your enjoying the mono pritning.

Marilyn said...

I love this piece. Gail, you are such a trooper. I don't know how Stacy and you keep going. Your art is just so outstanding!