roycroft-printmaker

In the Pines

2012-01-26T19:09:00.000-05:00

In the Pines

This print is another that started with a photograph. I took this photo in 2009 in Yellowstone National Park. I saw a Greuby tile with that name long ago and have wanted to make a print with the same title for a long time. I will be explaining how I made this to the class that starts in Feb at the Art Center in Hamburg, NY.

the original photograph

At first I made sure that I had two clean screens that were hinged to the same screen bed. Then I used Photoshop Elements to increase the contrast and remove the color of the photograph. I applied "Poster edges" and then I printed the image onto a sheet of laser transparency stock. Using this positive transparency I made a photographic screen. The next step was to print the image onto a sheet of print paper that was glued onto the screen bed. I also printed the image from the photo stencil onto a few sheets of print paper so that I could experiment with colored pencils and water colors.

Screen bed with photo silk screen

Above you can see the image printed onto the pasted down sheet of paper. After printing, I was able to set my register guides on the long side of the print paper. These are three pieces of cardboard; two at the corner and one on the side of the print paper. They are offset from the print paper so that they don't interfere with the printing.

Thinking about my next class

2011-12-09T19:06:00.002-05:00

Our Winter Garden, 2011

I have seven people signed up for my next class here in Hamburg, NY. This will be at the Centennial Art Center on Pleasant Ave. and Amsdell Rd. I have told them that we would do a photographic screen and I will show them how I made "Our Winter Garden" last fall. With that print, I started with a photographic screen of a photo that I had taken a few years back. I played with the photo on PhotoShop, using "poster edges", increasing contrast and removing the color.

When I was satisfied with the way that the image looked, I printed it on Laser Printer Transparency Film.

Screen Printing with Dorothy Markert

12 - 4 PM, 6 Sundays February 5, 12, 19, 26, and March 4 , 11

Cost $125

Students will receive individualized help with projects.

They will bring their own supplies.

One or two new screen printers will be accepted for this class. They will be sent a list of materials

Different processes will be demonstrated each week. Students will have the opportunity to make photographic screens, one-color prints,

multicolor and multi-screen reduction prints, textile printing

and prints made from crayon rubbings.

Class limit is 8.

To register call Dorothy 649-4052
or email dmarkert@dorothymarkert.com

This is a good class because we have six weeks and four hours to work each week. You need this amount of time to accomplish the projects. The four people signed up are experienced and are all great at sharing what they know. You can learn a lot just by seeing how everyone else works.

Time for another "Open House"

2011-11-18T19:47:00.011-05:00

Saturday and Sunday,
Dec. 3 & 4, 10 am - 5pm

For the past few years, I have not been in the Roycroft Winter (or Summer) Festival. It is just too much work lugging my work to East Aurora, setting it up and being there for two days. I can take my time, price my pieces, and arrange everything here at home. I use the first floor of my house as my gallery all year long. This will be in the village of Hamburg, NY, 14075. The address is 253 Maple Ave.

I had these postcards made by VistaPrint and mailed some of them out.

They show the range of my prints from flowers in Arts and Crafts vases, architectural and nature studies to the pottery of Clarice Cliff.

The winter scene, just above "Dorothy" just won an award at the Member's Show of the Centennial Art Center of Hamburg. It was the subject of posts made last September. It started with a photo silk screen from a photograph that I had taken years ago.

THE FINAL PRINT

2011-09-03T12:28:00.021-04:00

Photo print

After printing the third color with the same modified screen, I took out the photographic screen that I had made earlier.

I mixed a dark brown ink to use instead of the black ink that I used in this photo and carefully put each print against the register guides and printed.

I was very happy with the results. You can see the final print below - I ended up with an edition of 25. I immediately put it on my web site.

Our Winter Garden

THE THIRD COLOR

2011-09-02T11:00:00.007-04:00

THE THIRD COLOR

Again, I repeated the whole process. I painted screen drawing fluid wherever I wanted a darker, warmer gray-brown to print. I was able to paint right over the areas that are white and the first gray -they are already blocked out. The reduction process could go on and on.

After printing this third color - I liked the way the print looked - I could have just stopped at this point. But, that isn't the look that I wanted. I am going back to the first screen that I made using the photographic process. After printing some proofs, including the one on my screen bed, I cleaned the screen of ink and put it away in a safe place.

You can go back to my post of August 29 to review how that was done.

I'm very curious to see how the fourth color will complete my print.

THE SECOND COLOR

2011-09-01T16:12:00.003-04:00

The Second Color

After cleaning all of the ink from my screen and letting it dry, I painted more drawing fluid into the first stencil. This was wherever I wanted to print a darker shade of warm gray. Then I spread the screen filler over all, washed out the drawing fluid and let the screen dry again.

This time I mixed a slightly darker gray. I started with the first color and added to it. This will actually be a reduction print because I am using the same stencil and blocking out more of it.Everywhere I wanted the lighter gray - I simply didn't paint with drawing fluid. You can see the forms taking shape - I love the light against dark and the dark against light

Again, I print the edition. The prints tend to curl a bit because of the water-based ink. This makes it harder to place the prints against the register guides. I take the whole stack and bend them carefully in the opposite direction of the curl.

THE FIRST COLOR

2011-08-31T13:34:00.007-04:00

The first reduction screen

This is the other screen that is hinged to the same bed. With the photographic print on the screen bed, I am able to see through the translucent screen. Then with the screen elevated from the image with a few strips of mat board I paint on the screen. Everywhere that I want to be any additional color is painted with screen drawing fluid. When it is dry, I go through to steps of making screen filler stencil. here.

I have mixed Speedball Fabric ink to make a soft, light and warm gray. Add color to white ink instead of the other way around. I use textile ink for most of my printing - it dries to a nice mat finish.

The first color printed

I have cut white Stonehenge 100% rag paper that comes in 22" x 30" sheets for my edition - I always cut a few more that I expect my edition will be to make room for mistakes. You can see the deckle on the paper in the photo of my prints below. As the deckle is on the left, I have registered the prints on the right.

Then I set up my area for printing. I have the ink that I mixed, the paper that I cut, paper towels and a squeegee that is about 2" wider than my print. When I print, I lay the wet prints on my counter top. I don't try to hand them on a line as that would take too long and my ink might dry in the screen. I like to keep a good pace when I am printing - I don't answer the phone.

I set each sheet of print paper into the register guides and pull the ink across the screen in just one pass. The ink goes on the hinged side of the screen. I always print by pulling the ink with the hinged side away from me for consistency

On the left, you can see the printed first color of the edition. The ink dries quickly and I could safely stack the prints after an hour.

THE PRINT

2011-08-29T11:11:00.006-04:00

OUR WINTER GARDEN

I became so intrigued by this image after printing my Christmas cards that I decided to make it into a print - but this time I would show more of the scene. I love the look of the snow covered roofs on the houses on the next street and the remains of last summer's flowers in the foreground.

I went back to my original photograph and edited it with Photoshop Elements. I increased the contrast and used "poster edges". I re-sized the image and printed another transparency. Then as I still had some photo emulsion in my frig, I made another photo screen. This link will take you to "My Manual" for directions. This time I made it on a screen that was hinged onto a screen bed and I made sure that I had an another hinged screen that I could use on the same printing bed. You can go back to my post of Aug. 20 for more about making the photo screen with links to the supplies.

FIRST SCREEN PRINTED

After making the photographic screen and letting it dry, I pasted a sheet of white paper onto the screen bed and printed my photo silk screen onto it. The paper was positioned so that every part of the image would print on the paper and the print paper would be offset from the register guides. The photo screen is transparent, so it is easy to slip a sheet of print paper underneath and see where the print will be. Three pieces of cardboard were glued down and taped in place at one corner at the top of the longer side of the print paper. The print paper would butt up to these guides every time I printed a different sheet of paper

This print would be the guide for the remaining colors that I wanted to print.

2011 CHRISTMAS CARD

2011-08-20T14:12:00.009-04:00

My Winter Garden

Front and back of Xmas card

Above on the left is the photo that I used to make my card and print. I took this photograph years ago.
I had saved it because of the nice design and for sentimental reasons. The dark spruce trees across the back of our yard came down almost 3 years ago. But the trellis is still there and covered, right now with Morning Glories.

I edited this in Photoshop; croped it a bit, increased contrast and posterized the edges. I laid out a card that was to be 7" x 10". When folded it would go into a 5"x 7" envelope. The simple inside greeting "May Peace be your gift at Christmas and your blessing all through the year!" was added to the layout at this time. It would be blocked out later with Future when I print the outside. Then I printed my transparency with a laser printer that prints black. You can do this with an ink-jet printer too. Just be sure to use the correct transparency stock. Or just take your layout to any copy place and have a transparency made.

My light box and timer

You will need a Speedball Diazo Photo Emulsion kit here. As a light source for exposure, I use a light box with three fluorescent tubes and a Plexiglas top.

Place the transparent positive on the light box so that the image looks the way it should when printed. Transparent tape can be used to hold it in place.From now on all work is done under very subdued light or a darkroom safe light. Speedball Diazo Photo Emulsion comes in a jar. Carefully follow the directions that are in the box. Mix sensitizer with water (be sure to mix all of the sensitizer). Then mix it thoroughly with the jar of emulsion. An even coat of the mixture is spread across the under side of the screen and the screen is quickly dried with a hair drier.

Place the coated screen, fabric side down, centered on the transparency on the light box. Place a black, soft pad inside the screen, over all of the image and weigh it down ( I use heavy books). This keeps the image and the screen in good contact. Turn on the light box for five minutes. Turn it off. Then take the screen to the sink and spray both sides with warm water. Now you can put the lights back on. Keep spraying until the image appears on the screen. Hold the screen up to the light to see if the areas to be printed are open. When they are, the screen can be placed on a towel and blotted and the dried with a hair dryer and you are ready to print.
I printed 100 cards on white Stonehenge, 100% rag paper here. I cut each large sheet of paper 7" x 10" on a paper cutter so that the deckle would be on the 7" side. I printed one onto a sheet of paper that I had glued down onto the printing base. I used this print to set up my registration. The deckle was to be on the front of the card. I used Black Pearl Speedball Opaque Iridescent Screen Printing Ink here mixed with transparent base. That gave the image a soft, silvery look. The cards were printed before I folded them. I used a bone folder to fold each one, then I signed and numbered them

When you want to clean the image from the screen you should put it down in a sink, put Emulsion Remover directly on it. I use a sponge brush. Follow the directions and spray with hot water. Your screen will be ready for a new project.

OUR WINTER GARDEN

2011-08-19T15:03:00.003-04:00

Our Winter Garden

Back in July, I invited some of my winter students who hadn't had a chance to make photo screens to come to my basement and make some photographic screens. They were to bring a screen and their own transparencies. I had gotten a kit from Dick Blick that had all of the necessary components for the photo emulsion. I also had my light box near the laundry tub.

I don't often make photo screens, but I had a few students who really wanted to learn the process. One is my friend Mary, who does paper cuttings. She took her cutting of the Buffalo Light House and had the local printer make a transparency of it for her.
Ann had a transparency made of a pen and ink drawing, Laurie had a t-shirt design that one of her boys had done. Linda had a transparency made of a photo that she had taken. Kristine didn't understand that the transparency could be made from any black and white drawing. She had a long drive to get here and didn't have much luck. She had done her drawing on the transparency stock with a Sharpie pen - it didn't come out very well.

I hate to waste time (and photo emulsion) - so I decided to make a stencil for my 2011 Christmas cards. I had a photo from years ago that I love. It shows our Morning Glory trellis in the back yard in the snow. There is chicken wire around the base to keep the rabbits from eating the tender shoots in the summer time; when it is covered over by the perennials in my garden. The print above is not my Christmas card. I will show that to you soon. My Christmas card was printed in just one color, the print above was printed with four colors.

Self Searching Pays Off

2011-08-09T15:50:00.006-04:00

Every once in a while I Google myself sust to find out what I have been doing. I was doing that a few weeks ago when I found this link.

I remember a few years ago when Kate at the Copper Shop Gallery called to say that a representative from the Grand Valley University in Michigan bought 23 of my original screen prints. We were both thrilled.

From their website - "The GVSU Art Gallery permanent collection now numbers over 9,000 works of art, most of which are on view in university buildings on campuses in Allendale, Grand Rapids, Holland, Muskegon, and Traverse City. The collection features works in a wide range of media by faculty, students and alumni, and many of Michigan's finest visual artists."

This is just one of the 23 prints that you will see on this link.

I am honored to have my work in this collection. I have always loved to teach and I hope that my works will be an inspiration to the art students of GVU.

The last steps

2011-07-26T15:58:00.002-04:00

First Green

Second Green

The greens in this print will be the last two colors that I will print on top of all of the previous colors.
Still using the stencil on my screen from the last printing I made a drawing fluid and screen filler stencil for the first green print that is shown on the left. I printed the edition with this darker green.
Note that the centers of the flowers have been printed in this step.
Then I made a reduction stencil with screen filler within the stencil for the first green. At this time I realized that I needed some light green on the terra cotta background on the top portion of my print. As this step is a reduction print, I had a problem. There was screen filler that I needed to remove without destroying the complete stencil. As this was an area away from the other greens, I could use a stiff brush ( an old oil painting brush) that was loaded with wet Comet cleanser and scrub away first on one side of the screen and then on the opposite side. It is the only way that I know of to remove the screen filler when it is where I don't want it. I needed to go back and forth from one side to the other until the filler broke down - then with some cool water I washed away the Comet. After going through all of that I used drawing fluid and screen filer to make a stencil for the second green. I printed the lighter green on top of the first green. Then except for the Roycroft Renaissance Mark - my print was complete.

Poet's Narcissus

The next step

2011-07-17T20:10:00.003-04:00

The next step printed

This is the next step that I printed. Working on the same screen as before, with the screen filler still on it and the fff removed, I painted drawing fluid wherever I wanted to have this warm terra cotta color.

I used screen filler again to make a reduction print. I painted everything that would be this next color with screen drawing fluid. Then I spread screen filler over all and I had another stencil to print. This stencil included the detail on the vase and flowers and the backgrounds in all areas.

Final print

The red rims of the centers were created at this time - but I didn't print them yet.
Before I printed I painted the rims with fff to temporally block them out. After printing the edition the terra cotta color, I cleaned the fff from the screen, painted drawing fluid on the rims, made a fff stencil for the rims and printed red. That print showing the terra cotta and the red printing is below.

Red rims have been printed

Working on the vase

2011-07-14T13:25:00.002-04:00

I found this wonderful Van Briggle vase on the Internet and decided to use it in my print. The next two steps will be just the vase. Again I am using Future Floor Finish (fff) as the blockout for my stencil.

The first image was painted on the screen with screen drawing fluid, fff was spread over all and the drawing fluid washed out. The small area was printed over steps 1,2 and 3 as shown in the top center.

Then a lighter color was printed with a fff reduction stencil within the first.

They are very close in value so that the vase has softness
that I wanted.

You can click on the image for a larger picture.

The third screen printed

2011-07-11T11:28:00.001-04:00

Drawing fluid for reduction stencil

Still working on the screen with the first stencil, I painted drawing fluid wherever I wanted any additional colors to print. . This would include all of the vase, the background and some detail in the blossoms. Note the small squares in the corners of the bottom border.

I like working this way; with just one screen. I can see what had been printed before and the registration is perfect. I can only do this because of the Furure floor finish stencils. I made that type of stencil to print the yellow centers of the flowers before going on to this step.

Darker yellow printed

Here are steps 1,2 and 3.

And here is the final print.

I will post the remaining steps in the near furure.

The first screen

2011-07-09T10:45:00.008-04:00

Drawing fluid for the first screen

My original design, mounted onto a sheet of print paper was placed under the transparent screen. Every place I wanted to have any color in the print was painted onto the screen with screen drawing fluid. This blue fluid can be painted on with a watercolor brush. I used a ruling pen and a straight edge for the very straight lines. I often outline the shapes with a pen before filling them in with the brush.

I made a screen filler stencil, washed out the drawing fluid and let the screen dry. My print paper had been cut and the registration was in place before I started to paint the drawing fluid.

The first color that I printed is under all the remaining colors.

It is a very light yellow. In the final print it is the shadows

and the line work on the flowers and the edges of the print as well as the highlights on the vase

and the detail on the flowers in the lower border.

First screen printed

This print will be made with a combination
of Future floor finish stencils and screen filler stencils.

In some of the steps it will be a reduction print.

You can find more explicate directions for each step on
my manual on my website.

After printing the edition with the first color, I made a floor finish stencil for the yellow centers of the flowers.

This is because I can easily remove the floor finish stencil
with ammonia and not ruin the screen filler stencil.

After that, I made a screen filler reduction stencil for a darker yellow.

Poet's Narcissus

Finally, a new print

2011-07-08T15:46:00.002-04:00

I have just finished "Poet's Narcissus".
I have been working on it since the blossoms appeared in my back yard in May. These days I find it harder to get the time and the energy for my work. I am always so happy to be in my workshop, losing myself in my prints.

I missed the Roycroft Festival weekend because my grand daughter near NYC was graduating and we wanted to be there. Two of my friends took over and demonstrated screen printing in the Copper Shop that weekend. But I hadn't sent out postcards or promoted the weekend in any way. They had a manageble audience.

In the past, I have posted screen printing steps on this blog when I hadn't finished the print. Then if I didn't like the print I still had to finish it. Yes, sometimes I go through all of the steps and end up with something that I just don't like. It is almost impossible to know how print will turn out before it is done.

But, I am reasonably happy with this one!
I will go through the steps for you in the near future.

Saturday, June 4, 2011

2011-06-04T20:57:00.023-04:00

I had my exhibit set up early as my husband was having surgery late in May.

I matted the prints and had captions for each one that also told the page number in the book.

I had posted an announcement of the upcoming exhibit on Facebook and on this blog.

The Hamburg Sun published and article that said

I would be at the library today to sign books and take orders.

I was happy to greet old friends and to make some new ones. Everyone seemed pleased with my book.

The exhibit will continue throughout the month of June.

I had two glass cases to use.
The one above is on the wall of the library.
There was a class top table case too. That is the one shown below this.
I didn't have books for sale at the library.
They had not come from Blurb even though I had ordered them on May 25
- they had previously arrived in one week. I hadn't thought about the Memorial Day holiday.
Everyone who wanted a book was content to wait until next week when they should be here.
They were able to look at the copies that I had with me and decide if they wanted one.

Exhibit at the Hamburg Library

2011-05-21T15:12:00.005-04:00

HAMBURG, NY – Winter Scenes by Dorothy Markert

During the month of June, 2011 a special exhibit will be

at the Hamburg Public Library, 102 Buffalo St. Hamburg, NY.

The original screen prints that illustrate
the artist’s self published book will be on display.

Some of these prints are still available.

This publication contains 32 reproductions
of Dorothy Markert’s original screen prints.

They were created in the 1970s through 2010.

The book is a visual tour of the Hamburg Village
along with some historical and personal text.

Winter On Our Street, ca 1970

The Hamburg Library’s copy of the book will be part of the exhibit.

On Saturday, June 4 Dorothy Markert will be
at the Library from 2 PM to 4PM

She will sign books and/or take orders. Books will not be on sale, but can be ordered here.

From Tommy's Window, ca. 2007

The artist who has been long active in the Hamburg art community

is a Roycroft Renaissance Master Artisan
in the field of screen printing.
Her Arts and Crafts style prints can be seen
at the Copper Shop Gallery

on the Roycroft Campus in East Aurora, NY.

Sunday, April 3 at the Copper Shop

2011-04-05T11:06:00.001-04:00

This was a class in one color screen printing - once you understand how to do one color - more can be added easily. I had a full class of six students.

One student did print two colors - but I didn't get a photo of her with it.

Above is Sloan who did a great job of creating a stencil from his original still life drawing - he made a number of prints, including this one on a t-shirt.

Hailey printed her wonderful design of two elephants in a landscape that she created with found images. She printed on paper and on this rather large t-shirt as well as on pieces of fabric.

Peter printed a rural schoolhouse from his original drawing onto paper and fabric with blue ink.

Amanda is shown "touching up" her print of Lily of the Valley on a t-shirt.

She also printed some on paper.

Kristine used a copy right free image as the subject for her well done print

- she printed on paper and fabric pieces.

Half way through the class we all walked across the street to the Roycroft Inn for brunch. On every Sunday the Roycroft Inn serves a wonderful brunch, everything is fresh and delicious - I always go for the smoked salmon - but there is roast beef and more dishes than I can say and of course, wonderful deserts.

It was a good time to relax, away from our projects. Click on the images for a larger picture.

Sunday, March 6

2011-03-10T18:05:00.002-05:00

This was the last time that the class would get together. Seven of the eight students came to my home to have a social time and to show the work that they had done in the class and at home. We had cookies, brownies and muffins with tea and coffee around my dining room table. Mary showed us the print that she had finished in its destined frame. Billy and Mona brought their finished prints and gave me one of each. Billy showed three versions of his print; one with four colors, one in black on white paper and this one that he water-colored after printing black. I don't know which I liked best.
Click on the photos for more detail.

Linda brought along some fabric pieces that she had screen printed and then painted with Dye-Na-Flow colors by Jacquard. I love the way that the colors blend together. They will be lovely wall hangings.

These are available from Dick Blick and Dharma Trading Co.

Amy, Laurie and Dave didn't bring any work - but you can see their pieces in my earlier posts.

A new print

2011-03-01T18:59:00.004-05:00

I have just finished a new print of the Rose of Sharon blossoms from my back yard. Whenever I worked I this print, I was transported back to the summer time - It really helped during this long, cold winter. The ink that I used for the body of the flowers was Speedball Opaque Iridescent Screen Printing Ink for fabric in a wonderful color called Raspberry.
I had started the print when one of my Sunday students brought some of this ink to class for her print. When I told her that it was just the color that I was looking for she gave me enough to print my edition. I have since ordered more from Dick Blick . This ink has a beautiful sheen that adds another dimension to my print. I do get most of my materials from Dick Blick. I order, on line the Stonehenge 100% rag paper that I use, my inks, drawing fluid, screen filler, diazio photo kits, pallet knives and other art materials. They usually arrive at my door within a week of ordering.
I have always promoted their site to my students - I don't know if Dick Blick even knows that I exist.

The last Sunday at the Art Center

2011-02-28T19:50:00.002-05:00

Five weeks go by so quickly. Everyone was busy finishing their projects. On such a gloomy February day - sunflowers were just what we needed - and they were all over the one room schoolhouse. Amy and Mona both printed this wonderful, bright flower - but their prints are worlds apart. Mona's sunflower is very structured it is right in the center of the paper and the center of the flower has a lot of definite detail.
Linda's sunflower is much more natural - in this photo she is printing and Amy is watching/helping.

It was a good day to print yellow - Mary has finished her Arts and Crafts style print of yellow lilies. The second screen for her valentine is there with her squeegee resting on it.

Dave printed the photo screen that he made last week. It looks very professional. - below

Sunday class is going well

2011-02-21T15:28:00.004-05:00

Yesterday was the fourth screen printing class at the Centennial Art Center. The lesson for the day was photographic stencils.On the previous Sunday, the lesson was making simple, unhinged screens. We used Scotch Wood Joiners to put together four pieces of wood to make a frame, then we stretched polyester fabric over the frames and fastened it with light duty staples. The frames were then varnished with water based Polyurethane where the fabric was against the wood - this glues the fabric to the wood so that it doesn't tear at the staples. These screens were used for yesterdays photo screens.
While most of us were in the basement making the photo screens others were upstairs working on their prints. Four weeks go by so quickly. Amy is working on her landscape in this photograph below.

Below Mona is helping Billy with his large, striking print of two figures with a small dog.

In the next photo you can see how well the print edition turned out - it is hard to make such a large print - he did a great job.
You can click on any of the photos for a larger image.

Next week I will show you the photo screens and the prints that were made with them.

Laurie's print

2011-02-17T12:44:00.001-05:00

This is a scene on Laurie and Dave's property; the snow, the trees and bushes, the little deer and their new dog.

Laurie was printing the red cardinals

and the dog's neckerchief last week - now the print is done.

She used at least four colors on this with only one screen.

Everything that was to be any color was painted with drawing fluid - screen filler was spread over the screen.

Then the drawing fluid was removed to make a stencil in which all of the colors were printed, one at a time with Future floor finish stencils within the screen filler stencil.

If you click on this image

blogger will show you a larger photograph.

The class in Hamburg has started two weeks late

2011-02-08T14:34:00.001-05:00

Because I was sick with a flu we finally started the class at the Centennial Art Center of Hamburg on Sunday, January 30th.
        Eight students - and all of my screen printing supplies fill up the one-room schoolhouse. I can't think of a nicer place to spend a frigid Sunday afternoon. We can park right in front of the building; which is good as we have to haul so much in from our cars. Each student has his/her own table as well as tables for drying prints.
      Above, on the left Mary and Mona are setting out their prints. Mary is making Valentines and Mona is printing a lovely sunflower. I have two new students this year; Monica and Dave. Monica took a one color class in August at the Copper Shop in East Aurora. She was turned on to screen printing and wanted to learn more. Dave has been watching his wife, Laurie screen print for years and decided to find out what was so fascinating to her. The rest of the class have been with me for some time now - I try to help them with whatever projects they are working on. Each Sunday I demonstrate and explain a different process in screen printing..
     The first week I explained "White Line" block printing and how I adapted it for screenprinting (go back to Aug. 17 for complete directions). The next week I demonstrated how I use Future Floor Finish to make a temporary stencil in order to print a number of colors with one screen. You can get the instructions from my web site.
     Next week I will show the class how to make a simple screen and stretch the fabric. This is handy for a one color screen that you would like to keep for future printing. The following week we will be making one color photo silk screens. I will be bringing my light box to the center for exposing the screens and I will explain what they need to bring. We may be able to use the screens that we make this week for the photo screens at the next class.

The photo on the right shows Laurie printing, Dave working on his screen, Amy and part of Linda working.

New Class to start in Hamburg, NY

2011-01-01T14:56:00.002-05:00

This new print will help the students in my next class to see how a multicolor print can be made with just one screen. I have borrowed the "Provincetown, White Line Print" technique, and adapted it for screen printing.
The class, at the Centennial Art Center of Hamburg will be starting on Sunday, January 16, 2011 and run for six weeks. I am using the technique described in my posts of Aug. 17, 24 and 25, 2009. This print is another homage to Clarice Cliff.

Roycroft Winter Festival

2010-12-03T10:24:00.005-05:00

Here is the print that I was making during the Burchfield/Penney exhibit in October (see post of Oct. 19). I found it very difficult to print there. I had three screens all ready made with drawing fluid and screen filler to print this image to make a Christmas card - but it didn't register properly there.When I brought everything home it printed very well. You can also see it on my web site.

This is the first year that I will not be doing something special over the coming weekend. For years I exhibited my work in the Winter Festival and then for the past few years, I have had an "Open House" in my home.
This year I distributed and mailed postcards saying that I am not having an Open House. I invited people to call or email to set up a time to come and see my work. Many framed and unframed pieces are on display in my home. I have a good representation of my prints at the Copper Shop Gallery on the Roycroft Campus.

My Self Published Manual

2010-10-31T11:31:00.008-04:00

I have just self published this little book. Over my of many years of teaching, I have written instructions for screen printing my way. I have combined these with lots of photos and I have used the color covers to illustrate some steps. I have also included photos and other information, some personal and some about screen printing. The inside of the book is printed in black, only the covers are in color. Just click HERE for a preview of this book.

The "Well-Crafted Weekend" at the Burchfield Penney Art Center, Buffalo, NY

2010-10-19T13:00:00.000-04:00

Above is my demonstration area for the weekend at the Burchfield-Penney Art Center.
On the right is my set-up on the other side of the room.
I had boxes of prints on a small table and a print stand by the door.
There were three of us - all Roycroft Renaissance Artisans, exhibiting and demonstrating in this room. Gary Quirk, a potter/tile maker from the Syracuse area and Kristine Baker who paints wonderful designs on silk.
I was closest to the door because the sink was there and I needed it to wash out my screens each time that I printed. I was demonstrating by printing my 2010 Christmas Cards. I used three screens that I had prepared at home. As I made the screens I took photos and made a Power Point presentation that I was able to show on my lap-top.

All of the RALA artisans involved had prepared for this event. We were to demonstrate our crafts as well as exhibit items for sale. We were all disappointed with the turnout for this event. We had expected the throngs of interested people who show up at our Summer and Winter Festival. But that didn't happen because the Burchfield-Penney didn't do the publicity they had promised. The lectures were also poorly attended.
It was a great place to hold this type of event and there was good exposure for RALA and the Roycroft Renaissance Artisans. I met a lot of interested people.

Roycrofters At-Large at the new Burchfield-Penney Art Center, Oct 16 & 17

2010-10-03T19:55:00.003-04:00

"OCTOBER", 2005
This is one of the prints that I will be exhibiting during this weekend event.

A Well-Crafted Weekend October 16-17, 2010

Exhibitions: The Arts and Crafts Aesthetic in WNY;

Saturday, October 16 –

10:00-5:00 PM – Roycroft Renaissance Artisans demonstration and sale (reception hall, studio classroom)

Sunday, October 17 -

1:00 – 5:00 PM – Roycroft Renaissance Artisans demonstration and sale (reception hall, studio classroom)

I have been working on my demonstration print, it will be a four color print that will be my 2010 Christmas card. I will be on the first floor in a studio next to the gift shop.

There is a lot going on at the B-P Center that weekend - the schedule follows:

10:00 AM - Roycroft Renaissance Artisans demonstration and sale (reception hall, studio classroom)

11:30 AM – Lecture– Farm to Family by Katy Pfohl (auditorium)

Lecture will focus on the philosophical connection of farming with the arts and crafts movement - highlighting Hubbard's local Arden Farm and Stickley's Craftsman Farm in Morris Plains. Topics include: the current organic revolution and similar goals to the A&C movement and the current state of these famous farms.1:00 1:00 PM - Tour of current A&C exhibitions with BPAC staff members Bill Menshon and Nancy Weekly (main hall, Wendt Gallery)

2:00 PM - Film – Elbert Hubbard: An American Original with introduction by Dr. Michael Frisch (auditorium)

Narrated by Liev Schreiber, this film examines the complex and controversial life of Roycroft founder Elbert Hubbard.

4:00 PM – Lecture – The History of Roycroft Renaissance by Kitty Turgeon (auditorium)

Kitty Turgeon, founder of RALA, Executive Director Foundation (FSA/CM) at Roycroft will present a brief look at the 50+ years of the Roycroft Renaissance for which she has been actively involved for the past 40.

Sunday, October 17 -

1:00 – 5:00 PM – Roycroft Renaissance Artisans demonstration and sale (reception hall, studio classroom)

1:15 PM – Lecture/Demonstration – Celebrate the Art and Craft of Dining – A Roycroft Tradition with Sandy Starks and Maria Kahn (Tastings Café). During a food demonstration and tasting audience will learn about the local food movement, some cooking tips, and suggestions for dining in the Arts and Crafts Style. Samples of the recipes featured will be prepared by Tasting Café and presented by Roycroft and local food enthusiast Sandy Starks. Local organic produce will be provided by Arden Farms – one of the original Roycroft farms.

2:30 PM – Lecture – Restoration of the Roycroft Campus by Doug Swift, Roycroft Campus Corporation (auditorium). Lecture will focus on the past history of Elbert Hubbard and the Roycrofters and how the Campus is being rejuvenated for the future as the center of creativity and education and according to their vision statement, “The Roycroft Campus: As if Elbert Hubbard and the Roycrofters Never Left.”

4:00 PM – Film – Head, Heart, and Hand (auditorium).This film accompanied the 1993 exhibition of the same title organized by the Memorial Art Gallery. Noted experts and curators offer an overview of Elbert Hubbard and the Roycrofters.

Tastings will offer A&C themed food and beverage; Store will increase visibility of A and C merchandise

2010-09-17T19:00:00.004-04:00

     I have just printed the final color on this print. I don't usually print with black ink - I often modify it with brown.

     To me, the black works - I had thought of printing a brown to add texture to the centers of these flowers.

- But after printing black I left it alone - they are Black-eyed Susans.

    There are eight separate colors in this print. They are yellow, yellow-orange, green, light brown, two shades of light, mustardy yellow and black.

    The black screen was made first with drawing fluid and screen filler. It was printed onto a sheet of paper that was glued down to the screen bed. I used another screen that was also hinged to the same screen bed to print the other seven colors. More about this print to come.

My studio comes alive with color when I print

2010-09-13T17:53:00.001-04:00

Whenever I print, I lay the wet prints on the counter in my workroom. I love to see all of the colors when they fill the room.

This print will be made with two screens. I have made the first screen and I have printed it on my screen bed. Now I am working on all of the other colors. I am using Future Floor Finish instead of the Screen Filler that I used for the first screen.
The Future makes a temporary stencil on the screen that I can remove with ammonia and water. I can print as many colors as I like with this type of screen

I just printed the fifth color on this print of Black-eyed Susans in a vase that was given to me by Cherie Jemsek at one of the Roycroft Festivals a few years back.

You can read about Cherie and her husband, Steve Frederick at this site. Cherie is very generous - we were actually trading prints for pots - but she added this one as an extra for my collection. I love it!

I will be posting the finished print soon. I will also show the original drawings and more information about making this type of print.

Saturday's Class

2010-08-29T10:58:00.000-04:00

It was exciting to see the images as they were printed in this class. The atmosphere in the Copper Shop and the hospitality of the staff added to our day. Lunch, across the street at the Roycroft Inn was a good time to relax and get to know each other.
Everyone printed their designs on paper and fabric. One student even printed her Klimt-like design on a t-shirt.

I am hoping that we can have more classes like this when the new "Power Plant" building is completed on the Roycroft Campus. For more about the Roycroft Campus Corporation click this link. Future plans include a dedicated classroom space in the new building.

The original Power House was completed in 1910 and furnished electricity and heating to the Campus. Planned for restoration, the structure was devastated by fire in 1997. The new building should take about a year for completion and once finished will provide the campus with much needed interior space for programs, classes and events.

Another Class at The Roycroft Copper Shop

2010-08-26T14:43:00.000-04:00

I have been busy getting everything together for the next class that I will be teaching. This is from the class description.

"The students will learn this simple method of creating a stencil on a screen. They can select from supplied images or use their own image. The images will then be printed on either paper or fabric. A simple drawing or "found art" can be transformed into an original print, greeting card, quilt block etc. This class will cover one-color printing, but the basic method can be used for multicolor printing. Toward the end of the day I will show how this can be done.

All materials will be supplied, they are non-toxic and water base. The history of screen printing as well as arts and crafts design will be addressed. Printed instructions and a complete list of materials and sources will be provided."

During the day we will all walk across the street to the Roycroft Inn for lunch and a little time away from our work. For some time now this small class of six students has been sold out. I will probably be offering it again. Watch this site for future classes.

Campanula

2010-07-26T11:36:00.000-04:00

This is my "Campanula in a Van Briggle Vase" print that I started back in June. I had planned to finish it during the Roycroft Summer Festival - but I had done so much work that I didn't want to take the chance of ruining it by demonstrating with it.

On June 3, I posted this image. It was done on a screen using drawing fluid and screen filler from two pencil drawings. Then I printed it in black. One print was made onto a sheet of paper that was pasted down on the screen bed. I used a second screen for all of the other colors.

Here are the two drawings that I worked from and the second screen with drawing fluid painted on the green areas for the print. Using the pasted down print as a guide I used screen drawing fluid and screen filler to create a rectangular printing area on the screen. Then for each color I printed I used Future floor finish as my block out. This is a temporary stencil that can be easily removed with ammonia and water.here Each color was printed separately, the block out removed and then the stencil for the next color was made. After all of the pinks and most of the greens were printed I printed the first screen on top of all the other colors. I used a very dark brown (not black) for that. I used the first screen to make a stencil for the darkest green in the border of the print. The openings were there from the previous printing. The dark green easily covered the very dark brown.
The very day that I posted it on my web site dorothymarkert.com I had my first order. Then I gave a print to my neighbor who had shared the campanula with me.

Sunday at the festival

2010-07-07T10:40:00.000-04:00

I decided to add a blue sky to the print. I used another screen for that. I often print my first color onto a sheet of paper that has been glued down onto the print bed. This shows exactly where the image is. My second screen was hinged to go onto the same screen bed with the image printed on it.

I used drawing fluid and screen filler to make a stencil for the sky. Then I printed that in a darker blue and repeated the steps from Saturday to make the lighter blue water. I did like the print a lot better, but I had other ideas.

I cleaned the ink from the screens and started over again. This time I decided to make a blend of colors in the sky and water. I put red and blue ink on the screen with a lot of transparent base between them. I had to draw the ink across the screen a few times, printing on scrap paper before they blended well together. I printed a lot of these skies. People at the demonstration loved seeing this blend of colors.

I cleaned up this screen and then printed the black screen on top of the blended sky. Then I made a stencil for the water - this had to be printed with opaque ink to cover the black.

Some of the prints are better than others - no two are alike because of the blended colors. I think that I will work on this print some more. Maybe print the sky and water at the same time - so that the effect will be of a reflection in the water.

At the Summer Festival

2010-07-05T15:27:00.001-04:00

I was planning to work on my "Campanula" print during the festival. When I thought about all that I had done on it and how easy it would be to ruin everything while demonstrating I decided to leave it be. I will get back to it on this blog.

But first I will show you what I did during the festival.
I designed a little print that would demonstrate my process. It is of a tree on the edge of a lake, sailboats in the distance and a few birds flying above. The simple sketch was the start. On Saturday, I set my registration guides (3 pieces of cardboard that were glued and taped onto the screen bed) I put my sketch under the screen, butted up to the register guides and painted everything I wanted to print with screen drawing fluid. Then I dried the drawing fluid and spread screen fill over the entire screen. After that was dried I took the screen to the sink and washed out the drawing fluid. That left the open area where the ink would go. I printed a number of these, in register with a dark brown ink and set them aside to dry. I washed all of the ink from the screen and let the screen dry.

Then I replaced the sketch under the screen and painted drawing fluid where I wanted the blue of the water. This time I used Future Floor finish to spread over the entire screen, dried it, washed out the drawing fluid and printed a light blue. The blue had a lot of white in it and easily covered the dark brown. You can see the registration guides in the photo of the screen. Every time the sketch or the print paper was placed on the bed it would be in exactly the right place. Just 3 tabs, 2 at one corner and 1 on the side are all that are needed for perfect registration.

This was all done on the Saturday of the festival. I will soon show you what I did with this print at the festival on Sunday . I will also go back to my print "Campanula in a Van Briggle Vase" in the near future.

Summer Festival in the Copper Shop and on the campus.

2010-06-03T16:03:00.008-04:00

For many years I have exhibited in the Roycroft Summer Festival. It is always held on the last weekend in June. I loved being part of this event on the Roycroft Campus.
When I decided that I couldn't set up a tent and all of my art work any more I moved inside to the Copper Shop Gallery. There I could demonstrate the process that I use to make my prints and still be part of the weekend.

Again, my friend Mary Schichtel and I will be demonstrating in the Copper Shop. However the Roycroft Summer Festival will not be on the campus this year. The East Aurora Art Show, the Antique Show, artisan demonstrations and many other activities will be going on there.
Please come by and see me in the Copper Shop Gallery,
June 26 & 27, 2010 - 10 to 5 each day.

I will be working on this print "Campanula in a Van Briggle Vase"
This is an image from the first screen that I made for this print.
I will be working on another screen that will be used to print all of the other colors; two shades of rose, some greens and I'm not sure of just what else. I will post the finished print here after the weekend.

The Copper Shop Gallery is at 31 South Grove St., East Aurora, NY, 14052 - directly across from the Roycroft Inn.

for more information about the Roycroft Festival click here

The last color

2010-05-12T21:03:00.001-04:00

This is the last color to be printed. It is a very dark green. I painted drawing fluid onto the first screen that I made - the one that I used to print black. Then I spread screen filler over everything, washed out the drawing fluid, let it dry and printed dark green on top of everything else.

Back to the first screen

2010-05-03T15:50:00.015-04:00

After I printed each of the transparent colors onto the print paper I printed them onto the black print that was pasted down on my screen bed. The photo shows how I let the colors extend so that when the edition was printed with the first screen there wouldn't be any paper showing -except where I wanted it near the yellow. In that photo the transparent colors are on top of the black.

The next photo shows the black on top of the colors as it will be in the finished print. I have printed the entire edition and there is just one more color to print.

Here are the prints spread across my counter and my paper cutter to dry. Because I make such small editions I don't need a drying rack. I can just spread the wet paints around my studio. They dry quickly in about 15 minutes. By the time I wash the ink from the screen and put away my tools - they are dry.

The second screen

2010-04-27T09:25:00.000-04:00

The second screen

With the pasted down print under the transparent screen I painted screen drawing fluid onto the screen wherever I wanted to have any color other than black. I let the drawing fluid extend onto the black area around my irises so that when I printed the black there would be no paper showing. After letting the drawing fluid dry I spread screen filler over the entire screen dried that, washed out the drawing fluid, let it dry again.

Using the printed image from the first screen that was on the board I painted drawing fluid wherever I wanted

to print purple, yellows and greens. Each time I used Future for my block out. With such a small area of exposed screen I was able to do this easily. Each color was printed with it's own Future stencil within the screen filler stencil on the second screen. I used a lot of transparent base in these colors so that they would eventually stand out against the black background.

The first screen

2010-04-20T20:14:00.009-04:00

This is the first screen that I used to make my print.

Registration tabs were set up on the backer board and a sheet of white paper was stuck to to the backer with a glue stick. I made a few prints with black Speedball textile screen printing ink and then I printed directly onto the paper on the board. This will be my guide for the other colors.
Then I washed the ink from the screen and put it away - and now I will be working on the second screen.

This is the print made with the screen.

Another print made with two screens

2010-04-18T18:17:00.001-04:00

Here is another print that I made with two screens. It is important that the two screens can be hinged to the same backer board. Both stencils were made with drawing fluid and screen filler. I used Future in the second screen for all of the bright colors. I started with a sketch of the iris within the area of the block of the print. With the drawing under the transparent screen, I painted everything that I wanted to be black on the screen with drawing fluid. Then I spread screen filler over all, dried it, washed away the drawing fluid and I had the first stencil.

This will work as a key block.

The two screens

2010-03-22T19:13:00.000-04:00

Here are the two screens that I used to make this print and the finished print. On the far left is the photographic screen that was used to print black. On its right is a drawing fluid and screen filler/Future screen that was used to print yellow, red and blue. You can find directions for all of the methods on My Manual. I started by printing the photo screen onto the glued down paper on the backer board - I cleaned the ink from the screen and put it away. Then, using that print as my guide, I made a drawing fluid and screen filler stencil on the second screen. Everything that is blocked out with the dark red screen filler will not print. I printed all 25 sheets of print paper with a warm golden yellow. After cleaning the ink and letting the screen dry, I made a Future stencil with drawing fluid and printed red on top of the yellow. I washed away the red ink and removed the Future stencil with ammonia. Then I made another Future stencil for the blue. You can see a darker area in the Future where I printed blue. The blue ink has enough white in it to make it opaque. The yellow and red are translucent. After the three colors were printed I went back to the photographic screen and printed black on top of the yellow, red and blue. My print was finished.

The original label

2010-03-15T13:06:00.000-04:00

This is the original label that has hung in my kitchen for over 20 years. Some time ago, I took it out of the frame and had a photocopy made of it in black. The photocopy was scaled down in size and then I had a transparent positive (transparency) made of it. You can see that the photocopy ended up with the gray/green areas black and the character changed to a more antique look. With this transparency, I made a photo screen. The directions are here on my manual. I made that stencil on a screen that was hinged to a backer board. I had another blank screen that could be hinged to the same board. I decided to make my print on Stonehenge ivory paper. Wanting an edition of 20 prints, I cut 25 sheets of print paper and set up my registration on the board. Using a glue stick, I pasted a sheet of white paper onto the board away from the registration tabs, but under the image. I printed a few black prints on scrap paper and then one on the paper glued to the board. The photo stencil would work as the key block. This would be important when I made the stencils for the colors.

A print made with both a photographic screen and a hand painted one.

2010-03-10T10:01:00.002-05:00

This print was made directly from a vintage label that I have in my collection. I made a photo silk screen for the black parts of the print. The yellow, red and blue stencils were made directly on a second screen that was hinged to the same backer board..

I felt that I have been neglecting Hamburg because of my involvement with Roycroft. I have enjoyed the original label that has hung in my kitchen for 20 years and decided to share it by making this print.

I will describe the methods that I used in making this print over the next few days
Sweet Corn Edition of 20, 2009 on ivory

Stonehenge paper. 7" x 81/2"

Sunset - Maple Avenue

2010-02-18T12:13:00.009-05:00

   I have had this idea for some time now. I wanted to make a print of our neighborhood in winter, in the dark. Lighted windows at night have always fascinated me and the sunsets in the western sky can be so dramatic.
   Lake Erie is just about 4 or 5 miles due west from here.
I think that the lake makes the sunsets even more luminous.
The bare branches, the parked car and the upper windows all seem to catch the reflected light.

I started this print by printing just a rectangle of blended colors. I used Speedball textile process colors and a lot of transparent base for the blended sky. I should have used a larger screen; that would have made it easier to get a nice blend of colors. With this blending process each print is unique. I wasn't trying to make them all the same and I kept adding color as I printed.

   I used a second screen to print areas of yellow that would show in the windows and to modify the reflection on the car.

   Then I used the same screen that I had used for the sky and made a drawing fluid and screen filler stencil within the rectangle. I used the reduction method to print the three remaining colors - black, blue-purple and a lighter blue-purple.

   No two prints are the same. My favorite is the one at the top. The middle one is closest to our actual sunsets. The bottom one is a little more dramatic.

   The print measures 6 1/2" x 10" and is on white Stonehenge paper.

Some more class photos

2010-02-15T10:46:00.003-05:00

The first photo shows the demonstration that I did for the class. I printed my book plate right into a used book that I bought. I have a small screen with this on it, it is only one color. The other print in this photo is a miniature version of the "Red Poppies" that I had printed earlier.

Linda finished her Valentines. They are printed in four colors.

She also printed backgrounds for a different print. You can see them peeking out below the Valentines. The stencil was made with a crayola rubbing of lace curtains.

Another frigid Sunday that warmed my heart.

2010-01-31T19:31:00.002-05:00

Our Sunday class is going so well. Everyone is producing a lot of prints. Amy has printed her next to last color on the print that she started three weeks ago. This isn't a fast process - patience is one thing we learn when making original prints.

On the right Laurie printed her Cardinals in six different variations. They are all lovely.

On the left is Bill's original sketch and his finished print. This is his first screen print - great work!

Mary printed a lot of blended hearts as a start for her Valentines. Next week she will finish them with a design on top of the hearts.

The next photo is inside the Art Center - everyone is at work - or supervising.

Then there is the print of the group of antique bottles that Mona has been working on. She is new to screen printing and has caught on well.

We were all talking about what a good time it is to have a class like this. January has flown by for all of us. To be able to come here on a Sunday afternoon and learn new techniques and be creative has been good for all of us - especially for the teacher.

Last Sunday

2010-01-26T11:10:00.006-05:00

We had another good class on Sunday. But, I forgot to take my camera with me. I'll post some of the other photos from last week here. First is Laurie's cardinal print. She printed two more colors on Sunday.

The first photo on the right is of Bill drawing on his screen. He is using his original sketch that is under the screen to determine where each color will be. He finished his print at home this past week. I'll get some photos of the finished work on Sunday.

The next photo below on the right is Amy's screen. She is working on a reduction print. The area inside the decorative frame is a rubbing from a book that we found in the Art Center's cabinet. Amy removed the crayola rubbing with paint thinner and printed her first color at home. She printed one more color on Sunday.

Linda printed two more colors on her Valentine. I expect that she will finish them at home.

Mary started a new print and she brought in the cutting that she printed the paper for last week. And Bob finished the little print that he started last week.

Our Sunday Class

2010-01-18T11:50:00.004-05:00

This is a great class, I have five students who have been screen printing with me for years. And I have one new student who has a good background in fine art and printmaking. They share knowledge and supplies - whatever is needed

The first photo on the left is of Linda printing Valentine cards. So far she has only printed the first color. She will print three more. Last week she created printed the original design. She took it home and reduced it, made a transparency and a photographic screen of the line work. That screen will be printed on top of the first three colors. There will be four separate printings on these cards.

The next photo is of a table full of Bob's prints. He has printed yellow, pink and blue - all with the same screen. This is done with a reduction technique. He is using Future floor finish and Speedball screen filler.

My next screen printing adventure

2009-12-30T14:52:00.002-05:00

Teaching is an adventure for me. I have new people to get to know and new printing problems to solve.
For the past few winters I have been having a class less than a mile from my home in Hamburg, NY. here

The Centennial Art Center of Hamburg, Inc. used to be a one room schoolhouse. The light is great and on Sunday afternoons we have it all to ourselves. We can park near the door and bring in our supplies. Everyone has a table all to themselves. I demonstrate a different technique each week. I help the students work on their own projects. They have done some exceptional work. Here are two prints that were made in last year's class by two art teachers who are learning new techniques to pass on to their students.

Thank You

2009-12-18T19:37:00.001-05:00

I want to thank everyone who came to my open house early this month. It was great to see everyone. Here are some photos taken Saturday. There was no snow this year, I had a sign on the lawn and a banner by the front door. The first room that people saw was the entry in the front of the house. The mantle was full of framed prints. In the living room, I had boxes of matted prints and framed prints on the walls.

The dining room table had boxes of small matted prints and note cards. The walls were filled with more framed prints. There were more framed prints in our TV room, as well as a group of Craftsman prints, framed and unframed.

In my office, above my computer there were framed prints from my Clarice Cliff Collection, matted prints were on my desk nearby.

Hamburg scenes and those form other places were on the other side of the room.

My friend Mary was here to help and my husband, John was the cashier in the kitchen. I think that we all enjoyed talking to everyone who came. We even had a small group who were on a Garden Club tour of homes here in Hamburg.

They saw my sign and came in, they said that our house was the most interesting that they had seen that day.

Holiday Open House

2009-11-29T20:43:00.004-05:00

For the past few years I have been using this image of "Poinsettias in a McCoy Planter" to advertise my
Open House. I made this print in 2004.

My Holiday Open House

Saturday and Sunday,

December 5 and 6, 2009

12 noon to 4 PM

The Roycroft Winter Festival is the same weekend in East Aurora, NY 10 - 5
It is better for me to exhibit in my home. I have more room and I don't have to transport my work.I am producing new prints all of the time and I have many of the older ones matted or framed.
I will also have a selection of note cards and other small items.

Dorothy Markert
253 Maple Ave.
Hamburg, NY 14075

Opening Reception on Sunday, Nov. 22 ,1 - 3

2009-11-20T10:38:00.003-05:00

Harebell in a Van Briggle Vase

edition of 40, 2002
10" x 6"

This print was chosen to be on the invitation to
"FLORA FOCI"
Works by Lukia Costello & Dorothy Markert

14 of my original framed prints featuring flowers
in Arts and Crafts pottery will be displayed along with Lukia's wonderful photos taken on the Art and Nature Center grounds.

These are older prints, all in my husband's hand made frames.

at the

Charles E. Burchfield Nature and Art Center

2001 Union Rd, West Seneca, NY 14224

Opening Reception:
Sunday, November 22, 1 - 3 pm

Gallery Hours:
Monday - Friday 9 am - 4 pm
Saturday, 12 - 4

Tired, but happy!

2009-11-09T15:33:00.002-05:00

Everyone finished their edition of 12 original prints! Three, four and even five colors were hand screened for every print. The students were proud of their achievements. I think that everyone now has an understanding of basic multicolor screen printing. The reduction technique is hard to understand at first, but by going over and over the process it suddenly comes together. I have photographed everyone with one of their finished prints.

A highlight of the weekend is the lunch and brunch at the Roycroft Inn. Here is a photo of the class (all 8) at the Inn on Saturday.
For a schedule of classes at the Copper Shop Gallery .

Tomorrow We Start

2009-11-06T19:44:00.002-05:00

I plan to be at the Copper Shop soon after 9 AM. I need to set everything up. I am all packed up. One day last week we took all of the screens over to the shop, they are there waiting for us. I thought that I would put some photos on this blog that are from past classes.

Reduction print

2009-10-30T19:20:00.057-04:00

The usual way of making a multicolor screen print is to use one screen for each color that is printed.

I like using the reduction method which uses just one screen for all of the colors. The registration is perfect and working on the screen is easier with some of the image already on it. There is no going back; once an area is blocked out it stays that way.

I am going to post the steps in my butterfly print on this page in the order that they were printed.

When I printed the first color, I printed every sheet in the edition, cleaned the color from the screen, reworked it for the second color and repeated the process for each of the other colors.

Here is a link to take you back to the designing the print post.

And here is the print in four colors

The Fourth and Final Color

2009-10-28T10:07:00.003-04:00

After printing the third color I cleaned the screen of ink and let it dry. Again I painted drawing fluid into the areas to be the next color (a deeper blue).

After drying this I spread the filler, let it dry, washed out the drawing fluid, let it dry and then I printed.

This next photo shows the fourth color alone and the next is the final print.

I will soon put the four steps together on this blog so that you can see the progression. I am looking forward to the class and working with all of you.

Dorothy

The Third Color

2009-10-23T11:08:00.010-04:00

After cleaning all of the tan ink from the screen and drying it thoroughly I put the screen on the backer with the original drawing in place. Then I painted wherever I wanted to have my next color. Most of the background will stay tan, but I added a line all around to make it relate to the butterflys. Then I painted areas on them that will be either of the two blues that I will be printing. It is much easier to paint onto a screen that already has an image. This is because you can see where you are painting.
Then I went through spreading the filler, drying the screen, washing out the drawing fluid, drying
the screen and then printing.

I wanted to keep this light blue color about the same value as the tan so that it wouldn't stand out too much.

This photo shows the third color alone.

This next photo is of the first, second and third
colors printed in register.

The Second Color

2009-10-22T13:04:00.003-04:00

For the second color, I put the original drawing into the register guides and painted everything that I didn't want to be yellow with the screen drawing fluid. I am going to print a warm tan on all of the areas that have blue drawing fluid on them. I deliberately left some bits of yellow show through in the background. I could paint right over the edges of the screen filler. They are permanently there.

When I was satisfied I went through the process of spreading screen filler, drying, washing out the drawing fluid, drying and printing. The next two photos show the second color alone and printed over the first color.

This is a link to the textile ink that I use and here is the acrylic ink. There are many other sources for Speedball screen printing inks on the Internet.

First Color Printed

2009-10-21T19:08:00.003-04:00

When the screen is dry put some masking tape around the inside of the frame. It should be half on the screen and half against the frame. This will keep ink from getting between the screen and the frame. Then place the screen onto the backer board with the cotter pins in place.I put it back on the hinged board. I decided to print on white paper. The Stonehenge paper that I use is 100% rag and has a nice deckle on two sides. The paper comes in 22 " x 30" sheets. Using my large paper cutter, I cut it into 9" x 12" sheets. I want to make an edition of 20 prints so I cut 25 sheets. I always lose a few in the printing process. I use Speedball Textile Screen Printing Ink on paper and on fabric. It has a nice mat finish on the Stonehenge. This ink comes in all of the primary colors plus green, orange, black, white and purple. I use a lot white when I mix a color I usually put some white into the container and go from there. If you want a pure light transparent color you can use transparent base. I also use Speedball Acrylic Screen Printing inks. They mix with the Textile ink and come in more colors. The first color that I will print is Acrylic medium yellow.
Set up your printing area with print paper, ink, squeegee, paper towels a pallet knife and something to put the squeegee on to keep it off the table top. You will also need a place to set the wet prints. They will dry in 15 - 20 minutes.
I couldn't take photos of myself printing and you will have a lot of hands on experience during the class. Place a sheet of print paper into the register guides on the backer board. You should have your ink mixed to the color that you want. Put a couple of spoonfuls along the hinged area of the screen and with a squeegee draw all of the ink across the image. The squeegee should be held at a 45 degree angle to the screen. You should be using just the corner of the blade. One pass will probably be all that you need.
It is a good idea to experiment with scrap paper until you get the feel of how it will work. Everything affects the printing; the ink, the paper, the squeegee - everything.
As you print each sheet lay it aside and put a blank sheet into the register guides, keep repeating the process until you have printed every sheet.
Then scrape up all of the excess ink from the screen and the squeegee - put it back in its container. Take your screen and tools to the laundry tub and wash the screen with cold water. You can use a sponge - be sure to clean both sides. Then wash your tools. Dry everything with old towels and go on to the next step.

Removing the Drawing Fluid

2009-10-19T19:52:00.004-04:00

When it is completely dry you can take the screen without the backer to the laundry tub and spray the image with cold water.

Wet each side and then use a stronger spray to wash away all of the blue drawing fluid.

Dry the screen with a soft towel.
Again let the screen dry completely and you are ready to print the first color.

Spreading the filler

2009-10-15T15:17:00.005-04:00

This is the continuation from the post of October 1, 2009 - Hand Painting the Screen.

After everything has been painted with screen drawing fluid you can hold the screen up to a light and see if you have any pinholes in the drawing fluid - repair these - dry completely and you are ready for the next step.

Raise the screen above your table with four blocks, cans or whatever and spoon a good size teaspoon full of screen filler onto the varnished area of the screen that is away from you. When printing or spreading filler you will always work with the hinged end of the screen away from you. With a strip of mat board draw all of the filler across the whole screen so that it covers the entire image.

This photo on the right is not of the same image being covered with screen filler. It does show the process.

Below is the coated screen.

Let this dry completely. You can use a hair drier, but keep the screen in a horizontal position so that the filler doesn't run.

Hand painting the screen

2009-10-01T18:29:00.025-04:00

I will be able to help you with these steps during the class at the Copper Shop. You really don't need to understand them now. We will be going over and over them in the class. I put them here so that you can come back and refer to them when you are working on your own.

The next step will be to place your image on a sheet of print paper, under the screen onto the backer board with the cotter pins in place. The image should be centered under the screen. A few pieces of masking tape will keep it in place. There is one inch of varnish on the screen inside the frame - you cannot print with that area - be sure that your image is inside the varnish. Then add the register tabs. Three tabs of light weight cardboard are to be glued and taped so that the print paper will butt up to them at one corner and along the side of the paper. Glue them so that the paper cannot slip underneath and ruin the registration. Also tape them in place.
In the photo above, I have separated the screen from the image with strips of mat board. I will be using drawing fluid for this next step. It is a water soluble, blue material that is very visible on the screen. I use a watercolor brush and paint every area on the screen where I want to print any of the four colors in my print. I think that I have resolved the border design; as I paint the the image I can see how it will work. Being right handed, I start on the left side of my screen. I may need to move the mat board strips around to wherever I am working so that the drawing fluid doesn't go through onto my design underneath. If I don't like something I can dip a brush in some clean water, put a paper towel under the screen and wash away the offending area.

You could practice painting on your screen and get a feel for the brush and the drawing fluid and then just wash it all out with a wet brush and paper towel. Just be sure to dry the area before you try to paint more drawing fluid there. I have left a lot of areas that will be blocked out and not printed - there will be a lot of paper showing in my border.

The next photo shows the screen completely painted with drawing fluid. This gives me an idea of how the composition works. Arts and Crafts design can eliminate perspective, make use of arbitrary placement, flatten spaces and stress balance, rhythm and function.

In this detailed photo, you can see that I have left some unpainted lines around the butterflies. (click on the photo for a larger image) These will always remain the paper color. There are other unpainted spots on the screen - these and the white areas in the border will never print. I have not tried to keep my lines perfectly straight (but you can do that) or the design perfectly symmetrical - I don't want my print to look machine made. I will send an email to the class when I post the next step.

Another design idea

2009-09-27T14:05:00.000-04:00

Instead of making a sketch of a subject you can use a black and white photocopy of a photograph. A year ago one of my fellow Master Artisans, Ron VanOstrand signed up for this class. He used a photocopy of his photograph of the Grove Park Inn in Asheville, NC. His screen print is on fawn paper (you will have the choice of fawn or white).

The first color that he printed was blue shading to light blue. You can blend colors directly on the screen as you print. There is blue under every other color in this print. You can enlarge the image by clicking on it and see the color peeking out around the edges. After printing blue, Ron painted right on the blue stencil wherever he wanted black (or red or green). The black was printed next; then green and then red. The light areas of paper were blocked out from the very beginning. The texture on the building and in the trees add to this charming print. They were simply painted that way on the screen. The play of dark and light and the simplification of form contribute to it's success. I was fortunate to receive #6 of 10 from Ron. I have been to Grove Park a few times both as a visitor and as an exhibitor. It is a wonderful, interesting Arts and Crafts site.

Design instructions for upcoming class on the Roycroft Campus

2009-09-25T13:19:00.016-04:00

I will be teaching a weekend class in November at the Copper Shop Gallery, on the Roycroft Campus in East Aurora, NY. More information here. For my earlier classes I have mailed design instructions to all of the students who register for the class. For this class I have decided to email those registered with a link to this blog. I will be able to give more explicit instructions and include photos showing the process.
The class will be making reduction screen prints. This process will use just one screen for all of the colors that will be printed. My husband made the wooden frame screens and hinged them to a backer board with loose pin hinges. We replaced the pins with cotter pins. I have stretched the fabric on the screens. They are all ready for you to use. You will be taking your screen home with you so that you can continue screen printing on your own. The inside dimensions of the screens are 14 1/2" x 9 1/2" and we need to leave some space around the printing area.

The maximum size of your finished print will be 7" x 10". This is great because the most common ready made frame size is 11" x 14". With a 1 3/4" mat around your finished print it will pop right into a frame. Your print may be designed to be smaller - but not any larger.
To design this print I have drawn a 7" x 10" rectangle on a sheet of paper. I made a sketch of a butterfly that I scanned and printed. I flipped the little sketch so that I would have a mirror image. You don't need to use a computer - an office copier and some tracing paper can do the same thing.
(This is the same image that I used for my blog entry of July 14, 2009, when I described demonstrating at the Roycroft Summer Festival.)
I marked the center of my design and added some lines to indicate where I would possibly put a border. I cut out the butterflies and glued them where I wanted them to be. I tried to have them the same on each side (but, not too perfect). I colored one with colored pencils to get an idea of how the colors will be - I will color the second one before I start working on the screen.

In this next photo, I put a piece of tracing paper over my design and played with an idea for the background. I will work on the butterflies on my screen before I really decide what I will do with the background.

I hope that this isn't too confusing - you can make a print of any subject that interests you. You could use a photo copy or a sketch of a building or a landscape. You could make a collage of things you like. You could make a print of your pet - just get a good photo. We will be limited to 4 colors - mostly by time. We may stay until the Copper Shop closes at 5 PM if needed. You can email me with any questions - dmarkert@dorothymarkert.com. In the next few weeks I will continue to work on this print and show you all of the steps so that you can refer to this blog when the class is over.

79. Finally

2009-08-25T14:23:00.018-04:00

I did decide to make the change that I felt would help this print. As in my last post, I went through the steps to make another stencil and then I printed the deeper cream color. I'm so glad that I did.

I had designed this print for a special spot in my dining room. It is next to the china cabinet that holds my collection of Fiesta Ware. It is a little dark in that corner - the print brings a lot of light and life to the room.

I have decided to title it "Bizarre Bouquet".

All of the designs were taken directly from the Clarice Cliff originals. Years ago, I would price her pieces on ebay - they are so costly that I decided that I could have them as my own prints and enjoy them every day. The large flowers with the speckled centers are from "Latona Eden", the others are "Nuage Bouquet" and in the lower corners "Moselle" . The plate is "Honolulu" and the vase "Orange Roof Cottage".

The art deco designs don't really go with my arts and crafts interior - but it is a natural progression.

78. 11 Colors Printed

2009-08-24T11:57:00.006-04:00

Using the same process of drawing fluid and Future I have printed the last three colors; persimmon, black and blue. I think that I am finished with my print, but I'm not sure. I am thinking of printing the cream colored areas on the pottery and behind the flowers a little warmer and darker. They seem to fade away and don't hold the composition together.

I will be able to do this because of the way that I made the first stencil with screen filler. The openings are still in the screen and all that I have to do is to paint drawing fluid into all of those areas, spread Future, dry it , remove the drawing fluid, dry the screen and print. The cream color that I used in my earlier "Clarice" prints has more yellow and just a trace of black in it. I will mix that same color and try it.

The original work was on Newport Pottery "cream ware". This gave gave her pieces an all over warm glow. I don't have that look at this point - I think I'll see what I can do to get it.

77. Eight colors printed

2009-08-18T15:01:00.007-04:00

Years ago I searched for a way to make a temporary blockout that could be removed without disturbing the screen filler blockout that worked with drawing fluid. I read of a printmaker who used Future floor wax in an air brush to create gradiations of color by spraying directly on the screen. Future is too thin to apply the way that I apply screen filler. This link will take you to My Manual Using Acrylic floor finish .

Each color will be printed alone. Careful registration will insure that they will be in the right place. By using just one screen, it should be perfect.

First everywhere I wanted yellow was painted inside the stencil with drawing fluid. (Yellow is translucent and will not cover the other colors.)
Then instead of spreading screen filler, I spread the thickened Future over all. I dried the screen;
removed the drawing fluid; dried again and printed yellow. Then I cleaned the ink from the screen with cold water and removed the Future with clear ammonia. I dried the screen and repeated the process for all of the successive colors: orange, dark red, lighter red, light green, dark green, lavender and cream.

I will next print persimmon (I don't like the lighter red in the vase). black and some blue on the plate.
I can always go back and print any area because of the way that I made the stencil on the screen and the fact that I can remove the Future without disturbing the screen filler.

76. Homage to Clarice Cliff

2009-08-17T12:22:00.025-04:00

I have been thinking about making a large (20" x 18") print of Clarice Cliff flowers in one of her vases and putting them together with another example of her pottery that I love. I have made a series of smaller CC inspired prints. here
As there will be many colors in the print I will use a technique that in block printing is called "white-line woodcut". Created in the early 1900's in Provincetown, Mass., this process used a single block rather than one for each color. The cut out line enabled the artist to ink just the areas to be printed. B.J.O Nordfeldt, Blanch Lazzell and Edna Boies Hopkins are credited with developing and producing many Provincetown prints.

My screen print will not have the subtle variations of color that are in the wood block prints. The colors will be strong and flat, much like the original painting on Clarice's pottery. After finding my subjects in books and online I have made a full size layout of the print. Some of the flowers were scanned, the size changed and the images flipped to add variety.

With colored pencils, I indicated where I wanted the different colors. Then I placed the original sketch under the transparent screen and carefully painted everything I wanted to be any color directly on the screen with the blue screen drawing fluid. When that was dry I spread dark red screen filler across the entire screen and when the filler was dry I washed away the drawing fluid with cold water. This left me with a screen or stencil that had openings wherever I wanted to print any color (larger photo). Most colors are separated by a line of screen filler that will not print.

75. Sunday at the Festival

2009-07-14T10:29:00.007-04:00

I decided to demonstrate on Sunday with a subject that didn't have the rigid constraints of the Arts and Crafts chair.

A butterfly would work well. I made a little sketch and scanned it and flipped it to get a mirror image. With the sketch under the transparent screen I painted screen drawing fluid wherever I wanted to print any color. After spreading screen filler, drying, washing out the drawing fluid and drying again I printed yellow/orange. I left some areas in the butterfly that would stay white. I printed as many as I would want for an edition. Then I cleaned the ink from the screen with cold water, let it dry and painted drawing fluid onto the areas to be blue. I spread screen filler again to get the stencil for the blue screen.

I printed the blue over the yellow/orange. The registration was good because I was using the same screen. This is a true reduction print.

74. My Demonstration

2009-07-03T15:23:00.019-04:00

Inside the Copper Shop on Saturday morning I printed the first color for my demonstration. (See post # 72) I had mixed a nice soft red that was further softened when I printed it on the brown paper.

After cleaning the ink from my screen I started to work on the second color. I painted drawing fluid wherever I wanted to print black. I had decided to have the seat and some corner designs red. I didn't put any drawing fluid in those areas - only where I wanted to print black.

After going through spreading the screen filler, washing out the drawing fluid, drying the screen and printing with black ink, I realized that I just didn't like it. The elements in the corners make it too busy. I was happier with the red print.

Some day I will redo this idea.

Later, on Sunday I made a different two color print. I'll show it to you in my next post.

Sunday at the Copper Shop was quieter, there were fewer people and the second print was more satisfactory. Later in the day there were some rain showers. I was glad that I wasn't out in the parking lot with the other exhibitors.

73. After the Roycroft Summer Festival

2009-07-03T14:32:00.010-04:00

Saturday was a beautiful day here in Western New York. The sun was shining and the temperature was in the 70s. The Festival was very well attended in spite of the road construction along 20A. It was so crowded in the Copper Shop that there were times when we could hardly move.

There were so many questions, I was happy to have Mary Schichtel with me to answer some of them. I didn't get anyone to take photos of me printing, but I took some of Mary printing her Christmas card. She designed a great little Arts and Crafts frog card. It would be printed in three colors. Here is a photo of her printing the first color; a light, bright green. After printing all of her cards with the first color she painted little holly leaves and part of the eyes on the screen with drawing fluid. Then she spread filler over all, washed out the drawing fluid, let it dry and then she printed with a darker green. Later, she went through the same process and printed small, red holly berries at the ends of the frogs feet.

first color

second color

72. First screen is done

2009-06-21T19:30:00.027-04:00

In this photo I am spraying the blue drawing fluid with cold water. It dissolves leaving just the screen filler on the screen.

I will continue to spray until every bit of drawing fluid is gone and the screen is open wherever I want to print.

My first stencil has been made; all I have to do is let it dry and I am ready to print. I need to mix a color. I will use Speedball textile screen printing ink. It comes in all of the primary and some secondary colors. The red that I am thinking of will be darker and softer than the red right out of the jar. Sometimes, I just put a wet screen outside to dry.

I don't need to do that now. I'm not going to print with it until Saturday at the Summer Festival. It will be good and dry by then. I'll mix my ink and pack up everything that I will need for my demonstration. I hope that you can come to East Aurora and say hello. But, I will find someone to take photos of the printing process and I'll post them on this blog. It is impossible for me to photograph myself printing. I did take these photos with my left hand while holding the hose with the right.

ROYCROFT RENAISSANCE

SUMMER FESTIVAL

June 27 & 28, 10 - 5

I will be in the Copper Shop Gallery, across Grove St from the Roycroft Inn

71. Spreading the Screen Filler

2009-06-21T14:40:00.015-04:00

After completing the drawing fluid, I hold the screen up to the light to see if there are any pin holes in the drawing fluid. I correct these, make sure that the screen is dry and get ready to spread the screen filler.

The screen is elevated above the table with four blocks, cans, etc. These are placed under the frame of the screen. I have a piece of mat board with a nice straight edge ready as well as an old iced tea spoon. The mat board is about 2" shorter than the inside of the frame and larger than my image.

I mix the filler very well and put about 2 teaspoons on the far side of my screen on an area that I had varnished when I made the screen. The mat board will be held at about a 45 degree angle and it will spread all of the filler across the entire image. It is important not to let the mat board bow - it needs to be kept straight. This has to be done in one pass. The drawing fluid is very water soluble and will smear if you go back over it when it is wet.

If you should run short of filler just dry the screen (you can use a hair dryer) turn it around and repeat the process.

Leave the screen in it's horizontal position so that it can dry completely. You can use a hair dryer to speed things up. After the screen is dry take it to your laundry sink or outside to a garden hose and wet both sides with cold water. Then increase the water pressure and spray away all of the drawing fluid.

70. Painting the drawing fluid onto the screen

2009-06-20T15:11:00.000-04:00

With the design in register under the screen I will start outlining all of the areas that I want to print. I decided to use the RR mark and have painted around it. I have also painted around the small squares in the corners of the print. I use a watercolor brush and keep a container of water and a paper towel nearby to wash the brush.

I have small pieces of mat board separating the screen from the drawing so the fluid doesn't go through the screen onto the drawing - this will create pin holes in the drawing fluid and mess up my print.

In the photo on the right all of the drawing fluid has been painted onto the screen. I have filled in all of the areas that I outlined.

All of the blue areas will be able to be printed.

Everything that is white will be the color of the paper. I plan to print on brown paper.

My idea is to print the first color, maybe red or green. I will need to print more than I expect to have in my edition.

Then I will paint more drawing fluid wherever I want the second color be. Again I will spread screen filler over all, wash out the drawing fluid let it dry and I will be ready to print the second color.The second color will cover the print except for the chair cushion and a little of the first color as a border around the edge of the print.

I may add a third color - I'm not sure. The screen is ready for the next step.

69. My Chair - Summer Festival Demonstration

2009-06-19T15:27:00.010-04:00

This will be a simple reduction print . I started with a drawing of one of my dining room chairs; it was made by the Buffalo Chair Works (Buffalo Chair works was originally Edwin Sikes and Co. It changed to Buffalo Chair works in 1875 and went out of business in 1919. It was located in Buffalo New York.)

I want my design to fill the printed area. I have decided to print this on a brown, recycled paper. The paper is 81/2" x 11". Instead of printing the chair I will print the background and the chair seat. The brown paper will be the color of the chair. I have glued my drawing onto an 8 1/2" x 11" piece of print paper. I have placed the Roycroft Renaissance mark on my drawing - I may print it - I may not.

Two registration tabs have been glued and taped at the lower right hand corner and one is on the right almost to the top. The print paper will butt right up against these tabs. They will act as stops when I place my paper against them.

With the drawing taped in place I can see it through the transparent screen. I will paint directly on the screen with Hunt Speedball screen drawing fluid. Everything that is to be any color will be painted with drawing fluid. Even though I will be printing at least two colors every area to be printed any color must be covered.

This can be confusing at first. Reduction prints get their name because you reduce the printed area for each new color. The first color will be underneath all successive colors; it will be the largest printed area. Then by painting drawing fluid into the open areas of the screen a stencil is created for the second color. The first color will show wherever you don't put any drawing fluid. Continue this process until you have all of the colors printed. Three colors is enough to get really interesting prints, but you can print as many colors as you want.

One thing to realize right at the beginning is that you can't go back and print more of the first color after you alter the screen for the second color! You will always be making a limited edition. Print lots of copies right at the beginning -- more than you think you want, because you'll probably ruin a few in later stages.

68. Roycroft Summer Festival, 2009

2009-06-19T13:21:00.009-04:00

THE RAILROAD DOESN'T COME HERE ANY MORE,
BUT YOU CAN STILL COME TO THE SUMMER FESTIVAL

SATURDAY AND SUNDAY, JUNE 27 AND 28, 10 AM - 5 PM
Main (Rt. 20A) and South Grove Sts., East Aurora, NY

I will be in the Copper Shop Gallery with a display of my work and I will be demonstrating the process of screen printing (my way). Mary Schichtel will be with me - we will be working on our prints and will be able to answer any questions that you have.

Last year I put my demonstration on this blog. Afterwards, I decided that it was too complicated, this year I have designed a simple reduction print in two or three colors that I will be developing during the Festival. I will post the preliminary steps in the next few days and the final print after the Festival.

I made this little print titled "Pennsylvania Railroad Station, East Aurora, NY" (5" x 8") in 1997. The design was selected to be a premium for patron members of the Roycrofters At Large Association. The edition was 250 - the first 150 were the premiums, the remainder were mine to market after one year. The print was made with two screens, one had the black background, lettering and detail and the other screen was used to print all of the colors.

67. The final print

2009-05-23T15:28:00.015-04:00

I started this print on April 22, daffodils and tulips were everywhere.
It is now late May, Bleeding Hearts, Forget-me-nots, Lilacs and Columbines have taken over.

This was the most ambitious print I have made in a long time. The blogging has helped me to keep on track.

I was very concerned that the first screen wouldn't match up perfectly when I printed it over all of the other colors. I was very disapointed when I did print it, it matched up perfectly but the colors didn't look right to me.

The small photo on the right shows the original blue vase and the
final light green after I reprinted it.

The light green was too bright (see post 66) and so was the blue vase. After printing over them,
I was very pleased. The slight change in these colors made all of the difference in the print. Now I am going to mat and frame one for my dining room. I have just posted this print on my web site.

66. All of the colors have been printed with the second screen

2009-05-22T16:24:00.010-04:00

White is the last color to be printed before I go back to my first screen and print a dark color. In traditional block printing a key block was made first. I sometimes make a screen that has the line work that accents the design and holds the colors together. This is similar to a key block.

The next step will be to print the dark color with my first screen (April 29). I don't like to use black, it is just too dead. I will mix a very dark brown that will compliment the dark oak and walnut frames that my husband makes for my prints.

I wasn't happy with my print when I added the dark brown.

The light green was too bright. In this photo, I have printed over the light green with a softer, duller color.

I was able to do this because
I still had much of my stencil on the screen. I painted drawing fluid into the areas that I wanted to be softer. I was careful not to cover any of the dark brown that I had just printed. I left small bits of screen unpainted so that the light green would show through in places. A Future stencil was made and the new light green has been printed over the old.

This worked so well that I decided to do the same with the large blue vase and some of the lettering at the bottom of the print.

65. Light green has been printed

2009-05-20T19:11:00.008-04:00

I have just printed with light green ink. It is on the vertical tulip area, the base of the goose bowl and a small spot on the mug. The stencil was made with Future and drawing fluid within the screen filler stencil.

The tulip flowers were blocked out with crayola crayon. I didn't even have to draw the outlines on the screen as I did earlier in post 61. I wasn't going to put a book under the screen for texture, I just wanted to let the yellow show with softer edges.

I simply used the print under my screen to show me where I should use the crayon and rubbed the crayon there.

After printing light green I cleaned all of the Future from the screen again before making a Future stencil for the white geese.

64. Two more blues

2009-05-20T13:51:00.012-04:00

I have printed two more blues. Future stencils were made within the first blue stencil. First, a lighter blue was printed. And thenan even lighter, slightly different blue was printed on the vase and the goose bowl. These were reduction stencils within the first blue stencil.
After printing these I cleaned all of the Future from the screen with ammonia.
This left the screen filler stencil from post 63. in place for the rest of my colors. I will use Future stencils for light green and white. Then I will print my first screen on top of all of the colors.

The photo at the bottom of this post is a close-up of all three blues.

63. Working within the screen filler stencil

2009-05-18T19:28:00.011-04:00

I have started to paint drawing fluid into the stencil that I just made. I am careful in the areas where my color is not confined by screen filler. In any other place, like the lettering, I can just brush it all over the area.

I will use Future to make my stencil for the blues. I will print everything with a deep blue ink and then paint drawing fluid into the openings to make reduction stencils for the other two blues. There is just a touch of blue in the vertical tulip designs. The rest of this will be a light green as well as the bottom of the bowl. These areas and the geese are protected with the Future stencil.

Now I have printed the first blue. It is close in value to the green.

I didn't want the lettering across the bottom to stand out. When I print the first screen over the colors the words on the left will show more.

I think that I have just five more colors to print; two more blues, light green and white, then I will be able to print the first screen on top of everything - I hope that it comes out the way that I envision it.

62. Tan over green

2009-05-16T16:01:00.009-04:00

There are a few places that are to be tan on top of the green that I have just printed. The Future stencil (clear)and the screen filler stencil (red) are still in place on the screen. I have painted drawing fluid everywhere I want the tan color. There is a little on the foliage and on two of the pottery pieces.
I spread two coats of Future over all, wash out the drawing fluid and print tan.

After I print tan and wash the ink from the screen I remove the Future stencil with ammonia.

I want to make another screen filler stencil on top of the previous ones. This time I want to block out the tan and green and leave all of the areas that are to be blue, light green or white open.
I have outlined the words "Saturday Evening Girls" and added "Paul Revere Pottery across the bottom border. I have carefully painted these areas as well as the ones that will be any other color. This includes parts of the vase, the bowl and the mug and a wide stripe across the top and the right hand side of the border.
Then I spread screen filler as I did in post 53; dried the screen and washed out the drawing fluid. When this is dry I will proceed to make Future stencils within the screen filler stencil on my screen.

61. Crayola crayon rubbing

2009-05-15T15:25:00.015-04:00

I am ready to print, but first I will deal with those daffodils that are on the vase. I want to make them less intense than the fresh flowers in the vase. The actual vase has some green glaze over the yellow in this area. There was no Future in this area and it will print green. First, I traced the outline of the daffodils directly onto the screen with a soft pencil. I found a book that had a textured cover for my rubbing. I placed the book under the screen and rubbed the crayon into the parts of the flowers that I wanted to show as yellow. There is a section of My Manual on my web site that tells about rubbings. The crayola acts as a blockout with the water based ink and allows me to have a texture in my print instead of just solid color.

You can see in this photo that the yellow on the vase recedes. I will be using the same technique on the tulips later.

This small photo shows the green ink on plain white paper.

60. Another screen filler stencil

2009-05-12T19:34:00.020-04:00

The most intense area in this print will be the yellow daffodils. I want to keep them as they are until I print the first screen with my line work over all the rest. I have painted screen drawing fluid on the screen everywhere there is to be any color except yellow. I have even covered the yellows in the vase and the vertical tulips - I will be dealing with these differently. The drawing fluid looks wet even when it is dry. After it is completly dry I will spread screen filler over the entire screen as I did in post 53. Then I will wash out the drawing fluid. Screen filler will cover the yellow daffodils. The outer margin, the vertical tulips, the pottery and the foliage of the daffodils will still be open. I will be able to print the rest of my colors within this stencil using the Future floor finish method.

In this next photo the yellow daffodils have been blocked out with red screen filler. The next color that I will print will be laurel green. I have painted drawing fluid onto the screen wherever I want to print green. I have covered the yellow daffodils on the vase with drawing fluid, I will deal with them later.

There are areas of drawing fluid that will be a lighter green, blue and tan. The largest area will be the laurel green. This will be on the outer border, the foliage of the daffodils and parts of the pottery.

I will use Future floor finish for my stencil this time because I want to be able to go back and print the tulips and the pottery after I finish with this stencil. Now - two coats of Future, wash out the drawing fluid and dry the screen and I'm ready to print.

I have mixed a shade of green ink that I call laurel. It is a soft medium green, similar to the “mat green” glaze on so much Arts and Crafts pottery. Again, I am using water soluble Speedball Textile screen printing ink.

59. Another yellow will be printed

2009-05-06T15:43:00.010-04:00

With the Future and the screen filler stencils still on the screen I have painted screen drawing fluid wherever I want to print a slightly deeper yellow. I want to have some texture on the daffodils, the two tulips will be solid and the geese will have the darker color on their feet and bills. Then just as before I spread two coats of Future let it dry and then washed out the drawing fluid.

I will print with Speedball Acrylic screen printing ink this time. The deep medium yellow isn't available in the textile ink that I usually use. The Acrylic ink works perfectly with the textile ink - it just can't be used on fabrics that will be washed. This color is very close to the first yellow that I printed. It shows up better when printed alone on white paper as in this next photo.

After printing this second yellow I clean the screen and remove the Future stencil with ammonia. The red screen filler stencil will stay on the screen.

Both yellows have been printed and now I will go on to the next step.

58. Making the Future Floor Finish Stencil

2009-05-05T18:58:00.013-04:00

After painting drawing fluid everywhere that I wanted to print yellow I followed the directions in the previous post to make the stencil. The screen was raised above my table with blocks and a small amount of the thickened Future was placed on the hinged end of the screen. I drew all of the Future toward me, across the entire screen with a strip of mat board held at a 45 degree angle. When I reached the end of the screen, I let the mat board rest against the frame and quickly dried the Future with a hair drier. Then I turned the screen 180 degrees and pulled the Future that was still on the screen back across to the other end. I dried it again. Now I had two coats of Future on my screen. I let it dry completly. Then I sprayed it with cold water to remove the blue drawing fluid and let it dry again. I would have taken some photos for you, but the Future is transparent and it wouldn't have shown. There is always some residue of Future left in the stencil where you don't want it. Brush it away with a good stiff brush. The drawing fluid kept it from getting into the mesh of the screen.

I have cut about 36 pieces of fawn, Stonehenge paper 15" x 19" for my edition. This is a 100% rag paper with a nice deckle on two sides. I place my paper onto the screen bed, up against my register guides. The screen is in place and I have mixed a very intense yellow Speedball textile screen printing ink with some Speedball transparent base. This will allow the fawn tone of the paper to modify the yellow.

I place a good amount of ink on the far side of the screen and squeegee the ink, pulling toward myself. I repeat this for each of the 36 pieces of paper. This photo shows the first color printed.

I lay the wet prints around my studio, on the counter tops and even on the floor. I don't hang them up because I need to keep a steady pace so that the ink doesn't dry in my screen. The whole room took on a bright, sunny look as I filled it with my prints. When I had printed all of the paper I scraped up the ink from the squeegee and the screen. Then, back in my laundry tub I washed every bit of ink away with cold water. The screen filler and the Future stencil stay on the screen.

This print combines a screen filler stencil (screen 1) and Future stencils (all on screen 2). I'm not sure of just how many colors I will be printing with screen 2.

The white paper that shows is the glued down first print that will stay on the screen bed until I am finished. It was set away from the register guides.

57. A Future Floor Wax Stencil

2009-05-05T16:08:00.013-04:00

Future floor wax isn't really a wax. It is a hard acrylic finish. It cleans up with ammonia. The last bottle that I bought says "Future Floor Finish". The following is in "My Manual" on my web site http://www.dorothymarkert.com/

I made this print "My Cup of Tea" with one screen using this method - there are 7 colors in it. The Daffodil print on this blog will be made with 2 screens.

USING FLOOR WAX (FINISH) TO MAKE A MULTICOLOR PRINT:
I have been using thickened Future floor wax for many of my recent prints. The Future is reduced on the stove by simmering about 1/2 hour, or until it is about half the volume that you start with. You might think that you have ruined your cooking pot, but it cleans up completely with ammonia and warm water.

I start by using drawing fluid to cover all areas that are to be any color, sometimes this is just a rectangular block. Drawing fluid is painted onto the screen everywhere except where just paper will show, often this is just the margin around the image. Then I spread screen filler over the screen. I let it dry and wash out the drawing fluid. This leaves all of the areas of the design to be printed open on the screen.

Then I start by painting all of the areas to be the first color with drawing fluid. When it is dry I cover the screen with prepared Future. I use almost the same technique that I use to spread screen filler. The screen is elevated above the table top and a small amount of Future is poured onto the blocked out area on the top of the screen. Then I take a strip of mat board and pull the wax across the image. I leave the mat board tilted against the bottom of the frame and quickly dry the image area with a hair dryer. The I turn the screen 180 degrees and pull the Future back across the screen in the opposite direction from the first time. I wipe off any heavy deposit of Future that is on the screen filler with a paper towel. Again I dry it with the hair dryer. It is important to work on just the top side of your screen for all the steps.
Let the screen dry thoroughly. In the winter I put it by a heat vent and out in the sunshine in the summer. When it is completely dry, I use a sponge and cold water to dissolve the drawing fluid and wipe down the screen. After it is dry again, any residue of Future in the print area will come off by using a bristle brush.

The resulting stencil can then be printed with the first color, just like any other stencil. The Future stencil is more delicate than a screen filler one. You should not expect to wash the ink from it and print it again. After printing the first color, I wash the ink from the screen. I think of the Future stencils as temporary and the screen filler stencils as permanent. Ammonia easily removes the Future and doesn't disturb the screen filler. Only a strong detergent and very hot water will remove the screen filler.

I can use the existing stencil for a reduction stencil by painting into the open areas of screen wherever I want to print the second color. Or after washing off the ink, I can remove the stencil by applying clear household ammonia (not sudsy) directly onto the screen and rinsing with cold water. This will remove the Future and leave the screen filler. Do not use detergent ammonia, it will remove the screen filler.

When the screen is dry, drawing fluid is used again to create the stencil for the second color. This is done either on the ammonia cleaned screen or as a reduction in the openings in the Future that were made for the first color.

Repeat the process for as many colors as you want to use.
This process can be combined with other techniques.

I often use two screens, one a detail, the outline and final color to be printed , made with drawing fluid and screen filler. I print this on a glued down paper on the screen bed.
Then, using that image as a guide I use the Future method on another screen for the colors that will be printed first. After printing all of the first colors, I print the stencil on the first screen on top of all of the rest.

A mask of screen filler can be used over again to make prints of the same size. It is easy to spread the Future on the small area that the screen filler leaves.

I know, it sounds involved - but if you go step by step - it works.

56. Preparing to print yellow

2009-05-04T14:07:00.010-04:00

Here is my second screen.

Everywhere I don't want to print with this screen has been blocked out with the red screen filler. This was done in the previous steps.

Now I am getting ready to print the first color of my edition. I have chosen to print yellow first because it is translucent and it will not cover other colors well.

With the second screen hinged to the screen bed and the dark print underneath I painted drawing fluid directly on the screen wherever I wanted to print yellow. This included the daffodils in the vase and on the vase, the two tulips in the vertical band and the beaks and feet of the geese. Again, I let it extend beyond the outlines because I know that the other colors that I will be using will cover the yellow ink. You can click on the photo for a close up. I have to be much more careful when I get to the other colors.

The screen is throughly dried before I continue to make a stencil with Future floor wax. That will be my next post.

55. The second screen

2009-05-03T12:19:00.012-04:00

I have my second screen hinged onto the screen bed; the print from the first screen shows through the transparent screen. Again, I separate the screen from the bed with a few strips of mat board and paint blue Speedball drawing fluid wherever I want to have any color other than the dark from my first screen. The rim of the goose bowl and most of the mug will be left as plain paper as well as the margin around the print.

I didn't put any drawing fluid onto the large dark areas; but I did extend into it about 1/8 of an inch. I tried to paint the drawing fluid so that it would split the outlines on the bowl and mug. I will be printing all of the successive colors with this screen.

The next steps will be to spread the red screen filler over the entire screen, let it dry, wash out the drawing fluid and dry it again as in posts 53 & 54.

54. Washing out the drawing fluid

2009-04-29T11:40:00.007-04:00

The screen has been set into my laundry tub. I have a garden hose sprayer attached to my faucet. Cold water is sprayed onto the blue drawing fluid which is so soluble that it rinses away easily leaving the red screen filler stencil. I first wet both sides of the screen with cold water and then increase the water pressure, aiming at the drawing fluid until it is gone and the stencil is open.
This screen is hinged onto a board with loose pin hinges. When I take the screen out of the hinges in order to work on it,I know that it will go back into the same position on the board because of the hinges. I will print a few from this screen including one on a piece of print paper that I will glue down onto the backing board. I will use that print as a guide for all of the colors. I can touch up this stencil by painting a little screen filler wherever I don't want any dark ink. It is easy to close areas but hard to open them up.

Here is a print made with this screen. It was printed onto a piece of print paper that was glued and taped onto the screen bed. It was place slightly away from the registration guides so that it wouldn't be in the way as I printed. I will leave it there while I print all of the colors except the color from this first screen.

I printed a few of these with black Speedball water based, textile ink; I like to use them to paint with water colors to see how my color scheme will look. The last one to be printed was the one on the screen bed. Then I washed the ink from the screen with cold water. I was careful to remove all of the ink from both sides of the screen, the corners, etc.

Then I put the first screen away. I will not need it until I print all of the colors with a second screen. That screen can also be hinged to this screen bed. I will use this second screen to create all of the colors in my print. The print on my screen bed will be the guide for the other colors. I have a pencil line that shows the outer edge of the finished print.

53. Drawing fluid has been completed

2009-04-28T14:13:00.013-04:00

53. Everything that I want to print with my dark color has been painted onto the screen with blue Speedball drawing fluid. I'm glad that it is blue and I can see the lights and darks in my composition.

The lettering and the vertical tulip design weren't in my original drawing. I laid them out on separate pieces of paper and slipped them into place under my screen so that I could paint them.

The drawing fluid is water soluble; I can make changes by washing out anything I don't want with clear water. The area needs to be completly dry before I can paint more drawing fluid into it.

The photo is a little distorted, the print will be a perfect rectangle. There are pencil lines on the screen showing the edges of the finished print.

When I felt that I had everything that I wanted on the screen, I held it up against the light to check for pinholes or any skipped places in the drawing fluid. Then the screen was dried completly before the next step.

The screen was raised horizontally above my table with 4 blocks. I put about 3 teaspoons of dark red Speedball screen filler across the far side of my screen and with a piece of mat board I drew all of the filler across the entire screen with one pull.

Because the drawing fluid is so water soluble it would smear if I went over it again with the wet screen filler. If there was a problem and I needed to go back over it, I would just wait for it to dry before putting on a second coat. I tried to keep the mat board from bowing and at a 45 degree angle to the screen. The entire screen was covered with filler. I used a hair dryer to help set the filler and left the screen in it's horizontal position to dry completly.

52. Saturday Evening Girls

2009-04-23T15:08:00.008-04:00

I have long been aware of the Saturday Evening Girls and their wonderful pottery decorations. There is something in each piece that says “Spring and Joy” to me. I have been reading "Art and Reform" by Nonie Gadsden. It tells of the belief in the power of art to uplift and inspire.
My design combines some this work along with Marg’s daffodils.

The Saturday Evening Girls Club was a library reading groups for high-school-age girls at the North End Branch of the Boston Public Library. It was developed by reform-minded local philanthropists to educate and assimilate immigrant girls and to keep them "off the streets." The Saturday Evening group included the oldest girls, many of whom had dropped out of school in order to contribute to their family's income.

The Paul Revere Pottery was established to offer these girls a healthy and safe environment to earn their wages, surrounded by their peers. The SEGs, as they came to call themselves, decorated the Pottery's bowls, plates, vases, and other forms with stylized imagery of animals, flowers, landscapes, and other designs in earthy tones of blue, green, yellow and brown. The playful ceramics could be personalized with names, initials, or moralistic mottos. In the workrooms, someone would read aloud to the girls every afternoon along with the small staff: potter,designer, kilnman and assistant. The Pottery's production and the height of their artistic achievement and success peaked in the mid-1910s.

Exerpts from”The Art that is Life” by Wendy Kaplan
and the collection of the Museum of Fine Art, Boston, MA http://www.mfa.org/index.asp

This is a good explanation of the SEGs http://www.arts-crafts.com/archive/pottery/seg.shtml

Back to making the print - The drawing has been placed under the screen and taped down. I have the screen separated from the drawing with strips of mat board to keep the Screen Drawing Fluid from going through the screen onto the drawing. I can move these strips to wherever I am working. Then, as I can see the drawing I simply trace the lines that I want to print and fill in the background wherever I want my dark color. The drawing fluid is water soluble. I can erase any mistakes with clear water. When designing my print I felt the need for a verticle element on the left. This will probably be a different color. I will leave it empty until I decide just what to do with it. The same with the outer borders. I often think about this type of area while I am painting the main part of the design. I'm not sure of what I will do - I'm thinking about the words "SATURDAY EVENING GIRLS". I use a water color brush to paint the drawing fluid onto the screen. The straight lines were made with an old fashioned ruling pan and a straight edge. I will keep on painting until everything that is to be my dark color has been painted with Speedball Screen Drawing fluid.

51. Daffodil Days

2009-04-22T14:12:00.009-04:00

I have been thinking of working on a new, large print. It would be made with two screens; one would have all of the dark line work that would outline the images as well as a dark background.

It would serve as the key block in traditional block printing. This would be printed last on top of the colors that would be made with the second screen. But even though it would be printed last I need to make it first and print one in register as a guide for the other colors.

My neighbor's daffodils called to me. She was away and I knew she would approve, I went across the street and picked myself a nice bouquet.

This was my inspiration - the intense yellow is just what I wanted.

I made a working drawing of the daffodils.

I put them in a different vase along with some other pieces of Paul Revere Pottery decorated by "The Saturday Evening Girls". I found the vase and the rabbit mug on the Internet.

The goose bowl is from the book "Art and Reform" by Nonie Gadsden.

This drawing has been mounted onto a sheet of print paper that is the same size that I will use for the edition.

It will be placed under the transparent screen and I will paint drawing fluid directly onto the screen wherever I want the ink to print.

The bold, black lines on the original pottery were created with the cuerda seca technique. The lines of the designs were deeply incised into the clay body before filling them with black tinted wax.

I hope that I can capture these expressive lines as I paint them with my drawing fluid.

50. Winter Class

2009-02-27T10:25:00.013-05:00

For the past five weeks I have been teaching a screen printing class at the Centennial Art Center here in Hamburg. It is a great place to have a class. On Sunday afternoons we have the building all to ourselves. It was a functioning one room schoolhouse until the 1950s. The deed to the land states that it can be used only for educational purposes. The Town of Hamburg, NY owns the building and the Art Center organization runs the programs. I am a charter member and I have taught there for many years. This winter, I had five students from past years and two new ones.

above

Mary painting drawing fluid onto her screen.

right
Laurie spreading screen filler over her entire screen with a strip of mat board.

I took advantage of the class to take some photos of some of the steps involved in screen printing. It is hard to photograph myself working.

above

Linda printing a light green onto her flowers.

right - The prints are spread out to dry. The whole room looks like spring in spite of the snow whirling around outside.

My next class will be at the Roycroft Campus on Saturday, March 28 in the Copper Shop in East Aurora. It will be an introduction. We will be printing just one color, but the same basic process can be used for multicolor prints. For more information. Artisan classes.

49. Screen Filler Stencil

2009-02-04T18:32:00.017-05:00

When the drawing fluid was dry I spread screen filler across the entire screen with a strip of mat board. When that was dry I washed away the drawing fluid with a spray of cold water. I was left with a stencil that I can use for all of the four colors that are in the print.

Floor Wax Stencil

The first color to be printed is a yellow/gold. Wherever I wanted to print this color, I painted screen drawing fliud onto the stencil. I kept away from the outer edge of the heart because I will be covering it with black ink.

For the next step please refer to "My Manual" on my web site. Click on "Using Floor Wax" at the top of the page. I printed many of my Valentines with the yellow/gold hearts, as I was printing I thought of adding the red that I had mixed for the rose. I put some red on the left hand side of the screen and yellow on the right. I printed a few on scrap paper to see how they would be. I liked the effect, the colors blended together. You can see the difference by going back to my previous post (48). After printing all of the hearts, I cleaned the screen with cold water and clear ammonia.

Then I made a floor wax stencil to print the red roses and bud and the red Roycroft Renaissance mark on the back of the Valentine. I painted the rose area with drawing fluid and brushed it over the area where I had the RR mark and made another stencil with floor wax and printed the red.After cleaning the screen, I made another floor wax stencil and printed a metalic gold on the yellow heart. You really can't see it in these scans, but it does catch the light at times.

The next color printed was black, I painted drawing fluid for the detail of the rose and brushed it over the the already established lettering and vines. I spread Speedball screen filler for this stencil. This Valentine was printed on ivory Stonehenge paper, cut so that the deckel edge was on the right hand side of the front. The paper is 7" high x 10" wide (card is 7" x 5" folded).

48. Be My Valentine

2009-02-04T11:39:00.011-05:00

I have made an edition of Valentines. They will go to my loved ones and the rest to the Copper Shop Gallery in East Aurora, NY.

I have used the same process of working on just one screen that I have been using for some time now.

Available envelopes dictated the size of the card. I printed the front and back and left the inside blank for a personal message.

I started with a layout of my design and the lettering that will be used. I used computer fonts for the lettering.

The leaves and vines were drawn onto a piece of tracing paper to complete the design.

The layout was placed, in register under the hinged screen, then I used Speedball Drawing fluid to paint everything on the screen that I wanted to be any color.

This was allowed to dry throughly before the next step.