Gelli printing

Recently someone posted a video showing the artist tracing an image through and onto a clean gelli plate using alcohol based markers such as Copic.     So our mixed media group dug out our gelli plates and scrambled to find alcohol inks. 

I only had old alcohol inks and a paint brush to work with.   The top one is a tracing, while the second is freehand scribbles.       I've lost my touch w the gelli print process and need some practice.   Our group will play with them again now that we have them out.     In a few weeks I should be able to post some pics.

Gelli printing, minis

Since I want to enter something in the itty bitty mini art show (max size 3 x 3 inches) which is up in November and December at the gallery, I decided to print miniature gelli prints. 

These are abstract landxcapes in my favorite palette.    Asphaltum, black and white.     My smallest gelli plate is 3 x 5, so it was easy to mask it off to the right size.     I just turned one of my business cards over on the top of the plate. Then it was just a matter of playing with my brayers and wide brush and paints, and pull one after another onto either copy paper or deli wrap.
 
 I will do this again with better quality paper, but this experiment proves that it can be done and individually they are quite nice.      Not sure how I will mount or frame then yet, but that's just another challenge ahead.

This was so much fun.   

Most people who use the gelli plate use it with lots of colors, stencils, etc.  They are amazing.  Check you tube for all kinds of tutorials.      Of course you can do monoprinting on lots of other surfaces.  

 I was looking at a foam kneeling  pad when I was gardening last evening, and thought - hmmmm...  this would make a good printing plate.   hmmm...     

I'm keeping the gelli plates in the house.     I don't think it's healthy for them to be subjected to the temperature variations in the studio.     And they are not cheap.  I'd hate to have them damaged.    But the kneeling pad could stay int he studio.      Or some of the other pads for the kitchen that people are using.     

Gelli monoprints

Here are pics of the monoprints done on gelli plate.

 I tried the pears first without black borders but didn't like them, so took some black acrylic paint, diluted with a little Golden retarder that keeps it open and more fluid.

I'm using Winsor Newton Galeria acrylic  titanium white, it's smooth as silk.      Most of the colors are Liquitex Basics.   At first I liked these a lot, but they do not like heat.   My studio must have cooked them or something because they no longer are smooth and creamy.   Some are barely usable, and I'm not happy with them.      I won't buy them again.    They also clog up the opening - I d rather be using craft paints that hold up for decades.     I like having them in the tubes, and they are hot on the market, so I had to try them out.      I guess if temperature was not an issue, I would still like them.    

I think I'll be using my discount coupons to buy more of the Winsor Newtons when I need them.   They are my number one favorites.  

I have a few tubes of Acrylics by Art Insitute given to me by a friend.   I think they are quite nice so far and will use them again today for a better trial.

As I'm working inside I don't have much space to set things to dry.   I can't put them outside as the roofers are still stirring up the sawdust and tiles debris.   So they are all over my living space including the kitchen counter and stove.   LOL Any bare space that the dogs can't jump on!         Three more days of this. 

gelli prints

Wtih this week being devoted to staying around while new roof is installed, I decided it would be fun today to play with gelli plates.    

 Here is one little group os things.     First pull was just the blues for a background. 

The plate was nearly dry and there was a lot of paint left, so I painted over it with some yellow and white and brayered it down again.    While it was wet I dragged the end of my paint brush through to make simple designs of faces, then pulled another print.  This time it picked up the lower level of the blue for the lines.   




Third  pull brought up the rest of the blues and whatever wax dried on the plate previously, and left the lines white, as that paint was pulled up in the previous pull.   

T 

What's new

Hi again.   I'm still here.      I've been working like a trouper clearing my mountain retreat the sale of which will be final on Saturday.      My granddaughter took a lot of stuff for her own place, one grandson came another day and loaded, my son took the truck to do repairs and bring back a load another day.      Not much time for art.

But, I did get some gelli printing done on post cards to send to friends.   Here are a few with just the backgrounds.  

With all the donations and give aways lately, I still felt a pressing need to add a couple of the smaller gelli plates to my studio.  LOL   In turn, I got rid of lots more stuff.Last evening Henrietta Sparkman gave a demo at Lodi Art Center  on monoprinting with household objects.   She is giving a full workshop on Saturday, some of my friends are going.    I'll be in the country.  

I have been using household objects for years so think I've got it covered in my own work.  But, you know, you always can learn some new trick.    I learned last night about using acrylic  printing inks.  They were much heavier than I expected and I would have called them paints - but the labels said inks.     I always use paints.    Might want to try inks someime.

Sam and Pepe are the featured artists this month.   It took a long time to convince them to show there again, and I promised them as much space as they wanted, they could mount their own show, and set up their lighting - and use the front windows.     they did all those things, and it was such a great opening reception, with most of the people they had invited, plus the regulars and fans of their work. 













I have a new injury I have to show you  - because it is the shape of a heart.    My dog was scratching at my wrist to get my attention.  Didn't break the skin, but an hour later, this appeared under the skin.    Getting older means getting bruises and minor injuries.  

Finally, here is a pic of Frances trying to embarass Sam and a guest.     He doesn't look unhappy about it.   LOL   

 

You've seen this before - Lost in a Memory

Back in October when I posted this picture, I proclaimed it a masterpiece.  Of course that was just my personal opinion, but I had enough faith in it to enter it in the Annual Spring Show at the Woodbridge by Robert Mondavi Winery in Acampo.     Judging waa on Monday with a panel of three highly respected judges.    The good news is - they unanimously liked it too, enough to give it a second place in the mixed media division.     I cleaned up the edges, mounted it on white with a buff colored mat and framed in about a 2 inch black wooden frame.   I'm happy. 

   Here is the original post site:    http://bookartsandalteredbooks.blogspot.com/2014/10/my-new-masterpiece.html

January 2015 30 days of art challenge

Off and running in the new year, I decided to take the challenge again this year.    First I bought a new journal to fill with 30 days of art.     What interests me at the moment is more landscapes painted with the gelli plate.  I'm printing on deli wrap paper and can easisly cut it and glue it in with a glue stick.  It's January 6th, so here are the first entries.   


I'm trying different color combinations  and trying to regain the touch that I had developed months ago when I did this daily.   This is not as simple as it looks.    The paint must be the right consistency, applied in very thing layers and mixed right on the print plate.    Anything can go wrong - and often does.   It can dry too fast.   Temperature and air movement affect this.      No fans can be on.    No heat blowing around.    This technique forces the artist to work quickly and freely.   It's one of the things I like about doing them.

 Throwing down a little bit of pink.   

 Making a few lines by scratching off the paint with side of brayer roller.

 Some wild colors.    The artists who may try this  will soon find out there are a lot of trials and errors.   If you do, be prepared for more failurs than successes - lots of prints get recycled or printed over with something else.   Deli wrap paer is thin and cheap.   I don't feel like it's much of a waste just to toss them away.    

The brayer must be cleaned by rolling  it onto another surface, so that's where some of the discards come in hand.   usually I just keep an old catalog or magazine handy and roll the unwanted paints onto it.     Carolyn Dube suggests cleaning off the brayer in a journal so you have ready made background colors.     I personally do not want those colors in my journals.   It's just not my style.

 More winterly looking colors.   Towards the bottom of this one there are wrinkles in the deli wrap.    the reason it buckled like that is the paint was thicker at the bottom than at the top.     If the paint is too wet or heavy the deli wrap does this.    Regular printing paper would not.

 Skies and mountains and  foregrounds.   Just peaceful, restful vistas.      

 The other day I cut an owl stencil and decided to try it on the gelli plate - my oldest most used one.     the paint stuck so hard to the gelli plate I could not get it to loosen so I could pull a print.     I coated it with additional layers of wet paint to help it release, but it never really did.   Instead it did something surprising.    Wherever the original paint was, the new white paint stuck to the old paint.    When I painted it over with turquoise paint and a brayer then pulled a print, the white coat came through as the outline of the owl and a few little bits of the red came through.    Hmmm.     I did this several times and finally admitted defeat and had to wash it in warm water to get the paint to release, and then only with some rubbing.     I had not put the protective plastic sheet over it  and left it several days.    Perhaps it needs that plastic to keep the mineral oil coating alive.    I think that's why the paint would not release, the mineral oil was not activated, or maybe it's gone now with all the washings it has had.  They say they last forever but I don't quite buy that.

My winter work station is set up on my kitchen counter where I can stand and move about easily, have ready access to water and an overhead light.    

It's not nearly as fun as working in the studio, but nights have been in the 20s and 30s lately so it never really warms all the way though the studio.    The cold permeates everything.   Every book I open is chilled inside, the drawers - likewise.    Plus the paints and all get too cold.  

I packed up a bunch of supplies to bring up again this winter.      In the afternoon it's warm enough to be in the solarium for several hours and drink in the sunshine while working on art, or grooming the dogs, or just listening to public radio.

Leslie Saeta and her challenge came at the right time, with the new year and time to dig in and develop some new skills and beef up some of the half forgotten ones.    Most of the painters who have taken the challenge, more than 1,200 this time,  are doing some pretty serious work and fine paintings.     One of my favorite painters is taking the challenge and I'm so glad, it's the only time I get to see his new work.      My friend Roberta has a hand injury that is making painting difficult right now, so she is opting to paint with her non dominant hand, and doing it so well - I can hardly tell the difference.      Amazing.  

Have I done any artwork in the last six days that is frame worthy?    Nope.    It's not what I'm after right now.   I just want to master the touch and relearn and even go beyond he techniques I worked out last time.     I have a few sketches I want to translate into deli art landscapes.   Then transfer them to canvas.     We'll see.     

When you don't win.... you don't cry or give up

I didn't take any ribbons at the recently hung small works show.    There was a single judge, a respected academic and fine artist in her own right.     Not everyone can win.   

Last night was art judge critique night at the gallery, and many of us went to hear her presentation and discuss her criteria for judging.     She described some of the elements she looks at, the skill level and subjects.   Behind it all - judging is a subjective response to a particular piece at a particular moment in time.      One of the judges I worked with in the past said if she were to judge at any other time or place, her responses may be different.     You can't use a point system, like so many points for composition, so  many points for use of materials, presentation of subject, color, or any of the other elements of art.     You either like it, or not.  Even at that, there are not enough ribbons to go around for everything the judges like.    They have to make the hard decisions.     They may have a strong emotional response to a piece that lacks in skill or composition, yet it may draw them back to it.     I find this so fascinating.   It also makes me wonder why we try to find judges with good academic credentials if they are just going to throw them out the window and go gaga over any old thing that tugs at their heart strings.   I guess the reason is that they can communicate their decisions and rationale with an air of expertise.      I like that.     It's important for an artist to hear criticism as well as praise.     And praise without an explanation is so empty.     Then it really does seem more like a whim.     This judge explained things well, and was very thoughtful in her critique.  

    Someone asked her to critique one of my gelli prints, and she said she was quite taken by them but didn't quite know what they were, the use of materials was something she had not seen before.   She asked how I accomplished them and I gave a very brief description of the process.     All in all, she like s them, very much liked the sense of space and composition was strong.  She liked the colors. She liked the serenity.   I had such good feedback from the other members and a few in particular who I respect immensely - so much so that I went back to the gallery today and raised my prices.     I really don't want them to sell and will only be happy to sell for a whopping sum.   LOL   I guess the response from the judge and the group gave me a big boost of over-confidence!   LOL    I was already sure I was on to something really special with this new group of works.    I didn't expect to win.   I thought the pieces are so quiet and unassuming, they might go unnoticed - but that is their charm.   They are soothing and peaceful and easy on the eyes.   

I didn't win anything but a good feeling.      I already have a strong emotional response to these pieces because the subjects come from our family photo archives.     I think I needed to hear that they evoked good responses from others without the family connection.    

At the gallery, my three pieces are hung in different areas.  One is in the front window.   One on the featured artist wall, and one in the back room of the gallery.    An artist I respect ( who used to have his  own gallery) said he would have hung them together.   I had to agree that would have been my preference, but our gallery manager does such a good job, I would not ask her to change it now.

Anyhow, if you don't win, you just keep going if you like the direction you are headed.     If not, then perhaps it's time to change directions.     At least it makes us analyze what is working and what isn't.   And the critiques (not always flattering) are learning experiences.     You have to have tough enough skin to face the critics as well as your best friends who only say nice things.....    

Do these pieces remind you of this one I entered a couple years ago that did win, much to my surprise.  

I think the quiet ones are my favorites.   I think there is more than enough noise and confusion in the world.    Quiet places are soothing to the soul.

Entering an art show

There are so many shows, it seems like there are always choices to make.    Where will your art fit the best?   Where might you actually win money and a ribbon?      How do you want to frame your art?      How much should you spend?  What are the entry fees?     D o you really want to drive there and back to enter, for the reception and then to retrieve my piece at the end of the show?   Any way you look at it there are three trips to the location.    Receptions are usually in the evening and that means driving after dark.    

Little by little I watch the older artists dropping off from showing their work for all of the above reasons, and it's a shame.      I see them producing wonderful art, and they show in galleries regularly, but entering competitive shows is so much more complicated, however it's where the prize money is, and where the art gets seen by a wider audience.   Many of the older artists resist the online entry shows, just because it is new and hard for them to deal with.

Most of the larger shows must be entered online, so there is the additional problem of getting good photos and figuring out the entry systems.     Getting photos the right size and quality for uploading.    Getting the lighting right so there are no glares.     Showing enough detail to whet the judges interest.      Three dimensional things are judged based on two or three photographs to enter a show.  Paintings, prints, and wall art - you only get one chance with a single photograph.     Some things just don't look as good in a photograph, you simply cannot see the subtleties in color and texture.      But, this is the way the world of art is going.   The people putting on the shows have found they get many more entries online, each accompanied with a fee for entry, so this system brings in more money.   People can enter from anywhere and then arrange to package, insure and ship their pieces if they are accepted.   To me, this is not worth the work, but if the prize money is high enough, you'd be surprised how many people want the big purse and are willing to do this.    And sometimes it works.      Sometimes not.  

My decision right now is what to enter in the next show in Lodi.  It is the Small Works and Itty Bitty works shows, running simultaneously.     Small works can be no larger than 8 x 10.    Three dimensional no larger than 8 inches in any direction.        Itty Bitty works can be no larger than 3 x 3 inches.

I have quite a few small works ready.   I'm thinking mainly of the gelli prints that are mounted and framed now.  I really love them and have a strong feeling that their simplicity and starkness set them apart.  There is something so straightforward and honest about the images.  And the fact that they are monotypes and cannot be duplicated.    I think I will enter a few of them.    I have a lot of small paintings, but nothing worth showing.     I have to finish the backs of the frames to get them wired and ready to hang.    And do the paperwork.      And write the check for entry.
Guess I'd better get buzy. Friday is the deadline.

 

My new masterpiece

I did it!    I combined the little photo of my dad and the survey crew with a gelli plate print.      I wish I could remember now how I got the grainy look in the background.    But it seemed like the best choice of the daily batch.   Cutting out the tiny figures was not easy - I used a magnifying glass on a stand so I could see it.      I had planned to place them in the entrance to a mine shaft or tunnel, but I didn't like the way it looked even though I printed 6-8 tunnels on the gelli plate.   I just could not get one I loved.    but this one I do.   

I placed this one on the scanner without the mat on, so the image is better than the last batch I posted. 

What I like about it is that it's a hint of a landscape and nothing more.     Mountains?  Desert?  Glaciers?
I leave it to your imagination.   That's dad on the left looking out across the countryside.   This one will go to the gallery for the small works show next month.     What do you think?     I love it.

Moving up the ladder with gelli printing.

I have had so much fun with this, I gave myself permission to veer off in my own direction.     One of the main things I wanted to learn was how to keep the paints open longer on the plate so I could paint little landscapes and pull a good print from them.   The open paint problem was addressed by Carolyn Dube, but the landscape paintings are totally my own.   I am curious if Carolyn will do anything like this later.  They are much like painting on ceramic tiles.    You don't quite know what the results will be or what the print will look like.


I've had more failures than successes, but I now have a number of ones that I consider worthy of framing for the small works show in Lodi.   Here are three of them. I scanned them with the mat boards on, so they are not clear, but you can get the idea or what I'm trying to do.     

 This one is of the Nevada desert.    Near where one of my sons lives.    Mono printing is fun, but you can never duplicate anything even if you do the exact same thing.    I'm very happy I'm working on deli wrap so I don't waste a lot of good paper.     The size of the print is the size of the gelli plate.

This one is the high Sierra Mt. Range. 


I like how simple and calming they are.  Nothing bright, nothing showy, just a bit on paint on deli wrap, glued to Mixed media board.    Matted in a taupe/grey color.  I bought a packet of about 15 mats years ago when they were refused by the person who ordered them   I got them for next to nothing.   I'm so glad I hung on to them.    

Now I'll show you some of the influences that steered me in this direction.   

As a child, we had my father's old scrapbooks and photographs to look at.      Many of them were in sepia tone from the 1920s.     Here are a few examples from his Alaska days.

This is where I got my palette for the first one above.   I used asphaltum paint and white.    I went to an art exhibit the other evening where someone whose work I really like had been working with encaustics and rust.
She had some really nice pieces.     This is sort of my rusty looking palette.      


I may try to integrate some of the photos into the prints in some way - maybe digitally.      first I have to get better scans.  

My brother has been scanning the photos and has lots more of them I can use.     Right now he's busy making a film of the photos, dad's written story of his time there, and using the voices of our family members to narrate.     When it's done, I'll post a link for anyone who loves Alaska and history, and mining. 

Gelli anyone?

Here's some of the things I did yesterday with my gelli plate and acrylic paints.     A new group of stitched envelopes from deli wrap, and a quickie collage with a recycled envelope.      I'm going to do more of these.    Too bad I threw away that box of recyclable envelopes.    Oh well, more come in the mail every week.   I'll soon have enough for a good play time.   

Gelli printing with Carolyn Dube's One Pull Workshop

This is my big treat this month.     I've been pulling prints left and right.   Literally.       Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday she sends out the invitation to join her by watching the next video she posted.  And I go straight to it and enjoy the experience.      My results are not always good, but I'm having fun and learning something new every time.     Learning some not to do things also.   LOL   

 The first two were done with one of my favorite stencils.    These are photos, not scans so you probably can't see the color shifts as well as I'd like.

 These are a batch of stitched enveloves using the bright colored experiments with stencils.

 The next two were done with a floral stencil.    Oddly, the top one looks kind of like an owl peering out.    Must be the way I cropped it.

This last one was done with the sencil when the paint on it had built up but was just wet enough to move the layers of paints onto the page by pressing really hard with the brayer.   I was so delighted to see the colors come through.  This is one of the  things I learned from Carolyn's class.

Gelli play

Did I post a pic of my cleaned off table, ready to start my gelli plate printing project?

 That is a brand new pristine gelli plate, just waiting to be used.   My old smaller one is on the left, somewhat discolored, but perfectly useful.    

  Lest you think my whole work space looks so good, here is what the shelves behind me look like. LOL  Pretty awful huh?    I can find everything though and it's close at hand.   

Now that you've seen the messiness, I'll show you what I've been up to.

Here is Frances painting at the Senior Center on Monday.

 Tuesday, encaustic demo by Linda Nunes.    She has a video on You Tube and does workshops.    it was great.    Learned lots of  new things and shared a story with her that made her laugh.    I just related that when my art pals and I did beeswax on bottles, the hot wax attracted bees to the window near the wax pots.    That was in Modesto, and the same thing happened in Brentwood the next time we tried it.  That's when I gave all my wax stuff away.     Not because of the bees, but because I had tired of what I could do with it, and didn't have space to store things I don't use often.     But, Linda has me inspired to take a workshop and learn to use the mix of beeswax and resin.  the resulting finish is awesome.

 Here's part of the group at the demo last night.  Only one man there.    

These are some of the prints I pulled this morning from the gelli plate.    what I'm trying to do is paint directly on the gelli plate and pulling one or two prints.     With the acrylics I have to work really fast.     but, I'm getting better with it than a couple days back. 

This is one I did a couple days ago.    the face is on the back of the deli wrap, I am holding it up to the light so she shows through. I could just as well printed her on top of the background, but I did her first and later played with backgrounds.      


Here's a tip for the gelli plate users.   Don't pull a print onto newspaper or book pages.  I did that to supposedly clean off the paints from the last print.    the text on the page may transfer to the gelli plate itself.   Not that it ruins it, it just doesn't go away.    It does not print onto other prints.