Saturday, February 18, 2012

Kerr Grabowski

I attended a workshop last fall  in Coupeville, WA with Kerr Grabowski.  It was such a lot of fun and she is a wonderful teacher.  Here are a few pics of some of the work I did there.  These were done using Cretacolour Aquastix, pastels and charcoal and were set with a transparent base for fabric (from Prochem, although at home here I can more easily get one made by Speedball).  This was applied through a silkscreen in order to permanently set what would otherwise be a fugitive element (they do need to be heatset, however).  The process does change the hand of the fabric somewhat but at the same time it opens up the possibilities of what elements can be applied to fabric.  I'm still working with ideas for monoprinting onto fabric and the application of colour afterward.  So many possibilities.....
This one is a charcoal rubbing.  Still more ideas swirling.....

Ok, now to get at SOMETHING.....
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4 comments:

  1. queenstefFebruary 18, 2012 at 6:49 AM

    These are really lovely. What is a transparent base? Is it basically a varnish type sealant?

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  2. marnyFebruary 18, 2012 at 8:16 AM

    Hi Steph. The transparent base is just a clear (when dry) acrylic base that covers over (because you put it through a screen) and seals the layer of colours that you have put on the fabric. As I recall, you can even colour it if you want. And you don't have to put it through the screen but that prevents the colours underneath from smearing. It has to be heat set, which sort of makes me think that it's like a colourless fabric paint. Does that make sense?

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  3. cckFebruary 19, 2012 at 9:45 AM

    oooohhhhh...charcoal on fabric....I'm in love with that idea. Have you tried using Dynaflo or some other transparent fabric paint over the medium/drawing? Curious how it or if it takes. Great fun Marny! cc

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  4. marnyFebruary 19, 2012 at 3:54 PM

    Kerr said that it is possible to carry on with another layer but she suggested that three layers would kind of be maximum. At that point I suspect that the transparent base would start to be a problem in terms of build-up. Difficult to stitch through at the very least. Kerr's work is amazing and she has a great DVD available through Interweave Press wherein she explains this process and others. It's good. Check it out!

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