combined techniques

• Do you use text in your art work?
• Do you write “morning pages”?
• Do you scribble to it is illegible?
• Or can you create beautiful fonts by hand?

I am a scribbler. I do a form of morning writing. And I love to use text as a textural element to draw the viewer into my work.

I have taken classes that encouraged writing to inform, understand or jumpstart a process/series.

Writing about your process or inspiration can help you to talk to others about your art. When they understand your art, then they will appreciate it more.

People are drawn to text. They want to read it.

I noticed that I read the description cards at the museum. Sometimes I spend more time reading the card than looking at the art. Then the text is getting in the way of my direct experience. So I try to look at the art first and them maybe read a bit of the info card.

I challenge you to try using text/writing to:

• draw the viewer in
• create a pattern or shape
• build texture and not words
• instill some mystery
• capture a memory
• hide or cover something
• explain a juxtaposition

If you would like to explore several ways of adding text to your work, then consider joining the Mixed media printmaker’s online retreat.

Class starts July 7th and you will have at least 6 more months access to the classroom. Read the details on the workshop page.

Check  out my gallery of work with text as element of design.

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Time to start making your holiday gifts!

• Do you love to play with printmaking?
• Do you have a pile of prints in your studio?
• Do you like to make handmade gifts?

Printed Gifts is an online art class to help you turn some prints and printed materials into holiday gifts. This class is for folks who already have a pile of gelatin prints and who may need design and compositional help.

It is a short actionable class designed to help you transform prints into small gifts that you can enjoy, give away or even sell.

With the holiday season just around the corner, this is the perfect time to join us in this online printmaking class.

Check out the details and register today, so you have plenty of time to turn some prints into gifts!

Life is an ebb and flow. I wish I could remember that, and we are all on different tides.

I have been exploring printmaking retreats, goals, authentic expression and what’s next. Even during this exploration I have been experiencing ebbs and flows.

So far for me, what I want in a week long mixed media printmaking course is:

• Time and space to play
• Support and community
• Loose guidelines and assignments
• To be supported in developing my own style and voice.
• OH yeah, fun and joy.

Is that asking too much? What would be most important to you in a week long mixed media printmaking course?

My friend Sandra Golbert, a  fiber artist, gave me 2 primitive wooden relief stamps.  I knew I wanted to use them for today’s print. I love them.  I was not sure how I wanted to use them, so I just started inking and stamping to see what would happen.

Well even though I had nice thin and even layer of ink and used a padded printing surface the ink did not transfer evenly.  You can see those marks in the blue image above, so I grabbed a glycerin and gelatin plate and started printing on the plate.

The water in the plate and the water in the ink and the malleability of the plate all work together to release the ink from the tool on to the plate and then on to the paper.

Today I used 2 methods of printing without a press, relief printing and the planographic process with the glycerin plate.

Here’s today’s print for make a print a day in May.