Took a field trip last Friday to Philadelphia. The Arts Center near my sister offered a group bus trip to The Fabric Workshop & Museum; my sister, Lisa Kelley and I grabbed the last 3 spots! Ladies ranged in age from 39-83 - and I think we were all equally excited.
We peeked around the gift shop first - love that wallpaper up top that's a print of a fabric. Lots of the items for sale looked familiar, but I didn't recognize any names - and of course, I didn't write them down! We took a small tour of the museum next, where we saw some of the most glorious applications of textile art (a 20' tall sculptural veil of silk flowers) - as well as quite a few controversial and provocative pieces (embedded in social injustice and such), too. I love museums, I love getting up close, I love learning about the story behind the works, I love adding new perspectives to my heart and soul. Some of the exhibits are pieces of larger installations, but the effect is not lost! (pics not allowed in the musee).
After the tour, we went to the screenprinting workshop. Ooooh. Aaaaah. Heart going pitter-pat fast as can be! After reading the ink & spindle blog for a few months now, the appearance of the tables and set-up was really familiar. These tables/spaces are used for art students, artists-in-residence and on-site educational programs. One of the artists there was working on a huge piece where she was drawing the design in repeat by hand. I've never seen this done in person - and I could have watched her all day!
The instructor gave us a tutorial on the screenprinting process from start to finish. Then we were allowed to create a t-shirt or a piece of fabric using either the screens they provided or creating our own with contact paper. Lisa and I just looked at each other. Fabric? Yup. Make your own? Yup. Coming up with a design quickly was fraught with pressure - Lisa and I both grabbed the most mentally accessible elements from our collections of designs. (Have you seen Lisa's incredible surface designs?)
Above: left - my design cut out of contact paper; right - Lisa's design ready on the screen.
Below: Here we are gettin' busy...clockwise from left: Lisa screening; my sister Linda screening - she's so talented and has always been a major inspiration of mine; me & my scraggly hair pinning fabric down.
Above: My screen after a few prints.
Below: The final design. Modeled after my annika fabric
Will definitely be finding a way to incorporate screenprinting into my work. Maybe not today or tomorrow....but you'll see something!
Happy Monday one and all! Sun is shining, and I'm a happy girl!
