Fabric Printing Retreat - Wrap Up Part Two

On the second day of the retreat, we learned about block printing. Each student focused on a motif they liked. I demoed how to do a block print - how I design and then carve the rubbery pink pads I prefer with simple linocutting tools. 

Then it was up to the students to think about their design and carve their own printing tool. It's a bit tricky because you have to think about negative space and how the stamp is going to print. They did a great job.  What intense concentration. 

These are Margaret's sunflower and graphic designs.

Here are some of her prints on different colors of fabric. 

These are the stamps that Tamson made and took home. She also printed a whole pile of paper to make into cards.

Tamson decided that she liked the simple circle stamp the best and made a set of napkins and a table runner. 

Darcy has a fondness for dragonflies. Here is her block and resulting fabrics. 

In the afternoon I challenged her to add some handpainted color to the butterfly motif. Lovely, isn't it? 

In the afternoon, we all worked on two color printing and painting using both foam stamps, acrylic blocks and rubber block printing. Here is Margaret's project which I think turned out stunning. Can you tell she is a quilter? 

When she got home, she added some embroidery and took a photo to share with you all. 

Here's a photo of the crew on the end of Day Two. Heather is missing. By then, it was hot and humid and we were all exhausted. Good exhausted though. Another great weekend of creativity here at the farm.

Thank you to Tamson, Margaret, Darcy (who drove 412 miles!) and Heather. What a great group!