Gelli Plate Adventures

I've had my 8" x 10" Gelli Plate for a couple of years,

and have mainly used it to create prints on paper.

Since I'm working on a couple of fabric pictures for an exhibit,

I decided to make some hand printed fabrics to mix in with the

commercial fabrics I usually use.

I took these photos on my porch at dusk last night, so the colors 

look stronger than they actually are.

I put a mixture of shades of green on the plate and spread them with a brayer.

Then I pressed a sheet of textured paper into the paint for one print,

and a plastic placemat for a different texture in another print.

I did a couple of layers of color on each print and these were the results.

These should make interesting leaves and blades of grass when cut out.

I also worked in shades of brown and gray, which I'll 

use for rocks!

This probably looks pretty messy and ugly right now,

but the process was very enjoyable and, hopefully, I'll be able to

show you what I'll be using them for in the near future!!

I'm so grateful to find inspiration in creating things like this!!!

Wishing you a creative day!!

Sketching and Printing

Hello friends,

 Life has been pretty full and busy around here lately, 

and I wanted to share some art related things that I've been up to with you.

I think I mentioned that I was going to take a class called "Love Your Sketchbook".

and the first step was to gather supplies. I found a sketchbook I had started in 2003, 

with only about 4 pages used, so I'm going with that. All I really needed to buy was 

a small box of pastels.

 Rosie, of course,  just had to investigate!

The first class was a combination of very quiet moments while everyone concentrated

 on their drawings, and very loud laughter as we shared comments and stories.

Our instructor is Amy Ropple, who taught the quilt collage class I recently took.

Amy brought Munchkins from Dunkin Donuts for us to sketch first. I call mine a 

'munchkin pancake', since it looks pretty flat!

 Then I sketched a bird from a photo I had brought.

One part of our "homework" was to sketch something realistic, so, while spending some time at my friend Andrea's studio, I worked on a rendering of a pair of antique children's shoes which belong to Andrea. They were so sweet and worn, I had a real feeling for them as I drew in the afternoon sun.

                                  

And, while I was there, Andrea demonstrated how to use my brand new, untouched Gelli Plate, which has been in its original container for over a year!! I'm not one to venture into new things without a boost from someone!! Here is the gelatin plate after a bit of experimenting. (It's on a painted piece of cardboard.)

Here are some prints I made, using leaves, sequin waste and cut paper shapes.

Thank you for the lesson, Andrea!!

                         

Other than that, it has been a bit dreary and frigid here, so I was happy to see this pretty yellow primrose plant in the supermarket the other day and had to bring it home.

Yellow always makes me smile!

And Rosie definitely makes me smile with her antics!

Lacking a box to sit in, she nestled into my mum's needlepoint frame

which happened to be on a bed!

Love her pretty, serene green eyes!

I've been making the rounds of everyone's blogs and can see that we are all dealing with winter as best we can, close to home and far away. I hope that this is the beginning of a happy and satisfying week for everyone who reads this!

Happy Monday!!