Surface Treatment Workshop - week 8

yesterday I attended a cyanotype printing workshop at The Exchange Gallery in Penzance

it was inspired by the work in Joy Gregory's exhibition called "Lost Languages and other Voices"

incorporating "Objects of Beauty" and "The Handbag Project"

I've sun printed before but on this workshop I learnt so much more about the chemical process

of using potassium ferricyanide and ammonium citrate, timing with UV light and wash

and understand how this process can be used on fabrics as well as harder surfaces

I will share more on this another time

this week it was fun working with gesso for week 8 of the Surface Treatment Workshop

an interesting material that I am used to using but enjoyed exploring further

it's mainly used as a primer for preparing canvases for paint

but can also be used as a resist, to cover work and to add texture for mark making

this is white gesso over a monoprint I made with metallic acrylics

and mark making with my palette knife

over the years I've discovered that there are many different qualities of gesso and

for a high quality piece of finished work I will still use the best gesso I can afford

but for some applications I am quite happy to use a cheaper gesso

to which I add a filling powder (such as very fine polyfilla)

to make it thicker depending on the application

for the blue sample above I used a thick textured gesso through a stencil

then added a watercolour wash and silver foil

I also discovered that oil pastels work very nicely into the texture as well (below)

making marks in thick textured gesso

(by applying the gesso with a Mr. Kipling cake box)

and colouring with yellow acrylic ink which has vibrant colour

for the sample below I used regular gesso through a stencil and when it was dry

I dragged in through three colours of watered down acrylics with salt crystals

in the sample below I used pieces of masking tape on the base

then embedded book binding pieces in the gesso for extra texture

after it was dry I painted with acrylics

a selection of uses below ...

scribing or mark making in wet gesso ... then painting when dry

using gesso to cover book pages, words or images

and embedding texture in gesso ... then paint

embedded texture ...

some of the prompts were to experiment with using black gesso as well as white

and colouring gesso for some applications so I experimented with some of my own recipes

as I didn't really want to buy an expensive pot of black gesso just for a few samples

the photo below was my first attempt at mixing a black gesso

it was my own recipe ...

I used some white gesso, polyfilla, black acrylic paint and black ink

and discovered that it made a grey ... not a black

the more black paint and ink I added ... just made it a darker grey

I did use the grey for some samples

but I wanted to persevere with creating a black gesso myself

this time I used pva glue mixed with polyfilla

(this made a very thick paste ... so added a little bit of water)

and then added black acrylic paint and black water based ink

this looked perfect and I experimented comparing the black to shop-bought white

I was really pleased with the "tooth" of the black gesso

which was only marginally grainier than the white

but the depth of colour was great

and mostly I was pleased that I had created it myself

so now I'm working with my own gessos for some applications

for white I will use pva glue, polyfilla and a little bit of water

and any colour/tint can be achieved by adding acrylics to the mix

so, all in all, gesso is a very versatile and useful product

once you have learnt about it's many properties and applications

and I will definitely experiment more with the embedding technique

also this week ... inspired by some time in Penzance and Newlyn

I created a new erosion bundle with lots of rust

and some papers which arrived in a paper swap

(from friend Heather Harker)

I put something rusted between every other layer of paper and fabric

and added some water, paints and mica in there as well ... just to help it along

I also added some skeleton leaves and mussel shells ... coloured with turmeric

the turmeric mixed with watery blues to resemble beach streams

the bundle is now at the bottom of the garden amongst the forget me nots

so I'm looking forward to opening that up in a few months time

and from now on I will be making a new bundle every month for the rest of the year ...

beautiful St. Ives

on Monday I met at the studio with St. Ives Textiles

I've just posted some work from the group on the website

and will be updating it again soon with work from the other members

our work for the Cornwall theme is very exciting this year

I've made a small start on my own Cornwall themed textile work for exhibition

and have also made a start in my sketchbook for the show

but I will share later on (probably June) when I have more of a body of work

quite a bit going on at the moment with workshops, the surface design project,

invitations to create work for other exhibitions and Stitch St. Ives (supplies show)

 on Monday I took some time out in the harbour for lunch

and photographed cobbles, boats, ropes and other little nuances of St. Ives

love that sky!

my little hand stitched St. Ives piece is coming on slowly

inspired by Cornish skies and St. Ives harbour colours

nice and slowly ...

finally ... I'm working hard getting ready for Stitch St. Ives

a supplies show in St. Ives that's on at the weekend - 8th and 9th April

creating lots of lovely textures, beads, hand dyed fabrics

and other fluffy and shiny textile bits etc.

I know it's a long way to come for a lot of you (sadly)

but I hope to get back to regular posting again once it's over

and hope to post the next lot of samples with speciality gels next week

thanks so much for reading my rambles x

Surface Treatment Workshop - week 6

it's been a misty mizzly week in Mousehole with not much colour to cheer

and I've been stuck indoors all week with a really bad cold

so it was good to get out today for a short walk

and discover some beautiful blues and rusts

and they do say that, sometimes, you just have to create your own sunshine

or really search for those bright colours that cheer ...

this week I enjoyed working with a bit more colour in my

faux encaustic samples for The Surface Treatment Workshop

for a long time now I have  loved  using wax in my textile work and collages

and have playfully experimented with it for over 10 years now

dipping papers, photos and fabrics in wax or applying it to collages and canvases

and I just love the look and feel of a waxy texture

every now and again I have sessions where I wax papers and fabrics

so they are translucent, fragile and ready to use in a textile piece

so I was looking forward to having a play with the faux encaustic technique

using gel mediums, acrylics and inks

below you can see how the mixture in my palette looks quite waxy

it's a pourable recipe of Golden gel medium,

turquoise acrylic ink and green acrylic paint

this technique is all in the layering up of encaustic recipe, papers and embedded objects

several ... three ... four ... five layers ...

the thicker the medium the more waxy it looks

I used an old vintage black and white photo, one of my St. Ives photos

lots of text, pre-rusted tissue papers, corrugated card and sewing paper

I also used some wax from some ceramic tiles and some of my waxed papers

smothered in really thick gel medium and there are several layers on these collages

but it was quite hard to photograph the actual waxy texture

it does look sort of waxy?

what I do like about the gel medium is that

being translucent all of the layers can clearly be seen

still, after all that, I wasn't sure I liked the matt finish

so I used a glaze on top which enhanced all the colours and layers

then, I felt that some of these little collages would benefit

from adding some textile layers and stitch

I added some of my melted and textured textiles ... ready for little stitches

and flowers and leaves pressed from my garden embedded in the faux encaustic

this is a collage I layered up ...

which I then cut into four pieces ...

you can see I've pinned on some blue silk and a little cottage ...

I will have these finished up in no time

my conclusion is that this technique has a lot of potential

and it's good to understand the process ...

but I prefer the proper encaustic look of using coloured wax

and will experiment more with that at a later stage

if you would like to know more about these surface techniques and products

you can find them in the book "The Surface Treatment Workshop"

by Darlene Olivia McElroy and Sandra Duran Wilson

thank you for visiting x

Surface Treatment Workshop - week 5

it's been a busy week and I'm few days late posting this week's samples

but I've had a lot of fun with the crackle medium and crackle paste

and it was a real learning curve with mixed results and pleasant surprises

after clearing up in my studio last week ...

I came across a bottle of DecoArt Weathered Wood Crackling Medium

so, with no idea how many years I've had it or if it has a shelf life
I began sampling with that ...

I followed instructions to paint first then apply the crackle medium

a few minor bubbly textures appeared but on the whole nothing much

still, I discovered that the medium is great for creating a shiny glaze

which reflects the light and therefore adds a watery effect to my "beach streams" painting

next up ... another abstract painting with the crackle medium applied on top

for this one I waited till it was dry then zapped it with my heat gun to create some texture

areas of my painting bubbled up with the heat ... so I applied silver foil to the raised areas

overall I'm pleased with the finished effect even if it was not intended

still with the DecoArt crackle medium ...

for the next sample I applied the crackle medium first and painted into it while still wet

using a brush I mixed the colours directly on my base

then heated the sample with a heat gun and ironed on more silver foil

I was pleased with the effect of the paint in the medium

which runs together in a similar manner to when you paint into pva glue

and does vaguely resemble a "weathered wood" texture with a bit of imagination

the original sample is much more interesting than my photos do justice

the sample below is more DecoArt Crackle Medium

heated with a heat gun before painting which created this texture below

(showing it coloured after I had painted it)

and this is the sample after I had applied silver foil

(I do like a bit of bling on an otherwise matt surface)

it was useful to try DecoArt Crackle Medium applied very thinly on a pastel seascape

the effects were quite faint which is great if a more subtle result is sought

below is the last of my samples with the DecoArt Weathered Wood Crackling Medium

I painted this seascape with sunrise with acrylics on mount board

then applied the crackle medium really thickly on top and left for 24 hours

this does appear to have a more weathered wood look

so I guess this is how the medium should be applied

the instructions on the bottle were not that clear

as to how much to apply ... hence the experiments

it worked well on the waves which look choppy with small  "white horses"

and on the white/blue sky too (below)

the following samples below are with Golden Gel Mediums Crackle Paste

experimenting with different thicknesses of paste and applying with a brush and palette knife

the first thing I discovered was how patient you have to be waiting for the stuff to crack up

these samples were left drying out several days

the second thing I discovered was that the size and depth of the cracks

depend very much on how thickly the paste is applied

I felt I got much better results when the paste was applied with a palette knife versus a brush

perhaps because I favour a knife over a brush for acrylics anyway

and because I don't really like seeing brush strokes in the paste

the third thing I discovered is that paint just sinks into the cracks to the base layer

and therefore any depth of colour needs to be built up in several layers / applications

below ... adding another layer of watery acrylics

this is how it looks when dry (below) ...

you can see the depth of colour pales as it dries

overall I'm pleased with the crackle textures

but didn't really like the chalky feel of the surface

so I also experimented with different clear glazes on my sketchbook samples

trying Golden fluid matte medium, pva glue and the DecoArt Crackle Medium

I ran out of time for any more samples this week

as I've had to get some collages ready for faux encaustic (week 6)

but I may work some more crackle samples later with more intense colour and glazes

and it's good to try every angle of a material

my sister had some great results with the crackle paste this week

also this week I've been working some more on my St. Ives stitched collage

securing the fabrics with stab stitches and playing with the composition

since I took these photos I've stitched down the cottages

secured the rusted fabrics (which I found on the harbour beach)

and attached the shells, seaweed and vintage button

I was pleased with how the rusted orange lifted the neutral colours

it's coming along ...

I'll be back on Wednesday with The Surface Treatment Workshop

in week 6 we are exploring faux encaustic techniques which is rather exciting!