Thursday 9 February 2012

Stencils and Textile Ink

I decided that the time had arrived to look at the Okinawan Bingata stencils and use my new textile inks. (Thank you Chris Fletcher) The top two prints were put on with a paintbrush over the stencil (anchored with paper tape). The left one used a quarter inch brush, the right  one was done with an Okinawan bingata brush which is used up and down with a dabbing motion. Neither is a good print although the Okinawan brush is better. The lower two were done through a silk screen. I taped the stencil to lower side of the screen and voila or we have lift-off or Eureka or something.

 The above stencil is a ball with some simple flowers. The next one is detailed chrysanthemums.  It is printed on a piece of cotton, space dyed by me as is the green fabric in the first photo. I like these.











And this is a stencil of cranes, again on a spaced dyed piece of cotton.

The inks are 'Permaset' and I heat fixed them with an iron. There are some points about these inks.
1)They take a time to dry.
2) Nevertheless the screen gets caked quickly and the screen has to be washed out promptly. Should be treated as though they were acrylic paints.
3) The colours when first applied are quite dark but they lighten as they dry. 

The stencils are fragile and also are positives, that is, they are intended to be used the way round I have used them. The larger bingata stencil is mounted on silk but is a negative. In other words, I should push a water-soluble resist paste through it, let it dry and then hand paint it. This is what we did in Naga City (Okinawa) and the painting was done with the dinky special brushes. But that is for another day. 

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I am weaver and - -. I dye my yarns with acid dyes, I paint my warps, put fabric collages and stencils on my weaving. I have three looms, a 12 inch wide, 12 shaft Meyer for demos and courses, a 30 inch Louet Kombo which is nominally portable but has a stand, two extra beams and a home-made device containing a fan reed. And last a 32 shaft Louet Megado which is computer controlled, has a sectional warp and a second warp beam and I am the proud owner of an AVL warping wheel which I love to bits and started by drilling holes in. I inserted a device for putting a cross in. I have just acquired an inkle loom and had a lesson from an expert so I can watch TV and weave at the same time. I am interested in weaving with silk mostly 60/2 although I do quite a bit with 90/2 silk. I also count myself as a bookbinder with a special interest in Coptic binding.