Mixed Media Printmaking Blog

The woods as my inspiration

handmade books, mixed media printmaking, stencils / Linda Germain / April 12, 2021

I have been taking daily walks in the woods by the lake. I take photos but they don’t really capture the connection that I feel.

Yesterday, I decided to play with printing trees with torn paper stencils and the gelatin plate. Torn paper has a wonderful ragged and organic edge.

I wanted to create an abstract and somewhat natural feel to the printed woods scapes.

I experimented with speedball water based block printing ink and a little bit of acrylic. The first impression gave me the very dark background with white tree shapes. The second impression produced lovely light spot trees, similar to a birch tree.

I was having fun, but I wanted to create more range of value and some darker tree shapes. The printing session was a bit up and down with being pleased with the prints and being frustrated. That is usual for me.

I printed a second day and was pleased with some of the prints. I glued several into an accordion book and then did some collage and doodling.

Even though they are just torn paper stencils, I think I will save them for another day of printing.

Check out current classes.

Happy Printing!

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Play with Printmaking

inspiration, mark making tools, tools / Linda Germain / April 7, 2021

Things can get serious. So that is why I routinely remind myself to put some play back into my printmaking.

Sometimes I get hung up on results, process or materials.

To get a lighter fresh approach I:

Try a new technique – tiny eraser stamps above
Use simple or new tool – rusted paper below
Use my ten pieces of paper idea

If you have a child or grandchild to print with that can be a great way to loosen up and play.

It takes time to really let yourself get into the play mode. Sometimes I need to make a mess and a bunch of ugly prints along the way.

Yet, in the end something new usually emerges.

I hope I have encouraged you to put some play into your printmaking today. Enjoy!

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Scraps collage – so much fun!

altered books, artist book, book arts / Linda Germain / March 15, 2021

One way to get your creative juices flowing and quiet the inner critic is to work on several small pieces at once.

Another way to keep the creativity flowing to to layer and respond with minimal marks.

I did these scraps collages with bits and pieces of book pages and part in my online class, Books as ART Materials.

I approach the project with an attitude of playful discovery. I work up about 12 4″ square pieces in layers.

Sometimes a get a few striking collages. But I am always developing my design and composition skills.

Give it a try at the end of the day, gather the bits of waste from your work bench, add scribbles, text or coffee stains and see what happens.

If you would like to explore using Books as ART Materials, then join us in the upcoming class. Read all the details on the workshop page.

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Found Poems

artist book, book arts, collage / Linda Germain / March 10, 2021

I am getting ready for the Books as ART Materials class and having fun making found poems.

Books are mostly words and pages, so I like to find ways to use those elements in new art work.

I like to:

Cut words and phrases out of several different books, with different font sizes
Then rearrange the words into a 4 line poem
Some poems I really love
And some are just part of the process of making

I also use old book pages at scrap to catch excess glue from the glue stick.

Give this meditative poem making a try!

If you want to explore more ways to use old books, then join us in Books As ART Materials, the online class. Read the details here.

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Qualities of Books – as ART Materials

artist book, book arts, collage / Linda Germain / March 3, 2021

I wanted to share the qualities that I look for in books to be used as ART Materials.

When I use books as ART Materials I use:

Cover cloth – collage and journals
Book board – new books
Pages and text – poems and printmaking
Spine materials and bits – collage
pockets and old marks – collage

So if you are hunting and gathering books for re-use look at those parts closely.

It is fun to see books with new eyes for what is possible. Sometimes I just use pages as newsprint pickups when gelatin printing.

But then other times the bits and pieces can be worked into an abstract landscape collage.

I hope I have given you some new ways to look at old books that were headed for the recycling bin. Want to join us in the online class, Books as at Materials? Read the details and join us today.

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