With every new season, I get new ideas and inspiration. I am lucky to live in New England and we have such spectacular colors in the fall.

I observe the changes almost daily on my morning walks. The woods and the foliage changes slowly and steadily.

This means that the plants and weeds, that I use as masking stencils for gelatin printmaking are not always available. I have learned over time:

• Late summer ferns are strong and good for perserving
• Brilliant autumn leaves are inspiring color patterns
• Winter offers hardy dried weeds that can be good for rubbings
• All seasons offer some kind of sturdy weed, if I look hard enough.

This means that I enter the woods or the street with an eye for the qualities that make a botanical good for printmaking. I look for:

• Plants that are sturdy
• Plants that are flat but interesting line
• Plants that have interesting textures

I encourage you to give yourself the gift of a walk with awareness of the weeds at your feet. They may inspired your next series of prints.

• Do you need the gelatin and glycerin recipe? Get it here.
• Need a Mini Gelatin Class

Happy Printing!

Gelatin printmaking is a spontaneous experimental process. You can use the gelatin plate to print on paper or fabric.

It is a very direct hands on approach. The feedback and impressions that you make is quite immediate. And the process does not require a lot of planning.

The tools are simple, low tech and non-toxic.

When printing on fabric you can,

• make unique one of a kind cloth for projects
• transform old sheets into quilting materials
• use found tools to make patterns and
• use cut or found stencils to make personal designs

I use the glycerin, gelatin and water plate, and screen printing ink when I am printing on fabric. My approach is a little bit different, than when I am printing on paper.

These factors need to be considered:

• the texture of the fabric
• the speed at which the ink dries
• moisture of the plate and fabric

I make adjustments and work more quickly to adapt to those conditions. The types of marks that are possible are similar but not exactly the same.

Check out current online workshops.

I am  getting ready to teach the online printmaking class, Monoprinting on Fabric. Each time I teach this process, I learn new ways of getting new types of impression.

Enjoy this short video of some sample prints.

Check out the current online printmaking classes.

Hope to see you in class.