A Fun Workshop!

Yesterday I spent a good part of the day at Jane Davila's sunny studio for a workshop on Image Transfer. Above are some of the photos I transferred to fabric using various methods, including transparencies, transfer artist paper (TAP), and lutradur. Many of these methods require purchasing special (and often expensive) products like printable transparencies or specially treated fabric. But I did learn one cool trick: images printed on a regular toner-based copy machine can be transferred onto fabric with Citrasolv, a citrus-based solvent. All you do is lay the photocopy face down on the fabric, paint the back of the paper with a light coat of Citrasolv, burnish with the back of a spoon or burnishing tool, and pull off the paper! (This indirect transfer method will reverse your image, so words would have to be printed accordingly - I'll have to play with my Word documents to see if I can manage that!). According to Jane, this method produces an image that is very long lasting and durable and can be used on any fabric. The only special product you need is the Citrasolv, and a little goes a long way. According to their website, Citrasolv is available at natural markets such as Mrs. Green's right here in town (I've read nail-polish remover and Goo-Gone will do the same thing, but I hear Citrasolv is less toxic). I found a nice blog tutorial on how to do this process here.

I also got started on my January collage; here is a sneak peak of the background. Unfortunately I start working four days a week beginning tomorrow, which means one fewer day per week I have to dedicate to art and fun, but I hope I can squeeze in a little time in the afternoons while the girls are doing homework, or after dinner. There is only one week left in January!