not cake

you watch all those vids about monoprinting with gel plates and you get the wrong idea that it's a piece of cake.not in my experience.you need to work fast or the paint dries and the brayer lifts it.the humidity conditions in your place affects the surface of the homemade plates along with the quick drying paint creating a granulated effect.the paper also affects the print and the pull. depending on the paper and the dryness of the paint parts of  it can remain stuck on the plate. not nice. i could go on but suffice to say real life does not look /act as an insta vid. ¯\ ( ツ ) /¯ 

since so many variants can affect the print i am taking liberties and finishing prints by hand  adding whatever looks fit.

the gel printing police is not going to come and get me. i hope.

as ever, the cleaning paper is the best..

neki desu

 

it's a wrap

ive worked all i wanted to work with the temporal paradox series. here's the second and last batch. on to new things.

bear with me the klutzy layout, was totally incapable of putting them side by side even reducing the size and working on the html  ⋋__⋌ 

neki desu

 

sea of tranquility

not much to add

have a good weekend

neki desu 

 

sourcing weft yarns

from all the yellow-green silks dyed with carrot tops. think that the greener the better looking, don't you agree?

hopefully will start winding cones for the warp over the weekend.

i usually work the top down fist decide on the width length of the warp, then wind it. parallel to that operation i start either designing or using a design from my files and then do the threading and sleying

since the computer driven loom is occupied with a warp that needs debugging (still) i am going to be using the table loom so the design has to be relatively easy to hand lift.let's see how much i can simplify a turned taquetè. the good news about this loom is that since it's 80 cms  i can get  a good 76 cms wide weave.

neki desu 

 

refining the prints

egg carton stencil mask on copper background,the underneath layer was paynes grey golden fluid, which wasn't very fluid  giving a tad too much texture. it is visually interesting but not what i want to achieve.want to get a  smooth copper layer on top. will keep on trying with the new plate this time .

this month is almost gone. bracing myself for another hot summer in the north. (>人<)

neki desu 

 

homerun

2 bottles of glycerin =8€, 4 boxes of 2 packets  of gelatin =6€ and i made myself 2 7x7 small plates and a 14x14 one. all nice 3cms thick. saved about 40€, more if it were the genuine gelliplate.

one of the small ones is going to a friend  to get her introduced to the craze.

 

being fair what doesn't come out in the photo is the total wreck of a plastic square mold that i used for the first plate i made.perished in the microwave as it couldn't take 20 secs at high .

this batch was better than my fist plate because it came out firmer, splurged on the gelatin and was a miser with the boiling water.

fun times ahead mesdames.＼（*▽*）／

need to start practicing on cloth.

neki desu 

 

the dreaded last 20 cms

the hardest part of weaving IMO.i always get stalled there, with the next project always on the backburner and it takes me ages to complete.   ¯\ ( ツ ) /¯ 

the new izakaya in town  was a good lunch date with the peers. authentic japanese not wannabe japanese food.

we are such otakus spent most of the time

talking about  language stuff.

i guess since no one else appreciates the quirks of it  beautiful antique kimono on display at the entrance.

neki desu 

 

fuji-san ☀🗻

fuji kenta and aizome. a young craftsman's story.

have a good weekend

neki desu

 

white silks

all scoured waiting to be dyed. all 7 hanks. most of them are going to be dyed in an ai vat yet to be started. need to buy one of those plastic drums, the small one is sufficiently big. sad because i invested in an electrical stainless beer making vat .but keeping the temp warm is beyond thinking with the  energy prices.lucky bcse i can get them locally at the wonderful hardware stores in town.

different silks, some for warp some for weft and different weights also.

today there's no japanese class and we're going to have lunch in a newly opened izakaya. will report.

neki desu 

 

carried away

layers over layers and the last one blew it hiding all the previous ones.oh well  ¯\ ( ツ ) /¯ this faux pas led me to explore working with and on raw camera files in affinity photo editing program. another trick learned, this one ultra practical.the processing managed to bring out hints of the blue layer beneath the top one.

the coolest one. the flowery image is the bottom of an egg carton would you believe? saw it on ista and culturally appropriated it   <(￣︶￣)>

 ordered two bottles of glycerin at the pharmacy, making one more gelatin plate this time a bigger square.

neki desu

 

akane bounty

and a few others ; the red is cochineal,the mauveish  as well as the beigeish are alkanet the yellowish escapes me.

 

this one is  dark brick with a glow.

happy that silk dyes in the cold bcse electricity prices are nestled in the stratosphere. either we eat or i dye (mind the spelling)

planing the warp, would like to weave a turned taquete. yes, taquete.the term is french bcse the silk industry in france devised the name for the structure and thus it reached us. it was called jin in china and as we all know all comes from china. the cultural appropriation debate is so unpleasantly foolish and so guilt ridden first world. no one thinks that pasta is as much  a cultural appropriation as anything else. so boring and futile. accepting  disagreeing comments  as long as  they are kind and civilised.

neki desu

 

knowledge transfer

 

ps.i see one more vid or tutorial of "eco printing" i'll scream. there's a lot of life beyond that.

have a good weekend.

neki desu

 

bummed

talking with friends about renting an allotment for a veg garden.we visited one in the hills in the hood great place with great views and a nice walk to the place. but people chicken out when they realize it's work.of course, since produce, milk, eggs and meat come from the supermarket  ¯\ ( ツ ) /¯  so back to no allotment again.

i already planted 2 kinds of lettuce  which go in window boxes to save space. my terrace box is 1x2 mts so i need to save space and make do. waiting for cherry tomato, eggplant and cucumber  plantules.

neki desu 

 

what if instead

instead of buying more stuff i repurpose some stuff i already have? telling you i'd be interested in knowing the total volume of money lady crafters spend.such an easy marketing target, new this, newthat, buy 2 and save. sounds familiar?

 i have near 10  thermo foam plates i bought  to make stamps. you heat them  press a texture and there you have it embossed. ink it and print. you re heat them and erase the embossing and like new.  if you forgo the heating step you can ink them and print.

proof of concept

the paper is tibetan lokta paper, not your easiest substrate, but with care  it works. i am also testing the consistency of acrylic paints. amsterdam talens is quite heavy body golden liquid acrylics work$$$$ depending on the color$$$$

 all of this is trying out for printing on fabric with thickened dyes.

i did some deconstructed silkscreen printing ages ago with fiber reactives and alginate.

those were in  the heyday of blogging when there was a lot of interaction and knowledge transfer.

i feel like a living fossil still blogging.

⋋__⋌

neki desu

 

warp about to finish

temporal paradox series as well. quite frankly i am running out of iterations, don't know what to do for the last 2 that will finish the warp. the frugal weaver does not want to cut and trash those 50 cms of such gorgeous cotton warp left.this one although quite subdued is going to be the central panel of two much more elaborate pieces.will post photos of the assemblage. need to get the ·*&%** short telephoto lens. but it is about half of a ticket to japan. priorities. 

neki desu 

 

diy plate extravaganza

was not sure if i wanted to spend all that dosh on a  gelli printing plate bcse printing is kind of a sideline for me.i made one with one of the online recipes and it performed well. now during the easter holiday i devoted time to monoprinting which was actually quite fun. the plate was starting to show wear and tear so i melted it in the microwave and re-formed it again, reform as in giving form again. 

cool that you can melt and form again at wish, although i am not sure of how many times.

anyhow some prints here. trying out various processes on the plate and on the paper.

 

when you miss the register and then you bluff it.

 ( ¨¨ ω¨¨ )   glad i bought a poska sakura pen.

need to go back for more colors.i am overjoyed that a crafts shop has recently opened in town, actually in the mall in the outskirts.i'ts not 100% on the ball ,but much much better than nothing or buying on line.

this is not an april fool post.all here is real.  v (^o^) v

neki desu 

 

those pretty ties

i finally found my long  lost kumihimo cord ＼（＾▽＾）／

here's a vid to celebrate.

have a good weekend

neki desu 

 

C.3P.O

started the last of the tryptic which actually is the second as it goes in the middle.the tryptic idea came while weaving, as all the good ideas happen.and there's another one brewing. hoping i don't run out of warp.

neki desu