tools of the trade

the p carriage made for silver reed k-machines. hacked and used by ingenious brother k-machine knitters.this tool aides in creating long dropped stitches.  i'll go miles  for a planned distressed look.
here's a vid showing a clever elegant hack for the tool. actually, the tool is not touched at all.

neki desu

a few more tweaks and we're done

close up of the french knots for texture on the  upper left side quadrant.

bottom left texture. long kantha stitches for the bottom left quadrant.

upper right(sort of) quadrant.never thought i would dare paint over stitchery.

the whole nine yards.looks pretty cohesive don't you think?

neki desu

when it's too hot to move

stitching takes the mind wandering.

no sweat. just long stitching sessions.








neki desu

it's called work in progress

although it's taken a lot of time to gel it's on its way now. tore some of it to make it smaller and printed,printed, printed. monoprint can be a misnomer if you are using some texture imprinted on the plate; you can replicate it all the times you want. you can also get ghost prints that are  visually effective.

the  diy plate works very well!

i am using golden heavy body acrylics and need to work fast to beat the drying time. also using amsterdam fluos for their transparency and color pop.

putting to work what i've learned.
think the two rectangles at the top are too dominant.














neki desu

there's future in mono printing

just adding one more trick under my belt. although i had done monoprinting in art school it was the traditional way and using a press.

had read the raving reviews about gelli plates, but quite honestly i wasn't into spending around 80 dollars plus shipping for one of the bigger sizes. that's 3-4 150 gram  yarn cones from colourmart and one has priorities ｡^‿^｡

however, as the internet can be a wonderful resource, i located some you tube tutorial vids on a diy home plate and a  post from a lady in england with apparently lots of experience from the old days making hectographs as they were called then. the wiki recount is fascinating.
nothing new under the sun!
scroll to the middle of the page and you'll find the recipe.

sort and sweet the plate in the mold above.

and here the unmolded beauty.it's somewhat scary the way gelatin transforms into this rubbery silicone like texture.

the procedure is very easy and 

although she says- or maybe one of the  vids
i watched- that it keeps without refrigeration i am refrigerating mine because it's very hot and we do not have central air con.

fun and games for this week. too hot for anything too involved. although i miss my looms and weaving.

neki desu

sakiori or the art of rags

 exquisite,as with all things japanese.
have a good weekend






neki desu

coda

this was lost in the morass of papers.some lines,some circles,some texture.even when the weight is in the center, the background quadrants make the center less "central". so does the texture on the topmost paper.

and now the fringe benefits.

two gorgeous  drop papers. must start using cloth instead of paper. two birds with one shot.

some of you have inquired so  here's the link for the composition course .

neki desu