This board is for all of your artistic types--those who like to draw, paint, sculpt, etch, or whatever else is out there. Or just discuss whatever happened to Van Gogh's famous ear because, you know--you'd think it would be in a museum somewhere, wouldn't you? -- Ryan

Yeah! I'm the first to post. And I hope this board gets well used.

I am a professional calligrapher.(personalization artist)  I studied art for five years at Mars Hill College in NC. Actually one of my favorite emphasis was print making, wood blocks and lino. That's one of the things I love about letterboxing. I get a carving tool in my hands again.

I also love collage. I did a collage for the cover of my logbook. And I love to draw. I love to take my sketch book with me on vacations. I like my sketches better than my vacation photos.

I'm very crafty (hence the trail name) But I can do incredible things with embroidery.

And I am a big show-off...I guess I have to be.

Be careful getting me started in conversations on art history. It's one of my favorite topics, and I won't shut up. I love prehistoric art and modern art (Dali and Picasso) and I love comparing prehistoric with Picasso...think about it   (see what I mean about not shutting up?)   I hate baroque. It makes me motion sick. I can't stand Rubens 

And I think this board is going to be a lot of fun

Sits N Knits

Be careful getting me started in conversations on art history.

Does that mean you know what happened to Van Gogh's ear? =)

-- Ryan

OK!  I'll join you here.

I am a textile artist and designer, and am approaching the end of a very extensive diploma course in this field.  My medium is machine and hand embroidery on all sorts of surfaces, some of which you'd be surprised at.  Block printing is a technique I use all the time in my design work and surface decoration work, and I'm very happy to have this new application.  It's very fun.  Letterboxing has been a great way to get me out of my studio and out on the trails with my daughter.

Thanks, Ryan, for the forum!

Thunderbird

um... the story I remember is that he gave it to a prostitute, to show his love for her. No telling what she did with it.

Brilliant artist...but a few fries short of a "Happy Meal"

~~D

I am a textile artist and designer

Oh, how cool. My scedule has been keeping me from doing much design work.

In the past, I have made some hand embroidered purses. I want to make some larger framed pieces. And I want to try portraits.

I've been sewing long before I started drawing.

Nice to "meet" you

~~Dawn..  "Sits N Knits"

the story I remember is that he gave it to a prostitute, to show his love for her. No telling what she did with it.

Yeah, that's the story I remember too. But I bet that ear would be big bucks today! If only we could find it in a dusty attic or something, I could retire forever. =)

-- Ryan

Ok...you're not a total goober

but.......errrr.... you might be something else

;-)

You're creeping me out man

Does anyone make handmade paper?
A few years back I tried it, but the finished product came out a kinda blah color and didn't show the varied colors I'd hoped for when I added different colored paper. Maybe I blended it too much, or should have blended colors separately? I'd like to try making it again and hope to get some help from you folks.
My husband made me a screen and deckle so I believe I have the right equipment.
Any suggestions would be appreciated. Also what kinds of papers do you use that you have around the house, without having to buy anything special?
Thanks!
Sojourner

Ah, that happens to be one of my arts, and my favorite, second only to embroidery.

If you are making recycled paper, you will only get out what you put in. Things to use: recycled nice office paper, junk mail envelopes, watercolor paper, mat board (scraps you can get from frame shops), etc. Thinks NOT to use - news paper, paper bags, paper towels, etc. These are all very low quality papers that will make weak handmade paper that will disintegrate over time. Construction and tissue are also bad, but are OK to use in small amounts for paper. I use recycled paper when I'm in a hurry. When I want to make high-quality paper, I make it from scratch from plants in my garden. But that's a whole other topic.

If you are interested in papermaking, I highly recommend joining the yahoogroup - PaperMaking at yahoogroups.com. They are absolutely the most helpful, friendly people on the Internet (besides you guys, of course). There is absolutely no flaming, off topic stuff, and the level of patience for newbie questions is the highest I've ever seen. You will learn a lot, from a wide range of papermakers who work in anything from pure recycled up to some of the most difficult fiber combinations you can imagine. It's a great forum.

I also highly recommend a book by Helen Heibert called A Papermaker's Companion. Great stuff for beginners as well as advanced, with information on both recycled and paper from plants.

Thunderbird

Sojourner,

I meant to say that construction and tissue are OK in small amounts for COLOR. You'd want a base paper pulp of high quality recycled, but can blend the colored construction or tissue separately in small amounts to color.

Thunderbird

Thanks for your suggestions, Thunderbird - I'll give it another try sometime soon. And I did join the Yahoo group you mentioned.
Sojourner

I tried my hand at it several years ago and was pleased with the results. What I liked best was when I used a base pulp and then added dryer lint from where I had dried my dog's bed. I got a nice "furry" paper that is a reminder of a dear friend now chasing rabbits in dog heaven. Another project was to make a window covering using an old slat blind with several slats taken out and then dripping colored paper pulp down the slats. It was fragile and didn't last long but really looked kinda cool in the window.

Great, now I'm going to haveta get my stuff out of the shed and try something. As if I don't have enough hobbies going on! :)

As a theatrical scene painter, I get to work on very large scale paintings. Today, I was thinking of letterboxing as I painted a floor for the MeshugiNutcracker. We made a big stamper out of upholstery foam and wood, and stamped with housepaint. For smaller marks we cut up several foam rollers, and just "touched down" with them.

I'm trying out Flikr, so tell me if this link works:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/46814563@N00/sets/1483717/

I had nothing to do with the rest of the scenery, although I think the lions are cute. I've got a thing for cats and their sticky-out tongues, a fact Knitica knows well.

Lisascenic

I really enjoyed the little slide show. Now you should make a really big log and find a really big lock'n'lock...

-Cape Cod Lightning Bug

Quote

Do you ever fasten anything to your shoes and jump around? Or how about a T shirt with foam stuck to it, roll around on the floor... Ok - a little overboard and getting just a bit kinky....

Sorry to disappoint, but I'm not going to report on what I wear when I roll around on the floor.

I do, however, ruin a *lot* of socks in my line of work. You'll notice that we're only wearing socks, and no shoes. Shoes can leave a lot more tread marks than just socks. Also, socks are a dandy spill-wipe-up tool.

You should see the looks I get in the summers, when I do my laundry at a laundromat!

Lisascenic

Oh, I just remembered that I have another example of using stamping in theater:

http://www.muralsplus.com/cgi-bin/discus/show.cgi?tpc=414&post=111257#POST111257

There's a lot of painter-geek chatter that you can skip over, but the pictures really are cool! (If I do say so myself)

Lisascenic

I had a friend in Montana who participated in the annual huge Day of the Dead celebration. She and her husband carved a huge wooden plate, inked it up, put a huge length of fabric on it, and used a steamroller as a baren to make the print! Now, THAT's Large Scale Stamping! The fabric had to be 6 or so yards of 45" wide fabric.

Thunderbird

Hi there,

Just a shout out to any boxers in the Tacoma/Seattle/Olympia area who may be interested in learning how to blow glass floats. I just signed up for a 4-hour class on 15 Jan 06 in Tacoma. $35! It's a quick overview of the artform. If you really enjoy it then there will be a 6-week long course in Tacoma later on in the year. A one-hour 'blow your own float' session at a Lincoln City, Oregon, foundry was $60 back in November!

Figured some letterboxers might be interested in this unique artform. I'm just a big Chihuly fan and collect polished glass on the beach more than I letterbox--so thought I might give it a shot. After all where better to learn than in Tacoma--the new glass blowing hotspot thanks to Chihuly and his buddies. ;)

The class is through MetroParksTacoma and you can learn more info through their website:

http://www.metroparkstacoma.net/onlineregistration

dvn2r ckr

Quote

I'm just a big Chihuly fan and collect polished glass on the beach more than I letterbox--so thought I might give it a shot.

I learned of your hobby by reading the book "Sea Glass" last year. And in July 2004 I was in San Antonio and just happened upon Chihuly's artwork in the Public Library. I have a digital image somewhere around here ...

speedsquare

i think the stamping technique you used came out great! how original. i really love both the texture and the color.

i have been thinking about using stamping more in my textile are... and i think you just inspired me even more!

"I was thinking of letterboxing as I painted a floor for the MeshugiNutcracker..."

OK, so I have to ask, what is the MeshugiNutcracker?

SHH :-)

Quote

OK, so I have to ask, what is the MeshugiNutcracker?

Oh, whoops! I should double check my spelling. That's MeshugaNutcracker.

Their description is "Tchaikovsky's ballet tweaked to tell tales about Chanukah."

This was a rental at the theater where I work. I painted the floor, but must confess that I didn't go see this particular show.

There were some great Jelly Donut costumes, and a gigantic box of Chinese Carry Out. Silly Stuff!

Lisa

How cool!

has anyone ever used stamping tecniques with printing fabric or quilting? i think i am going to try it - i am a textile design student and always looking for something new to play with.

i would love to see others work if anyone has tried!

I have stamped train curtains for my sons' room. A simple, bold image works best, I think.

DB

I had a friend back in Baltimore who made all sorts of crazy clothes using rubber stamps and vintage printers' blocks. I'm not sure how he did it. I believe he used textile inks.

I've done loads of stencilling on fabric, and I love the products made by Pro Chemical and Dye.

http://www.prochemical.com/directions/MX_DirectApplication.htm

Here's a sample of some of the oversized work I've done:

http://muralsplus.com/cgi-bin/discus/discus.cgi

I like Stampin' Up products. They have a nice selection of quality rubber stamps and inks. They also have bigger stamps that you can use to stamp on walls and such. They have regular ink pads and ink pads that they call Stays-On. I would imagine these would work great on textiles.

http://www.stampinup.com/

I print on my textiles all the time. What is it that you wanted to know? Who's student are you (just out of curiousity)? :-)

Thunderbird

im a student at umass dartmouth. the textile design department.

i didnt really want to know anything in particular, just seeing what others have done.