It started with a thumbprint.....

WOW!  It's the middle of July!  How did that happen?  Time does indeed fly when you're enjoying every moment of it.  And this summer has been one of the most delightful in recent memory!

When the summer began, I told myself that it was going to be a summer of experimentation.  No idea or medium or color was off limits.  I also made time for some reading, which has been extremely beneficial!

One book I found was "Drawn to Stitch" by Gwen Hadley.  I've been doing quite a bit of free-form embroidery this summer and incorporating printmaking into it. One of the exercises in the book was to take things found in nature and magnify them - the author used various rock walls and markings found in her native U.K., but I thought a bit differently.  What's the first print most of us make in our lives?  It's an easy one - our fingerprints!

I took this thumbprint and magnified it, like so (I'm still in the process of darkening the whorls in Photoshop for some sun printing):

I then traced this design onto a basswood block - 

After inking and printing the block on my backpack press with Akua ink on a very thin unryu paper, mounting onto a vintage 1939 Wisconsin survey map and having the prints professionally matted by the wonderful folks at Gallery & Frame Shop here in Fond du Lac, this is the final print!  I call it "Tributary", because it reminds me of winding riverways.  You can find it in my shop on melkolstad.com!  :)

I challenge you to take something in your house or backyard and enlarge it - you'll be surprised at the difference it makes!  It's like a whole new object, and it's really fun to play around to get different results. Hooray for experimentation!  :D

Letterpress + Embroidery = Pure Fun!

A little over a week ago, I wrote a post about using my backpack printing press with some of my letterpress plates, but on fabric.  You may recall how it turned out:

Well, I've had a BLAST using this template, and I just finished the piece this morning!

I worked right from the hoop, and just used the lines in the print as a guide. My friend Lori had recently given me a bag chock full of beautiful threads, so I pretty much used those exclusively (thank you, Lori!).  I used some organza for the skirt and as you can see, I also used the "movement" lines to highlight the texture.  I also created "earrings" from beads I had left from a project I finished in about 1996.  :)  I chose not to backstitch her face or hands, lest it look "cartoony", but I did make her a brunette.   :)

I had this fat quarter of vintage-looking fabric that I thought would complement the print nicely, and just used fusible webbing to adhere it to the fabric.  I thought about embroidering the flowers but then decided it might look too busy.  

I am WAY psyched about this piece!! I mean, I really like how it turned out but even better than that it that it even worked in the first place!! I don't know where this new medium is going to take me, but the possibilities are endless!  WOO HOO!!  :D

Returning to my (Embroidery) Roots

I recently read somewhere that those things you loved to do when you were a kid are probably hints of what you love to do as an adult.  I have found this to be more than true!

So, what did I like as a kid?  I loved playing post office and collecting labels and stamps.  These things have manifested themselves into my first medium of collage (and you can find much of my collage work on my other blog, Ephemeraology!).  I also loved to do cross-stitch patterns, and spent hours with my Fashion Plates toy (which I recently bought again on Ebay).  As a matter of fact, I was embroidering up until I discovered knitting, in 1999 (which turned into collage, in 2006).  I recently returned to embroidery for a project called The Exquisite Uterus Project, which highlights women's reproductive rights.  You can see my entry here.

I was further inspired by "Stitch", an exhibit that was recently held at our two-year state school, UW-Fond du Lac.  All of the artists were from my alma mater, UW-Green Bay!  As I saw all of their beautiful work, I began to wonder....

What would happen if I took my vintage letterpress plates and put them through my press - with fabric?

My fab friend Amy Jarvis had given me two vintage plates of very fancy ladies in furs - a PERFECT beginning.  This one in particular struck my fancy.

I attached it to a wood block to raise it to type height, mixed a creamy brown ink, and placed some linen atop the plate.  Now, the moment of truth - would my backpack press work?

SUCCESS!!!!  I am SO excited to begin embroidering/embellishing this image today!  I will post photos when it's done!

Oh my gosh - the possibilities with this press and my blocks!!  I can't wait to experiment further!  :D

P.S.  Remember when I mentioned my Fashion Plates toy in the second paragraph?  Well, I got to thinking - how would the texture side of the plates hold up under pressure?  I affixed one to a wood block, and PRESTO!!

So - what ELSE can I use?  :D

My New Press!!

Something happened a little over a month ago, and I still can't believe that I'm one of a small group of folks who got in on the ground floor!  This is going to revolutionize how I create from now on.....

I GOT MY NEW PRESS.

When I saw our delightful mail carrier backing his truck up in our driveway on that dreary, rainy Tuesday, I knew that the moment had arrived.  The box was so big and unwieldy that it took both of us to get it into my kitchen.  I had to take a photo the moment I opened the box, just for posterity:

There she is - the S.C.O.P.E. Revolutionary Pack.  Isn't she a beaut?  :D  The package arrived on December 3, but I was so busy that week I wasn't able to experiment until a couple of days later!  

In case you're wondering, the S.C.O.P.E. anagram stands for "Self Contained Outdoor Printing Equipment". It is, quite literally, a backpack printing press - you can see its creator, Jesse McAfee, wearing the press himself!  Yes, this press is HANDMADE in Kansas City.  I love that.  :D

I haven't carried it like that yet, but it also has a regular handle on the top so you can carry it like a briefcase. It only weighs 30 pounds!!

And it prints like a DREAM.  I have indeed taken it out to two separate gallery walks now (more on those in a later post!), and people are fascinated by it.  At one of the gallery walks, a student who's a printmaking major was so intrigued that he said he was going to contact the company himself.

Oh!  And I should probably tell you that the company is Craft and Concept, who are based out of The Print Factory in Kansas City (both Kansas AND Missouri).  I can't tell you how seriously cool it is to talk to the guy (Jesse) who is building your press for you.  When does that ever happen anymore?!?!  

You saw in my previous post that it's got front and center status in my newly redesigned studio, and you also saw the tiny linocut of Yours Truly (which is now the icon of my Facebook page for What a Relief) that I printed on it.  I'm in the middle of another project that incorporates vintage letterpress images, all printed on the press.  I can't tell you how thrilled I am with it!!  Thank you, Jesse - you've made a fantastic product and I hope more people check it out!  :D 

Happy 2014!!

Ah, the promise of a new year!  A fresh start, a chance to try new things, an excuse to make new types of art....  :D

HOORAY for all that!  I am particularly excited about the new year, because it is my impetus to get both feet wet in my (fairly) newfound obsession (and the whole reason for this blog) - PRINTMAKING.  :)

Yes, I know that my blog is already two months old (and thanks to my post three weeks ago, I have a lot of new followers!  Hi there!), but now that the holidays are over I can begin my new chapter in earnest.  And I thought I'd create a tiny lino for the occasion.

That's me!  :D  Oh my heavens, did I have a BLAST creating this little guy, which only measures 2X2"!  I took a photo, cropped it, and played with it in Photoshop until it looked the way I wanted it to.  Then I traced it using some Saral transfer paper, and carved it using micro tools! I 'm going to have MUY, MUY fun with this technique.  :)

So now that you know what I look like, I want to show you my new studio, which I reconfigured from a collage studio to make printmaking the primary focus.

The middle of my studio - notice that my
S.C.O.P.E backpack press has the spotlight!

Here's the studio from the back - the cabinet
on the left was built for me by my wonderful
dad in-law, and so was the book press, using
the blueprint from
Arnold Grummer's "Trash to Treasure Papermaking" book!  :)

Here's my desk, which now has stations for carving, inking,
and collage - and inspiration from some of my favorite artists!  :)

I feel ready to take on this amazing medium!  I don't quite know yet where the year will take me, but I'm so excited to learn, discover, and create, with the help of my printmaking friends!  Here's to a very fruitful 2014!  :D