Studio Play Date with Barb Olson!

What a treat to go to Barb Olson's studio in Boulder! The inspiration started with the drive over... can you believe the view from the highway! 

The goal was to experiment with deconstructed screens and I had a whole pile of them ready to go... but alas I forgot them at home = DUH! No worries we had fun with other techniques. 

Here we sprinkled dye powder on the fabric and pulled print paste across. 

We have some interesting results! Barb placed the foam circles and other objects from her sprinkled piece onto plain fabric soaked in soda ash and water. I don't have a photo but it turned out really cool!  My piece is over to the right. You can just make out a leave I placed as a mask... not exactly a dramatic look! Oh well - I learned somethings which was the point! 

Here Barb is showing me how to use a foam roller and wooden blocks for a cool print! 

The roller needs to be really saturated to get a strong print. 

Barb said she got the roller at Home Depot! 

Barb is pulling the print paste across the screen. Deconstructing screens means with each print the screen slowly releases the design until it's all gone! 

It's a time consuming technique due to creating the screens first and allowing the thickened dye to dry... but the results are so fun! 

When  got home I got busy with the print paste and screens - here are my results!

This piece had too much empty white space for my taste. I decided to paint a light wash across the surface which made the overall design feel more substantial. 

Any time spent sharing ideas and experimenting with a friend is priceless - but don't forget your supplies!