Contents
Introduction: Kitchen Potential ……………….7
Chapter 1: Getting Started ……………………11
Setting Up a Workspace ………………………….11
Assemble Your Basic Tool Kit ………………….13
Paint Techniques ……………………………………15
Chapter 2: Kitchen Textures and Found Object Printing ……………………29
Three Printing Techniques………………………30
Create a Collage Design with Layered Textures ……………………………………30
Texture Squared …………………………………….34
Found Objects and Kitchen Tools …………….44
Small Scale Items: Nine-Patch ……………….46
Chapter 3: Beyond the Potato Print:
Using Vegetables and Fruit to Create Fabric Designs ……………………………………49
Creating Background Textures with Vegetables ……………………………………..50
Making Marbled Fabric with Cabbage Prints ……………………………………..53
Carving Print Blocks from Vegetables ……..54
Slicing and Dicing: Printing with Vegetable Shapes …………………………………..56
Lovely Leaves ………………………………………..58
Brayer Rubbings ……………………………………59
Chapter 4: Wrap It Up! Wraps and Foil ……. 61
Freezer Paper Fun: Masks and Stencils …..62
Playing with Plastic Wrap ……………………….69
The Wonders of Wax Paper ……………………..70
Folk Art Foil: Embossed Designs in Aluminum Foil ……………………………………72
Chapter 5: Recycled and Repurposed …….77
Cardboard: The Thick and Thin of It …………78
Junk Mail Jackpot ………………………………….84
On a Roll: Fabric Designs from Cardboard Tubes ……………………………89
Making Your Mark: Designing Print Blocks from Recycled Foam ………………………………90
Artful Aluminum: Create Decorative Shapes from Recycled Cans and Pans …………………92
Printing with Recycled Materials……………..94
Chapter 6: Irresistible: Fabric Resists
Using Kitchen Ingredients ……………………97
Resist Recipes ………………………………………98
Resist Application Techniques ……………….105
Painting a Resist-Covered Fabric …………..113
Setting Paint on Resist-Covered Fabric ….113
Removing Resists ………………………………..113
Chapter 7: Contributing Artists ……………114
Resources ………………………………………..121
Acknowledgments …………………………….122
About the Author ………………………………123
Index ……………………………………………….124
Kitchen potential
INTRODUCTION
The kitchen—in most people’s homes it’s a hub of activity. It’s where we cook and eat our meals and find out about each other’s day. Growing up, the kitchen was where I hung out with my friends. It’s where I sometimes did homework and my messy art projects. It’s where I watched my mom prepare dinners and learned how to bake. Most of you can probably conjure up some happy childhood memories that center around this important room.
I now spend my fair share of hours cooking and baking in my small but bright kitchen. I enjoy whipping up a batch of chocolate chip cookies and am known for my butterscotch brownies. But it wasn’t until a few years ago that I realized that the kitchen could also be a resource for my artwork.
I’m always looking for new ways to create beautiful or intriguing fabric designs. I’m filled with curiosity and love to set challenges for myself. “What if?” is a predominant phrase in my artistic vocabulary. As a fiber arts and surface design teacher, I’m also constantly experimenting with available materials and trying to work out new printing techniques to share with my students. I enjoy reading books and articles and use them as jumping-off points for my own explorations (see the suggested book list in Resources on page 121).
When I began to teach a multiple-session class called “Exploring Surface Design,” I knew that I had to expand my usual fabric printing repertoire. I was already using recycled materials, such as cardboard and Styrofoam, for print blocks in my classes. I encouraged students to find materials at home to bring into class for texture blocks. What I needed was a class session about resist techniques. What I wanted were nofrills fabric resists—ones that were easily accessible to students. For example, I first discovered freezer paper when I started making cloth dolls. I was taught to draw doll patterns on this paper and iron the plastic-coated paper pieces directly onto my fabric. I saw the potential for using this material to mask off areas of the fabric from paint. This two-sided paper became the first kitchen product to be added to my resist list. Thanks to a magazine article by fiber artist Jane Dunnewold, I found out about wheat flour paste resist. A simple recipe of white wheat flour and water and this resist mimics the crackle patterns of traditional batik. It soon became a staple in my surface design class. Blue school glue, glue stick, and salt rounded out the resist list.
It didn’t stop there. I started to further experiment with these few basic resist materials. I began printing, stenciling, and making rubbings with them. I started using more than one resist on a piece of fabric. My curiosity was piqued and I began to wonder what other kitchen materials could be used as resists?
To answer this question, I applied for and won a grant from my local fiber guild. For eighteen months I experimented with household materials to see which ones could work as fabric resists. Chapter 6, “Irresistible: Fabric Resists Using Kitchen Ingredients,” has some of the successful recipes and application techniques based on my research.
Since my grant, I continue to return to the kitchen as a surface design resource. I get a little giddy every week as I rifle through the recyclables looking for sturdy postcards, cardboard boxes, and envelopes with little cellophane windows. I’m constantly eyeing plastic bottles and bottle caps, wondering about their printing potential. I keep contemplating new ways to print with food wraps. And, of course, no vegetable is safe in my house!
How to Use This Book
My intention in writing this book is to get you excited! Most of the items you need to create beautiful fabrics are just a few steps away, in your kitchen. I want you to begin looking at the products and materials in your kitchen with new eyes. Check out your recycling bin for paper products, plastic bottles, aluminum cans, and pans. Look in the kitchen drawers for interesting found objects, plastic wrap, wax paper, and aluminum foil. Don’t forget the fruit and vegetable bin or your kitchen staples—all have surface design potential. In addition to your kitchen finds, you’ll need some basic fabric painting and printing supplies. Chapter 1 reviews what you need to set up a portable work area as well as a basic tool kit. You’ll learn about fabric, paint, and printing tools.
Chapters 2 through 6 each focus on a particular category of kitchen supply or product. These chapters are chock-full of suggested techniques for using kitchen items to create print blocks and plates, stencils, masks, and fabric resists along with many helpful hints and tips to get the best printing results. Chapters 2 through 6 are stand-alone chapters. Feel free to start with any one of them. Now—go make some awesome fabrics!