It's never simple, is it?!

It's never simple, is it?!

I was planning to measure and dye paint several weaving warps for Linda @ Tabby Tree in Cicero, IN. The hurdles began immediately with my warping mill buried in my storage unit. I was able to borrow a warping board and measure out the first warp in Linda's shop, leaving the guide yarn (cotton) on the board to bring home. Being gone 6-7 days a week, I found a month or so later that not only had I not made time to measure out two more warps, let alone paint them, my cat ate most of the guide yarn off the warping board. She's weird that way. So I used acrylic yarn, made new guide lines and finished the other two warps.

A few days later, I set up all the supplies to begin dye painting. I soaked the warps and hung to remove excess moisture (but not totally dry). Meanwhile I began to mix up dyes and create colors only to discover I didn't have all the needed base colors. I was sure my large stash was in storage in my sisters basement 45 minutes away so I asked her to rummage through to confirm. A couple months later and the threat to tell on her to our Mom, who passed in '05, she finally looked and found them.

Now you would think all the glitches were behind me, so I hoped. NO. I realized, after a failure from earlier this summer, that for the first time in all my 28 years of dyeing, that dye power has a self life. I had a jar of yellow powder that was only a year old and it was totally dead.  So with my large stash of dyes from storage of 5.5 years, I certainly didn't want to dye paint these warps and the dye wash out.

I decided to test each dye needed (I'll test the other's later) by screening a grid on pfd cotton, mix up a small amount of dye needed for the warps, place a sample per square, record it's name&# on the fabric beside it, and wash the fabric to see what ones where still alive. NOTHING LIKE MAKING THINGS COMPLICATED.

So this is where I am in this 'simple' project. The grid has been drawn, made into a silk screen (btw, don't forget that part of my business is making custom thermofax screens for you), printed, set the fabric paint, and now the fabric is soaking in soda ash water. I will hang it to dry and be ready to start the next stage of laborious dye testing on it.

Will I ever get to dye paint these three warps? I certainly hope so. But not as soon as I or Linda would hope. The road to success sometimes takes more persistence and time than what we could foresee. Not giving up, is victory within itself.

 

So check in later, as Paul Harvey would say, for "the rest of the story."

 Bless and be blessed!

~Bobbie

Warhol-ish Commission, Pet Family

This commission project is finished and looken good. I've done Jr High students and a couple quad adult pieces. I'd been wanting to do family pets (✔), a range of children and varied aged adults. So, whose order is next?

 My hand dyed Kaufman fabric, photoshopped images to create custom thermofax screens then screen printed, stretch, and mounted with hanging hardware. 

I custom make thermofax screens for customers, too.

Bless and be blessed!

Bobbie

In Home Dyeing and Printing

After almost five years, I started to dye, make thermofax screens and print in my home again.  Starting off with some shirts for work.  Yes, I make custom thermofax screens for customers AND I've a line a images to choose from if you haven't yet created your own images.

Dyed periwinkle and printed with my business name and Michelangelo's hands.

Pop Art

I delivered this 18"x24" order yesterday with a second one soon to come.  It's handdyed PDF Kaufman Pimatex that I screen printed with my thermofax screen, assembled and mounted. I took his photo into a program to create the image I used to make the screen.

He's going to frame it under glass to protect it from his flying chocolate protein drinks. Not my recommendation but there's truth in his concern.

My school students did this project of themselves but in a single print. Turned out marvelous.

I will be happy to make you custom thermofax screens with any of your images. This year, I'll be expanding into creating a line of my own images for you to choose from, as well.

If you are interested in me creating a Pop Art piece for you, contact me.

Bless and be blessed,
Bobbie

YOUR Imagery made into SILK SCREENS

Whether you doodle, draw, create typography, Photoshop or copy textures, photos... on a copier, or any ENDLESS other visuals, you can have them made into silk screens.  

Now we're back at ENDLESS:  ENDLESS ways to print on ENDLESS surfaces with ENDLESS media for ENDLESS purposes.

Screening is an awesome adventure.  You can screen fabric, paper, polymer clay, wonder under, wood, leather…  You can use thickened dyes, inks, decolor agents (bleach, thiox...), and paints of many types. 

I provide a custom order service for thermofax screens.  Thermofax screens give you a couple options you won’t get with most other silk screens.  With thermo screens you can flip them over for a reverse image, they store compactly, and you can use bleach products with them for decoloring.

Thermofax screens are considered a temporary screen with more than a hundred pulls.  I’ve only worn out one imaged screen.  If you find you want to use an image more than a hundred time or so, you can either have another thermo screen made or be secure that making the image into a photo emulsion screen will be worth the effort. 

It's simple to get a screen made.  I can get you started.  I've been screening and making screens for other since 2000.  I like to help others broaden there creative endeavors.  But if you've never screened before, YouTube is loaded with demos and the Internet has more than enough printed information on it.

TO GET YOUR IMAGERY ON A SCREEN - Go to my page with more info by clicking here.  It's SO FUN with ENDLESS possibilities, spurring on more creativity, you may end up addicted.

Custom Thermofax Screen Service INFORMATION

Custom Thermofax Screen Info & Order Sheet

Hello art enthusiast.

Take advantage of my lowered prices.

Screening is an awesome adventure. Thermofax screens are fun and affordable.  You can screen on fabric, paper, polymer clay, wonder under, wood, leather…  You can screen with thickened dyes, inks, decolor agents, and paints of many kinds.

Thermofax screens give you a couple options you won’t get with most other silk screens. With thermo screens you can flip them over for a reverse image, they store compactly, and you can use bleach products with them for decoloring.  They are lightweight and easy to use.  They are more economical than other silk screens, too.

Thermofax screens are considered a temporary screen with more than a hundred pulls. I’ve only remade one image. If you find you want to use an image more, you can either have another thermo screen made or be secure that making the image into a photo emulsion screen will be worth the effort.

I provide a custom order service for thermofax screens. You have two options in which to do this:
     
     1.  I've made and sent hundreds of screen with this option.  I want my customers to be 100% satisfied with their screens, I've request hard copies of the EXACT image(s) be mailed to me. You are the artist/designer and what you send me is what you will receive back in a screen. I alter nothing; size or anything else.  I return to you a framed screen within the next business day of receiving your order with info on how to care for thermo screens.

     2.  You are welcome to email me your PFD images (not jpg), I'll invoice you via PayPal and make/mail you your screens after receiving confirmation of payment.  I don't know that it speeds up anything but it's a working system.

Although I get your screens back in the mail the next business day, allow two weeks travel time from you to me and back to you. Doubtful it will take that long but plan ahead and get a happy surprise in the mail early than the stress of yesterday's deadline. Don't ask me how I know about waiting to the last minute, I'm just saying...

- - - - -

Complete screen service is normally requested, which includes your image on the film, mounted and framed, ready to use. You may request your image on the film unmounted to 'frame' yourself as you desire. 

You, too, can be on your way to many fun hours of play and expanded art.  Here's how:

1. I have created the Image Allowance Sheet that I can email you. It has the boundaries to work within for three sizes of framed screens. You can enlarge or reduce your image to fit within the desired frame.

If you are in immediate need of boundaries, stay within these:

Screen Sizes	BOUNDARIES for Images to fit in frame	Film Size		Frame Inside Size	Frame Outside Size
Full	9½” x 7”	11 ½  x 9	$16	10½”  x 7¾”	13½” x 11 ¼”
Half	7” x 3¾”	9 x 5 ¾	$12	7½”  x 4 7/8”	10½” x 8”
Quarter	4” x 2¾”	5 ¾ x 4 ½	$9	4 7/8” x 3¾”	8” x 4 7/8”

If your image pushes the boundaries, go up to the next size of screen so you can have a well (room to put your medium before spreading).

If you want your image larger than the above measurements and are mounting the screened image yourself, you have 10 inches of width and no limit to length. Contact me for length cost.

2. Gray tones won’t produce an exact representation of your image.  That may prove interesting, though.  If you want an exact image for your screen, it needs to be only black and white. Send a clean copy of your image. Any stray ink will show on the finished screen so use a white liquid correction pen to clean up unwanted marks/dots. 

NOTE here that I will return the exact size of imaged screen of the image you send me.  I do not alter your design in any way as you are the artist and in total control of your image.

3. Number the image, on the back with an ink pen, not a pencil.

4. Email Bobbie for the address in which to mail your images along with the following form and a check.

Questions?   fiberartBV@aol.com

Order Form:  
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Name_______________________________________________________
Date___________________________
Address_____________________________________________________
Phone___________________________________

Email_________________________________________________ 

Complete screen service is normally requested, but partial is available.

$9 Quarter Complete OR Imaged Film  $4 Frame  $2

$12 Half Complete OR Imaged Film  $6 Frame  $3

$16 Full Complete OR Imaged Film  $8 Frame  $5

   Circle  size & service  for each image                     Cost
Image 1  Full   Half   Quarter    Complete  or  Imaged Film    ________
Image 2  Full   Half   Quarter    Complete  or  Imaged Film    ________
Image 3  Full   Half   Quarter    Complete  or  Imaged Film    ________
Image 4  Full   Half   Quarter    Complete  or  Imaged Film    ________
Image 5  Full   Half   Quarter    Complete  or  Imaged Film    ________
Image 6  Full   Half   Quarter    Complete  or  Imaged Film    ________
Image 7  Full   Half   Quarter    Complete  or  Imaged Film    ________
Image 8  Full   Half   Quarter    Complete  or  Imaged Film    ________

Shipping – Indiana - 10% of Total Cost of order or $3 minimum 

               – Outside Indiana - 15% of Total Cost of order or $4 minimum
                                                                           Sub-Total          ________                                                                            Shipping           ________                                                                   Total Enclosed    _____

Have you?

 Sized image   Clean image   Numbered images 

 Completed form   Included check and images

 
Please feel free to contact me with questions.  I JUST loooove helping people enjoy their art.
 

Touch of The Master's Hand                Bobbie Vance

Happy Creating!

Studio Progress

Ahhhhhh, it's so nice to be making process. After eight months, I'm still moving in our new home.

In my last home, I had a 10'x10' sewing studio. Our two+ car garage was converted into my dye studio with heat, cooling, washer/dryer, sink and counter. I have so much supplies and equipment that I couldn't set up fully in the two spaces. My new studio space has had to be totally redesigned as I've never had 1,000 sq feet, let alone both studio combined. Now my office, dyeing, weaving, designing, thermofax, sewing, beading and knitting space is on one floor, all mine. Woo hooo.

My husband has been assembling my first quilting frame (Hinterberg). I didn't even know what one was until I saw it last April at Chicago's Quilt Festival. Soon as I saw how it works and that I could use my second Bernina on it, I knew this was the first step to quilting art quilts larger than 18" x 18". This pic has the sewing machine backward, grin.

Boxes with my quilting frame were the first mail I received at our new home. And yes, it took 8 months to get hubby to set it up. I already have a twin size quilt sandwich I constructed last year that I tried to quilt on my regular sewing machine. That experience lead me to quickly fold it up and wait for a quilting machine. Five months or more later, I discovered the frame. Doubtful, but maybe Imri will get that quilt that matches her Asian flavored living room for Christmas.

With the assembly of the frame, I found the inspiration to find homes for some of the fringe 'stuff'. Being an obsessive organizer, I want everything to have a logical place. Though it takes a while for arranging a studio, I find that there is always homeless papers and a few odd-and-ends boxes that sit there to haunt me. I've even moved a box or two from house to house without emptying them. Tisk.

I've been productive more lately than I have in a long time. Nevertheless, I have a ways to go to dedicate myself to producing a fresh body of work. I really need to replenish my business account as our personal account has greatly been affected by the current economy. Vic is a mortgage broker and half owner in a home building company. That says it all in that sentence.

As you can see from these pictures, the clutter has been catagorizied and filed. My design table by my desk is clean. So is my desk. Feels great. Caution: flat surfaces collect clutter. Paper is my enemy.
I went through the slots in my thermofax station. I discovered things I forgot I had. More projects I want to do. Luckily these should be easy, fast, and quick sellers: greeting cards.

When I clean out and organize, things are messier than before I began. But now the thermofax station is fully opertional again, clean as a whistle.

I can breath and work.

Oh yes, while working on this area, I've been machine felting the five bags of wool clothing I found at Goodwill. I bought tons of books that has given inspiration. Now I have projects and ways to use my Embellisher machine.

God Bless and happy creating.

My New Studios

We moved to the Indy area the end of April. One benefit was for me to have full studio space around 1,000 sq feet. I'm blessed! I am now 95% set up and have already had students in. Beginning at the hall into my dye studio, I have two 4x8 tables and two sinks. The tables can be converted from padded printing to mono printing.

To the left are supplies and tools. Further left are bolts of fabric, a Baby Wolf loom and a large light table.

To the right is my design area with my desk and thermofax screen set up.

Now we enter the sewing studio with projects in progress and a large box to donate.

           
Almost everything is labeled.

I also have a closet with beads and yarn.

I now have no excuse not to be highly productive.

God Bless and happy creating!