Print!Eats March: Squash blossoms

I’ve just planted our spring garden and can’t stop thinking about the delicate flavor of squash blossoms.

© 2012 Carolyn Kimball, Flor de Calabaza 12"x12"

Never had squash blossoms? Check out this delicious recipe from Farmhouse Delivery.

© 2012 Carolyn Kimball, Flor de Calabaza 12"x12"

Taybeh Church & the Abraham Path

© 2011 Carolyn Kimball, Taybeh Church, 9 x 12"

No matter how many hours I’ve spent staring at a print while working on it in the studio, I always do a double take the first time I see it properly framed. It’s like seeing a friend dressed to the nines for a big event.  Taybeh Church is all dressed up on its way to Washington DC as a gift to a retiring boardmember of the Abraham Path Initiative. Abraham’s Path is a walking and cultural tourism route through several countries in the Middle East.

I hike part of Abraham’s Path in 2009 with Bob in Palestine, and it was without question the most moving, amazing and transformative travel experience I’ve ever had. The hike inspired not only this piece, but my entire current body of work.  It was truly gratifying  to know they appreciated the art their organization inspired me to create.

I’m hoping to partner with Abraham’s Path  for future projects as well, more on that to come.

Block printing tote bags

Ever since I saw Drive-by Press do  t-shirt block printing at a Spoon show a few years back, I’ve been intrigued with the idea of block printing bags. The Texas Hill Country Spinner’s Retreat  gave me the perfect opportunity to experiment; they were on a tight budget and block printing bags meant I wouldn’t have extra studio fees. It was also the perfect excuse to use the laser cutting machine at Make ATX , our studio neighbors in the Pump Project Annex building. I’ve been drooling all the fun stuff  Cathy Savage’s has been making with the laser cutter but needed the insipiration to cut some blocks myself.

© 2012 Carolyn Kimball

This block is based on my ‘sabir’ cactus pattern, but with the addition of a bright yellow blossom.

The bags turned out great. A bit more labor intense than screenprinting, since you have to re-ink after every bag, but the have a really lovely rustic look since each one is unique.

© 2012 Carolyn Kimball

Rosemary, Madder and failures

I’ve been playing around trying to make other colors with natural dyes,with mixed success. My first attempt at making red using beets was a total flop, ending in a pale beige. Bleh. I don’t think I used enough beets. As a plan b, I decided to try some madder root powder, which gave a much stronger color, but didn’t dissolve all the way.

A little splotchy, but a pretty color. Think I’ll stick to using plants and veggies, no problems with powder dissolving.

I’ve also been trying to work out a good recipe for green. Spinach proved too light and fennel produced a delicate butter yellow, but not green. Then I tried rosemary, which smelled fantastic:

Rosemary made a gorgeous chartreuse green. I think it will look great with a dark green pattern on top.

Printing on fabric, trial run

My turmeric fabric faded to the most gorgeous earthy, yellow ochre color when it dried and I had to print on it immediately:

Registration is a little trickier with cloth, but I taped down the edges and it seemed to work pretty well. The real test will be printing on a full sized tea towel, 27″x28″.  I used non-toxic, soy based Akua intaglio inks, I’m going to heat set them and give them a few test-washes in the washing machine to make sure they stay put.

 

Off to New Hampshire!

 I just sent this little etching off to New Hampshire, to join the permanent collection of the Rochester Museum of Fine Art! It’s going to be on view starting in March.

If you subscribed to 2010′s print!subscription, you have one from the same edition, it was October’s print. 

Block printing on fabic; test run

My turmeric fabric faded to the most gorgeous earthy, yellow ochre color when it dried and I had to print on it immediately:

Registration is a little trickier with cloth, but I taped down the edges and it seemed to work pretty well. The real test will be printing on a full sized tea towel, 27″x28″.  I used non-toxic, soy based Akua intaglio inks, I’m going to heat set them and give them a few test-washes in the washing machine to make sure they stay put.