Printing, Stenciling and Painting with Music

 ... Jefferson Airplane as a background. Need that. Lino cut print, ironed and painted with textile paints. Promising experiments with letter stamps.

Very simple

A very easy method to imitate snake skin, a mesh bag as a stencil for textile paint, brushed on. At first sight, it is quite convincing. The presence of reptile images makes the eye associate something similar. A closer look reveals the simplicity of making.

Sneezing

Have to show you what I did last night. When my husband is asleep, I sneek into my studio and paint. Listening to music, turned low; jazz, mostly; or jefferson airplane. This time I got inspired by a stone carving from China which is at least 3000 years old. I painted it on a cotton/linen fabric.

This morning, I thought of stenciling to multiply my dragons. Lino cutting was very satisfying, but the printing was not. This textile paint is not made for printing, I guess. I cut this stencil and stabilized it by soaking the paper with shellac. The result is a lot more satisfying than printing. The color can be variegated just as well, and the silhouette is nice and crisp. Now I have to put on my clothes, I'm still in my nighty, and get some breakfast.

Outdoor studio

Under blue sky: The most pleasant place to work at. The kids are still in school, so the backyard is quiet.I cut another stamp and did some printing, looks very conventional:
Again, I made a lino cut from a traditional Estonian pattern and print it on slightly wet cloth. On dry cloth, the paint was not really taken up by the surface. On wet cloth, there is a slight bleeding of dye which actually looks quite interesting like aged or bleached dye. I let it dry now and will add some more painting and printing.










I also cut a foil stencil and use a stencil paint which contains oil. The stenciled shape is almost invisible. The white patterns have strongly resisted the paint which rolled off.







The intention is to fix them on the witch gown as if she had taken traditional clothes as a trophy from those she bewitched, just as she integrated the pictures of the young man in her gown which is all part of her sorcery.
I imagine her as a lady of the woods who lures a young man into unknown pleasures which make him addicted to her.

Try something new again

Not satisfied with the printed letters, I bought stencil paint. It is oil-based and buttery. I cut letters out of a transparent foil which works very well, because the letters are clear and crisp, as I wanted them. I finished the first spell which is to give a person appetite and well-being.

The other one is more a kind of epic poem and describes how someone is carried away by a crow who keeps the speaker under her wing and takes him (her?) to the Golden village to the Golden Chamber of Happiness.


Vares oli vaga linnoke / võttis mind teise tiiwa alla/viis mind ilo külasse/viis mind ilo kuldatuba/ilo kuldakamberisse.

If you'd like to know what this language sounds like, here is Estonian rap.