Coffee In Bed featured in The Makery

Got my very first blog mention by a trio-sister team at The Makery. A great new website/blog featuring North Carolina artists. They have a kickstarter campaign going on as well. Love their idea and logo and wish them well with this venture. I'll be following. Check them out... http://makeitnc.wordpress.com

Down-n-dirty Screen Printing on T-shirts

I recently created a new t-shirt design for my ceramist friend Joey Sheehan, owner of Melting Mountain Pottery in Asheville, NC. I had the screen made, and we did some printing last night in the "man-cave-studio" to test it out. Joey learned the process and gets to keep the screen and print as much as he wants...tees, gift bags, aprons, etc. With a lot of test prints and trial and error, we finally got some nice prints. Once you get the feel of the squeegee pressure and the amount of ink coverage, good prints come fairly easy. We're letting these dry overnight, setting the ink with a hot iron and then a smaller front-print design can be screened.

 

Here's a great basic video (Click on image below to watch) on screen printing in your kitchen on a flat table..no fancy equipment necessary. This guy used a mylar stencil on the bottom of the screen, but the concept of inking and printing is the same. 

Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop

Here's a link to learn a bit about printmaking and the Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop.

Part of the Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, The Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop in New York, NY is a 4,000 sq. ft. lithography, intaglio, relief, and digital printmaking workspace. The studio offers membership opportunities, work exchange programs and contract services. They produce fine art prints for individual artists, galleries, foundations, and institutions as well as their own published works available through the shop. Additionally RBPMW offers ongoing classes and workshops. 

http://www.moma.org/explore/inside_out/2012/02/27/ten-minute-talk-phil-sanders-on-printmaking  

Block Prints on Coasters

My attempt at block printing on drink coasters, with not much success. This is my coffee cup design, which I'm not sure I love now that I'm looking at these pics. The coasters are "spongy" so I have to get my pressure tweaked just right. Without a bonified way to do this, I tried putting it in my vise and hand rubbing it too....left too soft, right too hard. Next try...cinderblocks! (That Dogfish 90 Minute sure didn't help my engineering)

DIY Screen Printing Tutorial by NoMediaKings

"Silkscreening is such a great happy medium — nestled comfortably half-way
between hand-drawn and mass production, more colourful than photocopying
and with an aesthetic all its own." 

- Shannon Gerard

Thought I would share one of the best, low-tech tutorials I've found on screen printing. It's easy to follow and can be done in your home, with no specialized equipment other than the basic screen print materials (screen, ink, squeegee, etc.)  I will be posting my own tutorial on my process soon...stay tuned.

http://nomediakings.org/doityourself/howto_silkscreen_posters_and_shirts.html