Chine Colle', Drawing Nature, and the Swat Valley "Thoosh"

Wednesday morning, I was so excited to finish my sunflowers!  We began the class with a demonstration of monotype printing.  Who knew that printmaking could be such a variable process?  You could paint with the roller or the brush, draw ink away with q-tips or paper towels, layer the same color or vary it slightly, and then there's Chine Colle'.  With Chine Colle', you can use a glue film to attach decorative papers on top of the final print paper to create a different effect.  The possibilities are astounding. 

 

After the demonstration, I worked to turn my little potato shaped pieces of chipboard into the brown centers of my flowers.  I loved the contrast between the chocolate brown and the yellow spots peeking through.. Thank you Eileen!  The process of using the different papers changes the appearance of the colors so much.  I really loved the banana leaf paper and how the bark pieces would impact the print.

       

I painted my final potato piece right as everyone left for lunch.  We needed to complete our chipboard before lunch because directly after lunch we were to begin working on creating our templates for our Chine Colle' and Monotype prints.  The goal was for the Chine Colle' to work as a true part of the work instead of a separate addition.

Since I was late leaving lunch, I was able to experience the Drawing Nature workshop group as they were newly inspired by the work of Andy Goldsworthy.  The class decided to make an impromptu installation of pine cones on each post of the fence leading to the lunch room.  Nothing can stop an artist inspired!


At lunch, I had the opportunity to talk to a veteran teacher who will also be teaching AP Studio next year.  She shared wonderful ideas about how to start the school year using found objects, and about staying true to being an artist as well as a teacher.  I have always been the type of artist that loved to explore different art mediums.  I love to learn and I love to share what I learned.  


 It is so true that the best teachers are those that are the most passionate about what they are teaching, and those are the type of people I'm getting to know at aTi.  I am looking forward to my first year of teaching AP Studio and I am excited to have met some AP teachers to bounce ideas off of and learn from!

Again, I had trouble getting started after lunch.  I struggled with determining how to utilize the Chine Colle'(the addition of the decorative paper) as an integral part of my work.  Eileen was kind enough to pull out her examples of both Chine Colle' and Monotype for us to see again.  Now that I understood how much work and time could go into making one layer of ink to go through the press, the idea that a single piece could travel through the press 20 times was mind boggling.  It truly helped me to appreciate how each layer effected the next while I was looking at the examples, and I loved the idea that the examples we were viewing looked so expressive and free, but were purposefully composed and designed to appear this way.  

I finally decided to use an image of my husband's nephew Noah looking at a balloon.  The expression of his face as he scoped out that balloon with the wave backdrop was beautiful and I couldn't stop thinking about it.  By the end of the day, I had my template drawn on the piece of plexi glass, and I was beginning to cut out the Chine Colle' pieces of Noah's silhouette.  I decided to complete all of my prints on the same type of white paper because this seemed to be the best way to contrast Noah's figure.  I used a beautiful cream-colored Japanese paper as the Colle' piece for his body, with the intention of painting his likeness on the plexi to print it just on that piece of paper.

After class, I had the pleasure of learning about, and helping, wonderful cause.  Between the years 2008 and 2010, the Taliban brutally destroyed hundreds of girls schools in the Swat Valley of Pakistan. This tragic event, which caused an even bigger gender gap in education than was already present, was followed by a major refugee crisis, and a devastating flood.  In order to bridge the gap of gender equality in education, the Swat Relief Initiative(SRI) was formed and has made education for girls a high priority.  SRI has also developed programs for women's health, teacher training, economic growth, and building of a sustainable environment.  The women and children of this region are learning how to sew and use traditional methods to create crafts by taking apart saris and other materials to make incredible, one of a kind, pieces.   

At the sale were jewelry pieces, embroidery, assorted handmade bags and wallets, shawls, and so much more, and the sales of these pieces will help to establish literacy programs for girls.  Some of the pieces were still dusty from the desert sand.  The beauty of these pieces was astounding, and I am so excited about the piece I purchased.  I chose a beautiful "thoosh"(a scarf named for the method of stitching) made from lamb's wool.  It is unbelievably soft!!  I love pieces that come with a story, and the origin of these pieces will always come to mind when I wear them.