KERR GRABOWSKI
Known for her innovative approaches to dyeing and screening processes, Kerr Grabowski integrates her love of color, mark-making, and spontaneity with the challenge of creating one-of-a-kind silk fabrics and art wear. Kerr developed Deconstructed Screen Printing, a printing/monoprint technique allowing for a freer, more painterly approach to screen printing.
A NJ Council on the Arts Fellowship recipient, Kerr has been published in Ornament, Fiber Arts, Surface Design Journal, Fiber Arts Design Book Six and Silk Painting for Fashion and Fine Art.
Kerr Grabowski exhibits and teaches surface design, color and design workshops internationally. She has also produced a DVD on Deconstructed Screen Printing.
Kerr's web site: www.kerrgrabowski.com
Kerr Grabowski in her studio. Images below of class participants & their work.
MARK-MAKING ON FABRICS | Eliminating the superfluous and working in a series
• Dates: April 27-May 1, 2009
• Level: Previous experience with fiber reactive dyes
• Zig Zag Sewing Machine: No
• Tuition | Early (paid in full by November 1, 2008): $750
• Tuition | Regular (paid in full by Feb. 1, 2009): $770
• Materials Fee: $40
• Dye Facility Usage Fee: $25
> Accommodations and meal information
DESCRIPTION
If you have been wanting to create fabrics with more personal verve, then this is the class for you!!! A distinct verve comes from intense exploration and this class will show you the way.
In order to freely investigate ideas in depth, students will work on fabrics in a series, allowing for experimentation and questioning. Such focused investigations will lead to a clarity of vision and strengthen students' facility in interpreting ideas.
During this workshop, students will explore their ideas by interpreting each image in numerous ways, developing work informed both by concept and choice of media. Morning design/expanding exercises will be followed by employing various mark-making materials/techniques including deconstructed screen printing, charcoal, Caran d'Ache, textile paint, stitching and burning.
SUPPLY LIST
• FABRIC:
1/4 to 3 yard lengths - white or light colored silk, rayon, cotton, linen, silk/rayon velvet (protein or cellulose for fiber reactive dyes) NO PERMA PRESS OR BLENDS.
NOTE: I do not recommend bleached muslin - it does not always take dye well - unbleached is ok. You might also want to try preprinted fabrics-commercially printed or those of your own.
We will do dye tests the first day on any questionable fabric.
Prewash your fabric in hot water to remove any sizing or dirt - smooth, evenly woven fabrics show more detailed textures while rougher or more loosely woven will not be as subtle - plan to try both.
In addition to the above, feel free to bring your own predyed fabrics to experiment with.
We will be soda soaking our fabrics
Please prepare at least ONE yard of fabric prior to workshop
Instructions for soda soaking to prepare fabric:
• After washing in hot water to remove sizing or oils, soak damp fabric in 9 Tablespoons soda ash (sodium carbonate) to one gallon warm water for about 15 minutes. Stir occasionally.
• Remove, wring out and hang to dry.
• Soda ash can be purchased at Dharma Trading (www.dharmatrading.com) or Pro Chemical (www.prochemical.com)
• If you are working with silk, it is OK to soda soak a few days prior to workshop.
• If you normally use the soda soak method to prepare your fabric, feel free to do whatever has been working for you if different from directions given above.
OTHER SUPPLIES
While this workshop is geared primarily towards fabric, the dyes and processes also work extremely well on good rag printmaking papers that are lightly or unsized - see OPTIONAL at bottom of list.
- rubber gloves
- tracing paper
- 2 glue sticks
- pencil
- Sharpies, assortment of mark-making tools
- sketch pad - at least 9" x 12"
- India ink - small container is fine
- pack of inexpensive 24 color markers - Crayola is fine
- a few colorful magazines or pages torn out from magazines (for small collages)
- notebook for handouts, samples, sketches or a journal
- a favorite inspirational book to share - it may be images or text
- 2 objects that you feel strongly about (you might be using one of these as inspiration for a piece)
- one roll masking tape - any width
- t-pins - more than 80 - they are to pin fabric tightly to print table
- plastic to cover fabric when batching - large black trash bags are perfect
- 5 little short rubber spatulas (5” including handle) or tongue depressors or plastic spoons (for stirring dye)
- scissors - fabric pair and a small, sharp pointy pair for paper and “stuff”
- foam brushes - at least five 1” and several 2”
- paint brushes - regular paint brushes, watercolor brushes, all sizes (bring whatever you have - don’t go out and buy a bunch)
- containers w/lids - several (at least 5) 1 C. and a quart container (yoghurt, margarine, etc.) for dyes and thickener
- muffin tin or something to use for palette
- hairdryer (if you have one)
- some cardboard - all thicknesses and textures, e.g. cereal boxes, sketch pad backs, corrugated boxes - we will be using them as printing plates and textures
- old clothes or apron to protect your clothes
- three to five slides of your work to share
- silkscreen and squeegee - somewhere around 12"x18", 16"x20", 18"x24" | 10xx or 12xx mesh (can be ordered from www.dickblick.com, 1-800-447-8192). Squeegee should be about 2” shorter than the narrowest screen width. Example: for a 16"x20" screen the squeegee should be about 14”. If you do not want to invest in a squeegee just yet, Speedball makes an inexpensive 9” squeegee for about $8.00, this would be fine (even if smaller than recommended). Feel free to email Kerr if you have any questions. Kerr will be bringing very small screens and squeegees to use also.
- textural stuff - floor mats, corrugated cardboard, bubble wrap, plastic doilies, fat string, embossed wall paper, etc. BUT DO NOT go out and buy a bunch of stuff for this - bring what you have - any texture not higher than 1/4” might work.
OPTIONAL
- newspapers - if you drive bring lots - if you fly don’t bring any
- any equipment/materials that you have and like to use - extruders, stamps, paint brushes, silk screens without stencils on them, thermofax screens
- hot glue gun/glue
- paper for printing on (in place of or in addition to fabric) - I prefer rag printmaking paper such as Rives bfk, Arches 88, Stonehenge, Copperplate, Japanese papers work well also
- duct tape for taping screen if you bring one not already taped - 3M is best brand and worth the money
- Xacto knife for cutting stencils, textures, etc.
- Wonder Under - if you like to fuse (there will not be lots of time for that!!)
- any embellishment supplies you might like - needles, threads, beads, found stuff, puff paints, etc.
Instructor will have curved tip extruders (plastic syringes) for sale: $1.00
MATERIALS FEE PROVIDES:
• All dyes, chemicals, use of some of Kerr's screens, textural materials, "stuff"
• Kerr will also be sending some preclass prep assignments
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