Kerr Grabowski
Deconstructed Screen Printing - Intuition, Accident, and Technique
June 22-28

Course Description:
Explore a different facet of screen printing on fabric: the unpredictable, the intuitive, the “happy accident”. Using fiber reactive dyes, deconstructed printing, discharge, and polychromatic printing, experiment with the silkscreen as a painting and monoprinting tool to create fabrics of depth, texture, and personal imagery. The resulting fabric may be used as an end in itself or a point of departure for further embellishment.

No screen printing experience is necessary; some experience with fiber reactive dyes is helpful but not necessary.

Biography:
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, limited-edition, hand-painted/screened silk fabrics and art wear. Kerr is the developer of Deconstructed Screen Printing, a printing/monoprint technique allowing for a freer, more painterly approach to screen printing.
Formerly from Mississippi, Kerr moved to New Jersey as Artist in Residence at Peters Valley Craft Center. She now maintains a studio in Sussex, NJ and Pass Christian, Mississippi. In addition to her studio work, Kerr is currently working with the Monteverde Institute in Costa Rica to organize workshops and volunteers to work with local women of the area. A New Jersey 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 exhibits and teaches surface design, color, and design workshops internationally.

For more information please visit www.kerrgrabowski.com

Artist's Statement:
Marks - textures, lines, images, and symbols- have always been my way of relating to and interpreting the world. My work in textiles and clothing stems from my Mississippi background and an interest in all cultures where art is an integral part of daily life - where mark making is a natural activity, a part of the celebration of being.

One of the challenges of creating wearable pieces is that of leaving aesthetic space for the future wearer, allowing them to bring the work to completion, to give it life. It's a thrill to see the owners of my clothing - to know who helped complete the idea.

Supply List for participants to bring from home:

• Fabric—5 to 10 yd –in 1/2 to 2yd lengths—up to you. 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-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 loosly 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 – One yd of soda soaked fabric will be supplied

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 (disposable OK)
• Glue stick
• Pencil
• Sketch pad-newsprint is fine-at least 9 x 12
• Notebook for handouts, samples, sketches or a journal--
• Roll masking tape-any width
• Small container India ink
• Inexpensive pack color markers (crayola 24 pack is fine)
• T-pins -more than 80--they are to pin fabric tightly to print table
• A silkscreen and squeegee--somewhere around12x18, 16x20, 18x24  / 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. Ex. for a 16x20 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.

• Duct tape for taping screen if not already taped-DON’T get gorilla tape-too hard to use
• Plastic to cover fabric when batching-large black trash bags are perfect.
• At least 5 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”
• Exacto knife for cutting stencils, textures---you could get by with scissors only 
• Foam brushes - at least five 1” and  several 2”
• Brushes—a size 12 watercolor brush is good to have-in addition to this, regular paint brushes, watercolor brushes,all sizes (bring whatever you have, don’t go out and buy a bunch.)
• at least 8 containers W/LIDS (8oz yogurt perfect)
• One quart container with lid
• Muffin tin or something to use for palette
• Hairdryer (if you have one)
• Respirator for using discharge paste -should have correct filter for toxic fumes (we will not be doing lots of discharge)
• Some cardboard----all thickness and textures ex. cereal boxes, sketch pad backs, corrugated boxes-we will be using them as printing plates and textures
• Old clothes or apron to protect
• Old towels or roll paper towels—the towels come in handy—try to bring instead of paper towels
• Three to five slides of your work to share
• textural stuff - floor mats, corrugated cardboard, plastic doilies, fat string, rubber stamps, material to make new stamps, embossed wall paper, DON'T go out and buy a bunch of stuff for this-bring what you have--any texture not higher than 1/4” might work
• book to share---can be images, text, whatever inspires you

OPTIONAL

• Wonder under or your favorite paper backed iron on bonding/fusing stuff
• Any equipment/materials that you have and like to use – squeeze bottle, stamps, paint brushes, silk screens with out stencils on them, thermofax screens with images, hot glue gun/glue needle, threads-embellishment materials for embellishment, stitching if desired

SUPPLIES ON HAND

• Small screen/squeegee per student to use during workshop
• Curved tip syringes/extruders @ $1.00  each
• some textures, stencil materials
               

Please feel free to email kerr with any questions     kerr@kerrgrabowski.com