Virginia A. Spiegel

This is an assortment of fabric that I screenprinted.  After I paint on a first layer of paint, then it’s time to screenprint.  My screens are made from my photos Photoshopped to black and white and burned on a Thermofax machine.  I’ve never shared my screens because, hey, they are very personal.  But I support the work Lynn Krawczyk is doing in popularizing screenprinting and so agreed for her to feature on of my screens for one month only.

The screen called Yellow Leaf (shown printed by Lynn below) is available on Lynn’s Etsy shop only until January 31.

Below is the original photo that I Photoshopped before making it black and white for the Thermofax:

I have printed this screen in gold on blue dyed fabric and silver on green painted fabric – so subtle and elegant.  So don’t think it has to be yellow just because of its origin or Lynn’s example.  The main thing with screenprinting is just to have some fun with it.

Yellow Leaf – Featured Screen of the Month

Lynn Krawczyk’s Featured Screen of the Month on her comprehensive screen printing ETSY site is Yellow Leaf, created from one of my personal photos.  It’s very me as the leaf I photographed and then converted to black and white for burning a screen became a shattered and incomplete image of a leaf. This is just the sort of image that I believe makes a great screen as it isn’t static; there is a story of time and dissolution.

This is an exclusive design for Lynn. I don’t plan on personally ever selling screens even though I create them and use them all the time to create my fabric for my art.  This screen will only be available today through January 31.

The screen is called Yellow Leaf  because that was the color of the original leaf in the photograph from which Lynn created a screen for you.  But you should use your imagination to print your own leaf fabric or even screen print layers and layers of mutlti-colored leaves building a surface on your fabric that resembles the lawn in Fall when the leaves form a vibrant carpet.

Screen printing is easy and one of my favorite ways to “make” fabric.  Lynn also has a great DVD “Print Design Compose,” filmed on the set of “Quilting Arts TV,” that covers:

1. Three surface design techniques: thermofax screen printing (of course!), soy wax batik and freezer paper stencils.

2. Effective ways to USE (not just admire) the fabric you create

3. How to design an abstract art quilt

4. Different finishing methods for displaying your work.

Each month Studio Art Quilt Associates features a curated mini-gallery selected by a SAQA member from the juried Professional Artist Members. I chose Always Women as my theme for the December gallery:

The more I read, the more I realize there are universal experiences women share through the ages.  It seems as though we do more than our fair share of waiting, but we’re also always busy making a living, making friends, making a family, making peace with ourselves and our bodies, fighting our vices, embracing our pleasures, as well as experiencing great joys and great sadness. These artworks represent a small slice of our lives as women.

Included artists are Kate Themel, Joan Sowada, Sherry Kleinman, Lora Rocke, Trish Williams, Pat Kumicich, Judith Busby, Judy Zoelzer Levine, Pamela Price Klebaum, Mary Pal, Susan Schrott, Alice Beasley, Leni Levenson Wiener, Annie Helmericks-Louder, Lura Schwarz Smith, Jayne Willoughby Scott, and Susan Else.

Karen Stiehl Osborn is selling small artworks on her blog to benefit Hands, Hearts & Paws, an all-breed animal rescue in Omaha, NE.  She has just posted a mini-collection including my Black Stone:

Black Stone
Virginia A. Spiegel

This artwork would make a nice companion piece to mine:

Rhody #9
Karen Stiehl Osborn

Karen works hard to benefit this rescue because:

Often they accept the dogs that no other rescue will take, usually because of expensive medical needs. Recently they had a surgical bill of $1000 for a dog that had a prong collar embedded in his neck and a chunk of wood puncturing his trachea. Now they have a dog that has tested positive for heartworms and a dog that needs surgery for a luxating patella. Both of those dogs’ treatments will run hundreds of dollars each. I volunteer with this rescue, because I truly believe that they put the needs of the dogs ahead of all politics and financial concerns.

I am asking for your help to raise funds for these medical bills. I will be selling Artist Trading Cards for $20 each, until I run out of cards to sell. The rescue has several events scheduled for the coming months, and I will be selling the artwork at these events, plus selling them online through my blog and Facebook.

If you are an artist, please consider donating an ATC to the cause. If you are a patron, please consider purchasing a small artwork to support the rescue and enhance your own art collection.

milkweed 3 by Virginia A. Spiegel
Sold (But check Karen’s blog for more upcoming choices)

My friend, Karen Stiehl Osborn, is raising funds to help with the uber-expensive vet bills of an animal rescue.  I happily made and donated eight special ATCs (small artworks the size of baseball trading cards).  milkweed 3 is now up on Karen’s blog (just scroll down an entry or two).  You can expect to see more artwork available on her blog in the near future.

More information from Karen if you would like to help by buying or donating artwork:

Hands, Hearts & Paws is an all-breed animal rescue in Omaha, NE. Often they accept the dogs that no other rescue will take, usually because of expensive medical needs. Recently they had a surgical bill of $1000 for a dog that had a prong collar embedded in his neck and a chunk of wood puncturing his trachea. Now they have a dog that has tested positive for heartworms and a dog that needs surgery for a luxating patella. Both of those dogs’ treatments will run hundreds of dollars each. I volunteer with this rescue, because I truly believe that they put the needs of the dogs ahead of all politics and financial concerns.

I am asking for your help to raise funds for these medical bills. I will be selling Artist Trading Cards for $20 each, until I run out of cards to sell. The rescue has several events scheduled for the coming months, and I will be selling the artwork at these events, plus selling them online through my blog and Facebook.

If you are an artist, please consider donating an ATC to the cause. If you are a patron, please consider purchasing a small artwork to support the rescue and enhance your own art collection.

I love milkweed as a subject for artwork because of its architectural shape in leaves, blooms, pods, and seeds.  milkweed 3 is watercolor paper mounted to cardstock and includes watercolor, ink, acrylic paint, and a print from a hand-cut lino block.