Playing around with paintstiks

I've wanted to try this technique ever since I saw it on Quilting Arts, a show hosted by Pokey Bolton that airs on my local PBS station. When I learned that Dana had Shiva Paintstiks, I was excited and ready to try this technique.

Before I discuss this technique, I want to add a few words. I'm not sure if my faithful readers can tell, but I'm not putting out a lot of "quality" art these days. I am in a slump. Some artists say their "muse" has left. I'm not sure I have a "muse." After all, I come from the science side of the university campus, and a "muse" is hard to quantify. However, I DO know when I'm in a slump.

Now don't be fooled. Every artist gets in one sometime in their life. If they say they don't, they are either not true artists who produce art on a daily basis, or they are putting on a good face for their patrons. So when I get in a slump, I do one of two things. I either organize or make backgrounds (or other pieces) to be used in later projects. Well, it's hard to organize when you have spent the last several months doing so and everything is in place and you know where it is. Therefore, I'm making "things" that I can use later or in various art projects. Having said all that, let me show you the technique I got so excited about.

I began by placing a strip of my hand-dyed fabric over a rubber stamp, then, after removing the "scum" from the top of the Paintstik, I ran it over the material.

Here is the stamp Dana left that I used for the technique.

Next, I tried using black. I didn't get good coverage with the black, but I didn't press as hard, since I felt I used a "heavy hand" when working with the brown paint.

My next experiment involved a texture plate and a sheet of hand-dyed material that I had already backed with Wonder-Under.

The texture plates didn't work well. This was possibly because they were not as deep as the rubber stamp, or possibly because the material had a backing. Since Paintstiks are very expensive, and I felt like I was wasting them, I stopped the experiment. I need to learn how to do this technique without wasting product before I proceed. However, it was a fun experiment, and like everything else I do, I learned a lot.

Now I must wait 24 hours, then, using a pressing cloth (actually my craft sheet), I will iron the Paintstik material to set it.