Gelli "PLAY?" (the end)

So glad you were able to join me for three previous days of play with my Gelli.  I decided to try something a bit different for Day 4.

After cleaning the plate a bit the day before, I decided to use some of the pearl glaze for my first layer.

I also brought out some yellow and crimson acrylic paint, but I'm getting a bit ahead of myself.

I've always said I was brayer challenged, and this confirms it.  I even bought this new brayer a year ago, but it doesn't work any better than the first one I bought.  You can see that even after lots of rolling the glaze back and fourth, fourth and back, I still can't make it even.  The evidence is on the brayer itself, seen on the right side of the photo.

So I gave up and made some squiggle marks on the plate using a soft tool I had been given years ago.  Don't confuse these marks with Squiggles, who is not allowed in the basement, but is sleeping at my feet in the office as I type this post.

The crimson came out OK, after all, I had used it the day before.  But the yellow was too dry to use. It made sense since I've had that particular tube since the late 1980s.  So, I went with the newer yellow, instead.

About 30 minutes later, this was all I had to show for this very disappointing technique I thought would produce some favorable results.  Not to worry, though.  You'll see these either in my Journal 52 or 7 Continents spreads.  It hasn't been a waste of time, at least.

The next thing I did was brayer yellow on the Gelli and pulled one print.  Then, before the yellow was totally gone, added some maroon and more pearl glaze to the Gelli.

When I was as satisfied as I could be with the coverage, I laid down this gifted piece of wood in the middle of the plate.

I removed the wooden piece

and was basically satisfied with what I saw.  I apologize for the glare, but I'm in a basement and the light is not the best.

After aligning the plate with the yellow pull as best I could, I pulled this print.  I was over the moon with happiness, because I knew I could work with this!  It was wonderful, and reminded me of a wood cut.

One decent print and a bunch of rejects meant I was finished.  Done.  Through.  Ready to quit.

It was now time to clean and put everything away.  Contrary to the Gelli web site, water doesn't remove everything, and neither do wipes.  The Gelli site must not be as anal precise as I am.  After all, this plate cost an arm and a leg (exactly 2/3) of my yearly art budget, so I want to make sure I put it away clean.

I had purchased the baby oil specifically for cleaning the plate, so that's what I did.  You might be able to see how much more residual paint I got off the plate with the baby oil.

Next it was time to put everything away, sorting items that would return to the craft room on the main floor of the house and the ones that would stay in the basement.  All this paper, as well as the plastic doily would go upstairs.  The paper on the bottom is 12 X 12 inch scrapbook paper that is cardstock weight.  Since it's white, I  can turn it into anything I want to make.  The paper above it is old printer paper that has been around since daisy wheel and dot matrix printers were in vogue.  It's also white, so I'll be doing a few things with it, too.  But for now, I'll be concentrating on cleaning this basement studio, since this is where I've brought most of the items Sally gave my after I cleaned her garage.

In yesterday's post I mentioned there was a big difference in baby wipes and wet wipes.  I decided to show them side by side, but you may not be able to see the difference even though they look so much different through my camera's lens.

The wet wipes on the left have texture and are thin.  I could even see the green mat through the wet wipe.  The baby wipes on the right are much thicker, have no raised texture, and feel like cloth.  I have other wipes that I used to get free at the grocery store (seems they stopped having them at the front of the store lately) that feel like they have polyester in them.

Although wipes all work the same, the way you treat them when you recycle them is important.  For example, you can't iron wet wipes and the ones that feel like polyester melt under your iron.  Baby wipes can be ironed.

Reasons I don't like the Gelli:

1.  You have to be too careful with it.  It costs way too much and it scares me.

2.  It's hard to clean, regardless what other sites believe.

3.  My brayer doesn't work well with it.

4.  It's squishy.  Most sites tell you that's a plus, but I find it hard to pull prints from it.

I'll be back at some point next week with two alternatives to the Gelli that don't scare me.  One is an alternative I have used forever to make monoprints, and one Susi told me about in yesterday's comments about how she makes prints.

For now, thanks for visiting, and thanks for looking.  In between taking care of Sally who just had emergency surgery to have a new pacemaker installed, I'll be making quick art. I appreciate your comments, even when I'm slow in responding.