Say Cheese

Maybe this should be called the Light Bulb Lesson instead of "Cheese Wiz". I saw what sure looked like light bulbs go on over students' heads this morning during a triple-duty creativity warm-up / fabric printing session / teaching moment. I love when that happens.

The lesson involves using American cheese singles as a small-scale alternative to gelatin plates for monoprinting.

Cutting the slices and rearranging the parts gives a hands-on, cause-and-effect understanding of how wraparound repeats are made.

Students photographed elements during the process. Those images can be used in digital fabric designs.

The very cool sample fabrics they printed were photographed to include in the design libraries students have been building this week.

And they'll be able to use the printed fabric in projects as well.

That was just the first half hour or so of class.

We spent the morning working on pattern repeat concepts. Just before lunch, we visited the other studio, where Connie Westbrook's students are making rag rug tote bags with inkle-woven handles.

Later in the afternoon, Connie's class came to visit our studio. My students showed them the source materials they've been using for inspiration and designs they've developed from those sources.

More thermofax screens were burned after class during evening studio play time. By then, though, I completely forgot about taking pictures. Carolyn Foss from Sievers posted some photos she took on the Sievers blog, but I have to remember tomorrow to take photos of some of the prints students made from their screens.

More show and tell tomorrow morning as we wrap up the class.