Exploring Silk Screening on Polymer Clay

Creative Journey Studios is delighted to bring Karen Woods to Buford to provide an introduction to silk screening.  Perhaps this will be a completely different jumping off place for you when you wish to impart texture to the surface of your polymer clay piece.  In this 2 day workshop students will learn to create individualized graphic designs; make inexpensive light activated silk screens; and silkscreen patterns and overlays onto polymer clay to create surface designs.  These polymer patterns can then be combined to create collaged jewelry pieces, wall art, and other forms of expression.  Karen is known for her collaged vestment pins and pendants. 

I first met Karen at Synergy I in Baltimore, where she was enthusiastically talking about the use of polymer with basketry.  As a hand weaver and basket maker, she has some very interesting takes on polymer.  I know it will be a lively class and you will go home with your head spinning with the possibilities.

A lot of people wear t-shirts with pictures of their heroes on the front.  I guess I will have to make one with the following picture of Song Taizu, the founder of the Song Dynasty.

My Hero

Silly?  Yes, but it got your attention, didn't it?  I went to Wikipedia and found out that screen printing was first seen in China during the Song Dynasty.  This type of printing was adopted by other Asian countries and was advanced as a craft with the use of block printing and hand applied paints.

As silk became more readily available in Europe, screen printing became a viable method of transferring an image to surfaces.  It was used a lot in early wallpaper creation.  Many methods and substrates have come and gone, but people continue to be interested in this technique and create easier and easier ways to accomplish screenprinting.  Here's a link to a great article for further reading -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_printing.  Polymer clay seems to work really well with acrylic paint, and screen printing is a great way to add design elements to your art.