Exploring Cyanotypes with Kecia Deveney

Last week I took a 2-day class on using cyanotype fabric sheets. I dabbled in the medium last summer and really enjoyed experimenting with it. When I really embrace a process, I like to research it more to get a good idea of the possibilities. I had a great time watching videos and reading up on cyanotype. 

 

Cyanotype is a photographic printing process dating back to 1842. Once the medium is applied to fabric or paper (or you can order pretreated sheets), It is then placed in the sun and a chemical process occurs between the UV rays and the synthetic treatment. 

 

So many fun things can be used to create an image, such as botanicals, negatives, flat objects ( or slightly dimensional), and more. One of the things that caught my eye was to try stencils. So of course, I got very excited about experimenting with those. 

 

On a pretreated cyanotype fabric sheet, I placed a face stencil by Pam Carriker, a botanical image by Flora Bowley, and a flower by Traci Bautista. I laid it out in a way to create a scene that I knew I would later develop with embroidery floss. On the second sheet of pre-treated fabric, I laid out the four sacred hearts stencil by Laurie Mika. It was my intention to cut one of those out and add It as a separate layer to the final piece. 

After about 15 minutes, in good sunlight, your piece will be developed and ready for a rinse in bleach water. It’s the bleach water that really heightens the blue colors. From there you rinse well in clean water and dry. 

 

Once my fabric was dry, I ironed it and in my mind began developing ideas. I was working with some limitations with the main color being all blue, so I decided to make a limited palette of blue, white, and rust colors. I also knew it would become a wall hanging. I set about hand stitching on it and layering it with vintage fabrics.

Once I finished the piece, I decided to add a crystal inside the chrysalis for a double meaning. I am calling the piece, “Pure Energy”. 

Stencils Used: 

Traci Bautista’s - Deconstructed Zinnia Mask & Stencil (S290)

Pam Carriker’s  - Create Face (S646)

Laurie Mika’s - Four Sacred Hearts (L782)

Flora Bowley’s - Chrysalis (L390)

Three Dynamic Artists Have New Stencils for You!

Andrew Borloz, Cecilia Swatton, and Andrea Matus deMeng each have new stencils for your stenciling pleasure!

Two New Minis from Andrea Matus deMeng

The Many Faces of Andrea Matus deMeng is a collection of expressive portraits taken right out of the pages of Andrea’s sketchbook. These stencils provide opportunities to create richly expressive mixed media portraits of your own.

Pretty as a Peacock Mini, M305

The Pretty as a Peacock Mini Stencil is beautiful but there is so much more to her. Her strong and confident gaze says she is ready for whatever life throws at her.

Eve, A Modern Woman Mini, M294

Eve has the cosmopolitan look of the big city. She is on top of the world.

Looking Up Through Trees Small Stencil by Cecilia Swatton

Looking Up Through Trees, S793

"Did you ever stand in a park or forest and look up through trees? Did you have a "John Muir moment," when the glory of creation lifted you with joy?" asks Cecilia Swatton. “I designed this 6" x 6" stencil Looking Up Through Trees from a drawing I did in celebration of this view.” You can use the entire design, or just a part of it, in your mixed-media art. You can also pair it with the 9" x 12" Looking Up Through Trees stencil.

Small and Large Looking Up Through Trees Stencil Art

Cecilia says, "One way to look at this image is to see a metaphor for humanity as it's meant to be: Everyone rising from his or her roots, growing upward to stretch out branches that intertwine, each of us unique -- yet all of us connected."

New Patterns from Andrew Borloz 

Arrows within Rounds, S797

Andrew writes: "I love arrows and I love rounds/circles. So I figured why not combine them into a stencil. I also like to make them look busy so I made them look like they're going in different directions: up and down or left and right depending on how you place them. I inserted the dots between them for visual balance and to slow down the visual traffic."

Pseudo Letters, S798

Andrew mimicked letters without making them too obvious in this stencil design.

Andrew writes, "As I was drawing various shapes, I inserted cross lines to make them look like letterforms. Some of the shapes look like letters such as Q, Y, U, T, A, E to name a few. They were put together to form a collage that made them look less than letterforms, and still retain some of their essences.

Retro Grid, S799

Andrew saw Japanese designs that incorporated dashes in the patterns, and also a couple of retro patterns that used orbit circles. He combined them and came up with this new pattern stencil. "It looks retro to me," he writes. "The grid is not obvious, but it is subtly hinted by the placement of the dashed lines and oval circles."

Triangles & Diamonds Pattern, S790

This stencil is almost like an optical illusion where it is not easy to see the difference between the triangles and diamonds. That's what Andrew likes about it.

Andrew says, "At first, it may look like only one pattern. But there are actually two different patterns, and there's an "invisible" line dividing them. The triangular part has some of the triangles looking like funnels, and the diamonds seem to mimic the chain link fence."

You can purchase all of the latest, greatest, artist-designed, stencilicious stencils HERE.