Lots of little things going on this week.
FIRST – FOLLOW-UP LEARNING ABOUT STENCILS
I had a number of interesting and helpful responses to my discussion last week about cutting plastic stencils. Thank you readers who sent ideas.
Material: The most preferred material seems to be mylar. (I have learned Mylar is a brand name of material made by DuPont. The generic name is polyester film.) There are lots of options on Amazon; search “Mylar sheets.”
You can also look for brand name Duralar film, which I found on Jerry’s Artarama in a roll 20” x 25ft for about $25. It’s .005” thick.
(Thickness notes: A normal bumper sticker that you would buy to put on your car is .002” - .003” thick. So this film would be just a little thicker than that. You don’t want anything thicker than .005”. Too hard to cut.)
Cutter: When I cut my big tree stencil, I used a box cutter like this:
It’s a great tool. Nice heavy handle to lean into. The razor blades that you insert just break off when you need to change to a new blade for sharpness. (Some people just push the blade onto a table surface till it breaks off. This terrifies me. I snap off the blade with pliers.)
And now some wondering: I am still in the middle of my project of printing panels with the tree limb images. I like the images a lot, but I admit I am now quite flummoxed.
The photo above is a tree limb panel and some accompanying fabric I laid out on my worktable to try out some combinations. (This whole unit of fabrics is abut 36” x 36”.) I can see possibilities for an attractive composition.
But—what is this about? Why does this interest me? To be wondering this at this stage of the game is backwards for me. I almost always start with a plan, then create the fabrics to fulfill that plan. Here, I have created panels I think are interesting and going backwards to find a compelling purpose. This is much harder!
I think I need to go back to my original interest – these limbs being part of the complex pattern of a single tree. Now I have reproduced them. But what am I trying to communicate?
More about communication. . . I have been thinking and wondering more about communication in another context this week.
I was thrilled to join in the “No Kings” protests on the streets of DeLand Saturday morning. My little ol’ town had about 1500 people communicating a wide range of ideas in their protests. Some signs were about science. Some signs were about fascism. Some signs were about climate change. Some about vaccines and health. Some were hopeful – expressing a longing for democracy that seems to be slipping away. Many expressed love for America.
And, yes, some were angry. A few signs read F---K Trump. I get it. People are angry.
But, I noticed that on the opposing team, the few large, loud pickup trucks that moved back and forth waving Trump signs, listening to what they yelled, there was only a single message: obstinate anger. The words they yelled were only ugly and angry. It seemed to me they just didn’t have much else to say. There was no offer of a compelling counter-vision of what good or important things they stand for. They just angrily defended their guy.
I’m still processing what all this means. But, at first thought, it seems to me that truth is often complicated, rich and varied. Communicating worthy ideas will not be simple or formulaic.
In art as in life.
. . . .
For all the artmakers: Happy creating
For all the art lovers: Happy appreciating
Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi
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