This year, Tania has changed-up Gel Print January Challenge on Instagram. I’m just sharing some of my prints here … if you want to see them all, you can hop on over to my Instagram Account SmilynStef.
She has given it a Wabi Sabi theme with prompts every other day. The definition I liked for Wabi Sabi is traditional Japanese aesthetic philosophy centered on finding beauty in imperfection, impermanence, and incompleteness, appreciating the simple, modest, and natural, often seen in rustic objects, weathered surfaces, and the quiet elegance of things that show age, like cracks in pottery or frayed textiles.
Here are how I interpreted the first three prompts.
The first prompt was tone. I did tone-on-tone blues with some metallic bronze added to bring beauty to the imperfection. I love how the bits of navy showed up in this one.
This one was a roll-off print with the metallic paint … love that the beauty of the metal is front and center. I used crumpled tissue paper to get the texture in the prints.
The second prompt was Form. I used a Joggles Stencil by Elizabeth St. Hilaire called Natural Form for my prints. I also used a floral plate that I believe was intended for clay. I love how those two forms merged in this print.
For this one the forms stencil is front and center … I love the combination of colors on this one.
And the third prompt was Memory. When I was in high school, for my birthday gift, my step-dad painted my bedroom a soft rosy pink with darker pink trim. I used navy for my curtains and had a floral bedspread my Gran made with both colors. I loved it … but my sister who had to live in it for years after called it the Pepto Bismal room. These prints were for her.
The first one I used a combination of different foamies circle stamps with the two shades of pink paint. I went in with the some gold shimmer spray lines that I made by unscrewing the bottle and dragging the sprayer tube across the plate.
For the next one, I went back to crumpled tissue paper with the two shades of pint & metallic lines. I love how it has a more aged look.
I really appreciate the different prompts this year. It made me be more introspective rather than searching for a specific item or technique to print with.