The screen prints pictured here are tests to see how the paper I use in my paper cutting work will take to the ink. I wanted to see how much this type of paper would warp, and what it will be like to cut with the ink on its surface. It has actually held up pretty well.

I cut two of the same stencils using a compass cutter and didn’t worry too much about a design. This is four layers of ink using the two stencils. I used the same colours as with the previous batch of prints.

The next step is to see what this paper is like to cut.

This week I’ve been doing screen printing during my time at The Leeway, and OMG (!!!) do I love the pieces I produced. My intention was to rework some initial prints I did about a month ago which I wasn’t happy with. I cut a few simple stencils at home using craft paper and decided to print multiple layers over the same paper and see where things would end up.

I tried screen printing for the first time about a month ago, and only now do I realize I didn’t share any of that work on my blog (but I did post it to Instagram). I was given a lesson in screen printing stencils by Vanessa Hall-Patch, the Shop Technologies Coordinator at The Leeway studio. She is an expert at printing processes and I feel lucky to have access to her advice and knowledge as I mess about.

The first set of prints above ended up being about six layers of ink using three different stencils. I made my decisions about colour and composition on the fly, and used remains of ink Vanessa brought for me from the print making studio downstairs. It was enjoyable to have access to so much colour!

The second batch of prints has five layers of ink and was done with three stencils (two are identical because I cut multiples at the same time). I worked in the same way as the first batch of prints, making things up as I went and stuck with the same colour scheme because I liked it. This series of prints is my favourite of the two.

My original intention was to rework these prints with more colour and texture, and eventually transform the paper into a three dimensional object. Now I like them as they are, and I’m not sure if I will go ahead with my plan.

Earlier this week I mentioned recently spending time in the studio experimenting with more paper crafting techniques. I shared the iris fold piece in a previous blog post, and now here is a modular origami sculpture I started on the same day. I think working with the colourful patterned paper, with dots on one side and stripes on the other, was half the fun.

This project is inspired by a tutorial I’ve had booked marked on Pinterest for months -> DIY Origami Art by Coco Sato for Design*Sponge Her version is more elegant than mine, but I think the crazy colours and textures make it more interesting.

Last week in the studio I made time to finally try a few of the paper folding tutorials I’ve had booked marked for ages. The purpose is to expand my repertoire of paper manipulation techniques and increase my skills.

The project I’m sharing here is called Iris folding and I followed this tutorial on Creating Colourful Book Covers to do it. The design looks complex but it is actually simple. I used twenty-two pieces of origami paper, with twenty-one of them cut in half to create the layers.

The final photo here is of the back, and you can see what I mean about layers. The look of this pattern reminds me strongly of a quilt design, but I always feel textile and paper work is similar.