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Print(shop) of the Week – YeeHaw Industries

The now defunct YeeHaw Industries was one of my all time favorite print studios. This duo of printers in Knoxville, Tennessee made amazing prints and posters, working entirely by hand using either hand carved blocks or hand set type. They created a wide range of work, from delightful posters honoring the greats of country music, to their stationery line, to a print (my personal favorite, which hangs over my press) which is best described as “A Printer’s Inside Joke.”

YeeHaw Press produced amazing work for 16 years. More than that, they were ambassadors to the world of printing, sharing detailed information about their processes, and opening up their studio for tours on a regular basis.

While the YeeHaw print shop is now closed, you can browse through their sold work on Etsy to get a sense of the range of work they once made.

Print of the Week – Etching by Tara Donovan

This print astounds me. Tara Donovan’s softly patterned etching was created using a ferric chloride solution (an etching corrosive), combined with liquid bubble soap. According to Greg Kucera gallery, which represents Donovan:

“[she] used a straw to blow air into this mixture, making different size bubbles that she carefully picked up with a plastic spoon and laid on the aquatinted plates. The bubbles were left on the plates until they popped or dissolved, allowing the ferric chloride to etch the surface of the plate.When Tara completed the process of applying bubbles to each plate, the acid residue and rosin were cleaned off the plate and then printed. The variety of dark to light bubble images was achieved by controlling the saturation of liquid in each bubble.”

Donovan’s process blows my mind, and I find the imagery to be very appealing as well. Learn more about her work at Pace Prints, or Greg Kucera Gallery.

Print It Yourself – My favorite DIY printing books

The best DIY printmaking books - Cotton & Flax

I meet so many creative people, both in person at sales and events, and online on Etsy and Pinterest. Lots of people ask me about how I learned to print on fabric, and the truth is, I’m almost entirely self-taught! I learned traditional printmaking techniques (relief printing, intaglio, lithography, etc.) in college, but I didn’t learn to print onto fabric until after graduation.

Learn to print on fabric

I learned fabric printing, both silkscreen printing and relief printing with hand carved blocks, by reading lots of books and by experimenting. The best way to learn to print on textiles is by trying it out for yourself, and you don’t need a fancy studio to get started. These books will help you learn the basics, and guide you through some basic and intermediate project that you can give as gifts, or keep to decorate your home.

Learn to print on fabric - Cotton & Flax

These books are invaluable parts of my library, and I return to them often. Some of them focus completely on printing on fabric, but a few are great introductions to printmaking in general, and cover the basics of printing on fabric as well.

Print Liberation / Mastering the Art of Fabric Printing and Design / Dyeing and Screen-Printing on Textiles / Little Owl’s Little Prints / Lotta Prints / Printing By Hand / The Printmaking Bible / A Field Guide to Fabric Design

Yellow Owl's Little Prints - Learn to print with kids

This book from Christine Schmidt of Yellow Owl Workshop is a great way to introduce young ones to printing – the projects included in her book are absolutely adorable, and will keep you entertained all afternoon.

Made By Hand - Lena Corwin

DIY textile printing

Lena Cowin’s new book Made By Hand also has some fun printing projects. I didn’t include it in the roundup because it’s not strictly about printing or textile design, but it’s worth picking up!

Do you know of a textile printing book that I shouldn’t miss? Let me know on Twitter or Instagram!

Want to learn more about printmaking? Check out my screenprinting class for CreativeLive, and learn to print your own designs!

Spring at Cotton & Flax

Cotton & Flax - home decor shop in San Diego

We’re making plans for Spring at our retail shop in San Diego! Lots of fun creative workshops coming up in January and February, including our popular block printing on fabric class. If you can’t make it to class, don’t worry — we offer an online screenprinting class too!

Lots of new products have arrived this month, so there’s lots to discover when you come. You’ll find new decor pieces from Fruitsuper, beautiful minimalist ceramics from Clay + Craft, and there’s tons of cutting boards from San Diego woodworkers Aroara.

Cotton & Flax shop in San Diego

Hope to see you at 3180 Adams Avenue soon! We’re open Wed-Sat from 12 – 5pm, or email us to set up a personal appointment.

 

Crafter’s Box Pop-Up

DIY Block printed table runner

In case you missed out on my online block printing class when it was available through The Crafter’s Box, it’s available today only through their official pop-up shop! Visit the Crafter’s Box pop-up shop to get exclusive access to my workshop. You’ll receive everything you need to create your own block printed table runner like the one above, and the materials are high-quality, so you’ll be able to reuse the tools for future projects.

Act quickly, because the pop-up shop is one day only! If you’ve created a block printed project after taking an online workshop with me, tag me on Instagram – I’d love to see what you’ve made!