a mental health day

My friend Rachel came over this morning for a much-needed play day. We spent quite a bit of time with scanner, computer, scissors, and copy machine, till we finally were able to translate a copyright free engraved image into a high-contrast image that would make a good thermofax screen. Success! Rachel screened her image again and again on fabric till she got some good results; it takes just the 'right' touch to get a good image. Too much pressure or paint and it smears; too little and the image is uneven. It takes some practice because everybody's hand is different, you never do it the same way twice, and the results are unpredictable. To me, that's the best part, of course. While Rachel screened away, I did my own screening on one stained shirt and gelatin printed on another. Now I can wear them without embarrassment. I think. We broke for lunch and decided we were too tired to go back to printing, so we sat and discussed our impressions of the Quilt National '03 traveling exhibits we had each seen. She saw one part in Pennsylvania a couple of weeks ago and I saw one part in Massachusetts last weekend. Dinner tonight was tuna fish salad. Who has the energy to cook after a day of printing? We're looking forward to another play day in a couple of weeks with our crit group. We'll be gathering to work with thickened dyes and discharge paste and we'll do our usual sharing of works-in-process or finished pieces, picking each others' creative brains, and making a general ruckus. Today was a different kind of play day.