Cari Shields

Warrenville, Illinois, USA

Sunflower Variations – Playing with a Theme

Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to attend a few classes that gave me access to new materials and a few different ways to make art.

I took a block printing class and learned about using Chine Collé to add color using tissue paper in the process of printing. See definition below.

Chine Collé is a technique that allows you to add colour to your prints without making another block. Using Chine Collé you are able to print on much finer, more delicate papers which are bonded onto a more sturdy paper during the printing process. Japanese papers are often used but you can try tissue papers, maps, sheet music, even fabric – anything delicate enough to be printed onto. from https://handprinted.co.uk/

i also participated in a really fun collage kickstart demo class by Catherine Rains and learned a lot about handpainiting collage papers with a variety of techniques. www.catherinerains.com

In the end, I decided to try using these new techniques and challenge myself to use the image of a vase of sunflowers in different ways. Using the same image as the inspiration kept me playing and stopped me from overthinking. I look forward to other ways that I can create with this image of sunflowers.

Let’s keep playing!