Screen Printing Text

 I had this piece hanging around for quite a while before I decided it needed to be screen printed before I could do the block printing.  I felt like I needed to do what I could to balance out the color range (to minimize that pink) and make it all more subtle. I decided printing text in yellow would be a good start, so I pulled some favorite text screens and got busy. 

 I especially like using Thermofax screens adapted from the handwriting of my maternal and paternal grandmothers.  This makes it meaningful to me.  I enjoy the look of text written in Arabic, Japanese, Chinese, Tibetan, and Hebrew.  Several years ago, I made a bunch of screens in various scripts - a love poem.  I found it online - a website that converted text to any written language.

 Here is the whole thing before I did the block printing.

I had to do some backtracking into my photo archives to find these images.  I took these pictures in March and April - when I was working on this piece, but I never edited them for the blog - so I had to do that this morning.  I organize my pictures by month and year.  My memory is very chronological - so this organization method works well for me.  What I found especially interesting as I looked through the archives - is this is one of the last pieces I worked on before spring and summer demands overtook my studio work.   I remember how difficult it was for me to let go of the creative routine at that time - because we were going traveling and hiking, and having family time!  I was actually sort of resentful about it (well, not sort of resentful - I was actually really struggling emotionally because that creative outlet keeps me balanced)!  Now, 6 months later, I find myself on the other side - struggling to find my creative Mo Jo again and grieving the loss of the summer outdoor activities.  The studio is NOT calling my name - I can't seem to find that desire - at least not right now.  My inner voice just keeps saying, "what's the point?"  I know I need to just show up and get to work.  And I will go do it, but right now - I am just going through the motions.