Rayna Gillman Workshop

Rayna Gillman presented a two-day workshop for members of the Ozarks Piecemakers Quilt Guild in Springfield, Mo this week. The first day was spent carving stamps and creating our own fabric or improving fabric that needed help. We carved, we brayered, we talked, we made messes big and small and had a grand time.

The second day Rayna focused on a variety of methods for transferring images to fabric besides printing them directly from printers or copiers. We used transparencies, thermofax and silk screening, transferring with gel medium, clear tape and even using a cleaning product to transfer carbon-based prints. We also tried writing directly on fabric using fabric inks - most of us found that this is one of those skills that is perfected with lots of practice. We also learned that perfection is not what we needed to aim for. Rayna does a wonderful job of helping her students relax and enjoy the process of creating and to see the beauty in the imperfect organic result.

These are samples of our work over the two days. We were asked to show our favorite and least favorite of what we had produced.

I took these pictures after we were well into our first day of carving stamps and printing fabric:

Vivian started out with green and red-orange and kept going until she made another piece that reflected her recent experience with shingles. She's determined to get some art out of a difficult experience.

Sharon shows off the variety of stamping she did. I don't know how she produced the areas that look like writing but I'm going to find out!

Merrilee wears her stamped piece over her shoulder. She was too busy preparing her next piece to hold it up! She created a stamp that turned into a flower burst when stamped in different directions. Cool.

Maureen is holding a couple of the stamps she made. She had a happy accident when she spilled some gold paint on an edge of fabric and then proceeded to stamp bits of the paint all over the work - the bit of glitz livened it up nicely.

Karen is holding a piece that she chose as her "least liked" work over the two days. She was the only one who didn't like it. In person it sort of looks like a burst watermelon with seeds scattered. Other than this piece, Karen tried all the techniques on one piece of fabric using the same paints. That piece turned out exceptionally well.

If you have a chance to take any class with Rayna Gillman, do it! Rayna presented a program for our guild that was a delight - she is funny, does beautiful work, and doesn't take herself too seriously. That's an unbeatable combination. She is an excellent teacher and generously shared her extensive knowlege of surface design with her students.