Wet Paint

Recently I took a Gelli plate printing workshop with Monica Lee, who is a mail art pal of mine and a wonderful artist. She is an Arist in Residence at Ruth's Table  where the workshop was.
The workshop was really fun -- kinda like a paint party....thought you might like to take a look.
And, if you're local, keep an eye on the website for more classes/workshops at Ruth's Table.
I might see you there!

Check out Monica's web site The Artful ReCrafter by clicking her name above -- she does all kinds of great things and is a master at re-using and re-purposing.

Monica brought loads of stencils and papers and paints to the workshop and after a demo she just let us all run wild!
It was too much fun.

You guys all know what a Gelli plate is, right?

You don't need much to have a whole lot of fun and be able to crank out lots of painted paper. You just need a Gelli plate, brayer, acrylic paints and paper and you're good to go.
I'm not going to try to explain it all here because there is tons of information out there about Gelli printing -- YouTube videos, books on Amazon, blogs etc

Here are a couple of interesting links --

Gelli printing by my mail art pal Leslie --  click the link! She makes some terrific prints.
Robin Mead made some fun journals using gelli pages
Gelli Arts
Karen from MMSA does it too (I love her gelli prints!)
&
Linda Germain's Gelli Post


WARNING: Gelli Printing is VERY addictive and you may get hooked on it.

You can make your own plates and Karen (link above) talks about it. I am really happy with my Gelli block though....

You can print on tags, card stock, paper, deli paper, dictionary pages......anything goes....

One of the participants had a birthday the day of the workshop and Monica even brought cake. Now that's a good teacher!
Artists running wild with sugar and paint -- always a good thing!

You can use leaves for stencils and bubble-wrap and anything with texture...

Here are some of my cards and tags....I really got into using that stencil with the circles.....

I've got kind of a fall color thing going on here.....I left the workshop with a whole bunch of printed cards and tags and I can't wait to set up shop and play some more. In fact I invited myself once again to visit Leslie (link above) for a massive gelli printing session at her studio soon.

Here are a couple of books Monica had at the workshop. I don't have them but they looked good if you're looking for a how-to book. There are quite a few of them out there...

Some of my cards -- got kind of a Halloween thing going on there with the black and orange, don't you think?

More of my cards....

I swear, I am having too much fun making cards and envelopes. Addictive.

You can gelli print on book pages like this -- dictionary pages, maps, foreign language text.....

I decided to add in some gelli pages in a travel journal I am making....here's one page...

...and here's another....

I will just collage right over this, leaving a bit of gelli peeking out.....

See what I mean?
Once you start, you just can't stop. It is perfect to do on a hot day and I am sure it will be a lot of fun to do on a cold day day. Or a rainy day.
I'm having fun.
How many of you are making gelli prints?
What are your secrets?
What do you like to print on? Any books to recommend? How do you use the papers?
I have printed on book pages, tags, card stock and deli paper......I need more ideas...

And, one last word, it really isn't as messy as some of you think it is.
The hours just speed by....very relaxing....and you end up with good stuff.
Have fun.

SEND GOOD MAIL  ---  GET GOOD MAIL