Monday, January 4, 2010

Prep for Textile Printing, a new hero Janet Doub Erickson

Currently I am catching up on my printmaking research in preparation for my upcoming intensive workshop on textile printing at the AS220 printshop, 3 Saturdays starting Jan 16th. I believe there is one spot left if you would like to register click here.

I happened upon Block Printing on Textiles by Janet Erickson. I was intrigued by the charming spread of drawings of printmaking supplies, but I fell in love Mrs. Erickson's boosterism of printing with your feet:



What a lovely humble way to get the job done. What I really love is her open engagement with experimental (dare I say playful) technical practice. I cherish experimentation in my practice and was surprised to find it in a how-to book.

I was intrigued so I googled Mrs. Erickson and glory be she has a Wikipedia page!
Which includes this lovely image:



Seems to me a lot of contemporary illustrators are biting her style. According to Wikipedia Life Magazine niknamed her "Jumping Janet" for her foot printing technique. And after a life of Globetrotting she's moved back to New England. Maybe she's excepting fan letters?

If you have any suggestions for further reading please pass it along.