Gelatin Printing Party

A few weeks ago we had a family gelatin printing party at Mom's (Ann's) house. Holly (my brother's wife) and Tyler joined us in the fun! 

Tyler and Mom (Ann)

Holly, me, & Tyler

We got the recipe for gelatin plates from unflavored gelatin powder years ago from the QuiltArt email chat group. Basically it's like making really thick Jell-O without the color and flavoring (2 rounded tablespoons gelatin to 1 cup of water) and then pouring it into a tray to set (a tray not used for food, of course).

The QuiltArt member had posted the recipe from the book Making Monotypes Using a Gelatin Plate: Printmaking without a Press by Nancy Marculewicz. I just invested in a copy of the book which is out-of-print. It is fetching a generous price tag from about $40 to $90 for used copies. It's a fabulous book. I'm going to have to do more gelatin printing because the book has so many inspiring art prints in it and some printing techniques that I haven't tried.

Inked Gelatin Printing Plate with Smoke Bush Flower Branches

Hand Dyed Cotton Printed with Smoke Bush Flower Branches

The gelatin plates make a wonderful printing plate that captures the minute detail of whatever flat, textured items you put on them such as the leaves and lace we used at our printing party. I was a bit haphazard about how I went about printing on fabric. I felt out of practice and giddy to be printing on fabric again.

Mom's (Ann's) maple leaf prints on embroidered silk fabric

It was fun to see the variation in what we made. I experimented with printing using a crocheted table runner, some smoke bush flower branches, and other leaves. Mom mostly experimented with leaves on beautiful embroidered silk fabrics. Holly reinvigorated a crocheted doily by giving it some brighter colors. Tyler mostly had fun playing with the paint rather than actually making lots of prints. 

Holly with crocheted doily

Gelatin printing with crocheted lace

We did discover that the plate will start to melt if it's too hot outside. Tyler turned his first plate into a mushy pile. Luckily for him I had made extra gelatin plates so it didn't stop our paint playtime before we were ready to stop. 

Happy making stuff!