Amate Bark Print Textures

One of my favorite textural surfaces I create from Kozo Bark that is pounded into paper using the amate bark process.  When coated with inkAID digital grounds, it makes an incredibly beautiful textural print.
In the next couple weeks I will be creating and finishing a 2 foot by 4 foot piece using my amate bark paper that is in the works.

For this process the bark is soaked in water and boiled, separated into fibers that are woven together and pounded with a flat rock to create the surface.  Once the surface dries, the surface is coated with inkAID Clear Matte precoat and printed on my Epson 4800.  When pounding the paper it has to be the correct thickness to fit through the printer.

Textures on Digital Overprinted Skin

The textures for this digital overprint on a skin came from both the skin that had elements added when it was created and the digital image printed on the skin.  This skin is constructed with pieces of leaves and thread that are imbedded in the gel medium of the skin.  Clear Matte Precoat from inkAID is used for the precoat before printing.

Skin base

Digitally printed skin

Details of the skin print- some of the texture is from the texture of the printed image.  The rest of the texture is from the leaves and thread.

Texture with Digital Prints on Beverage Cans

One of my favorite elements to work with are pieces of beverage cans that have been digitally printed.
The surface is beautiful when printed and after cutting the surface and weaving pieces together it has a inviting textural look.  Handling the work has the feeling of chain mail to me.  This piece is small at 29" x 14".

The yarn in the picture is the beginning of the bottom layer.  This layer will be crocheted with the depicted dyed silk yarn.  Yummy stuff this yarn, it's from RedFish DyeWorks.  These girls are great and have beautiful Yarns and fiber.  I met them at the Handweavers Guild of America in Albuquerque this July.  Once this piece is finished, there will be more places in my work to use their fiber. Even thinking of adding some of the silk yarn to the encaustic layers as I experiment with that medium.  See my Encaustic and Digitals post on my KathyAnne Art Blog.

Forest Surfaces 17, 29" x 14"

Digital prints of beverage cans, digital prints on metal mesh,

waxed linen, crocheted fine silk yarn 

Net Overlay Texture

Building a textural surface in layers is one of my favorite ways to create.  This image is digitally printed on lutradur that has been heat distressed slightly.  The heat changes the edges and puckers the surface. On the top, a piece of polyester netting has also been heat distressed and beads and crochet with various threads and thin yarns are added to the netting.  The surfaces are connected with metalic thread.

Net surface.

Textural Surfaces Finished

The finish of a textural piece show here is created with crocheted hemp, brass wire and twigs assembled to a digital print on finely woven mesh mounted on hardware cloth. The composition of this piece changed from earlier in the week with a base of printed wire mesh added and some other planned elements not used.