Workshop with Radha Chandrashekaran + The Pulse!

Last Saturday I attended a fun and fascinating workshop given by printmaker and mixed media artist Radha Chandrashekaran.  She taught three separate techniques: acrylic gel image transfers, kalamkari fabric painting, and takuhon stone rubbing.

Kalamkari is the ancient art of decorating cloth using a kalam (pen) to draw patterns; the tradition dates back to at least 3,000 B.C.E.  Above, Radha demonstrates how to make the kalam by winding woolen cloth around a bamboo stick, then wrapping the cloth in yarn or thread.

A piece of kalamkari- decorated cloth from India.

Radha demonstrates drawing with the kalam.  The wool reservoir holds enough ink to make a long line without "re-dipping" the pen.

Participants get to try it out...

and see what happens...

 

Here Radha explains takuhon, a traditional stone rubbing technique invented in China about 1900 years ago.  Rice paper is sprayed with water and placed over the surface to be printed,

then rubbed with a seed-filled cloth dipped in ink.

Workshop participant Kathleen Piercefield working on one of her pieces.


















This was so much fun that I got quite involved, and didn't take too many photos from this point on.  It's not that easy to participate in a workshop and photograph it at the same time!

A couple of the rubbings I did using Radha's laser-cut wood blocks.

This is a piece Radha was using to demonstrate gel medium transfers.  Please visit her website and take a look at her gorgeous work.



BA-BOOM, BA-BOOM...
No, it's not the sound of fireworks (good guess, though).  Nope!  Guess again...

It's the sound of a PULSE!   More precisely, the 5th edition of The Pulse -- The State of the Art -- "a survey in words and pictures of the online artist community [masterminded by Seth Apter of The Altered Page]. The Pulse is a collaborative project that aims to introduce you to new artists, help you get to know familiar faces even more, and allow you access into the creative hearts and minds of a very talented crew of individuals."  What could be cooler than that?  Get on over there and check it out!