About this item
With 20 clever step-by-step projects and a stunning gallery of inspirational stencil designs from leading artists, Playing With Stencils will leave you ready to stencil just about anything. You will design floor tiles stencils inspired by German paper-cutting, you will stencil furniture, shower curtains, a floor cloth, planters, a wall canvas, wallpaper, and even a cake. You will make paper dolls with clothing, stencil beautiful “lace” stationery, stencil custom yardage to use for simple upholstery projects or pillows, make a concert poster, and even stencil a faux rag rug!Stencil art has been around for years, often used for home decorating and for simple crafts, but has gained current interest and cache due it's guerilla use as street art (often making a political statement), and has become a worldwide subculture.
About the Author
For the past ten years I have used traditional and nontraditional print-making methods--including hand cut stencils and a Japanese screen printing toy called a Gocco printer--as a starting point for original mixed media pieces. I use enamels, acrylics, gouache, and inks, and print my original drawings on antique papers (preferring handwritten love letters, envelopes, journal pages, sheet music and maps), on fabrics and on clayboard panels. I often use the prints on paper and fabric as collage elements to form larger pieces.I am most satisfied when I can make a tangible or visceral connection between the materials used and the image rendered. My work is deeply layered, often both literally and figuratively. My imagery--nostalgic and wistful--is largely biographical and reflective of my pensive nature.I am as inspired in my art by childhood memories of growing up on a Midwestern farm as I am the urban community in which I now live. I am inspired by bicycles, street art, gardening, random found objects, pattern and color, collective endeavors that challenge hierarchy, acts of compassion, downright silliness, and things with wings.
