Sunday, February 27, 2011

Freeform Screen Printing Student Spotlight: Linda Robertus

Linda Robertus was a student of mine in Freeform Screenprinting on-line at QuiltUniversity.com. One of the things I love most about on-line teaching is interacting with the international students. The internet has made the world a much smaller place in many wonderful ways. Linda is from the Netherlands but is is living in Australia. She has taken what she learned in class and worked to truly master the techniques. It brings me joy to see the lovely work she produces.


Screen printing with stencils is a truly simple technique that yields such lovely results. With a little patience and precision she has made this technique her own and brought her own unique voice to the process. I love the balance of color and the echoed forms in this piece. The implied and impending motion as well as the perfect stillness of the gymnasts is beautiful. This quilt is featured in the student gallery at Quilt University.


In this piece Linda has created a freezer paper stencil to use with a silk screen. I'd say she's mastered the technique. I love the flow of this composition as your eye is drawn up and to the left, taking a detour here and there to follow the lines of the legs or of the gymnast's horse. She's blogged about this one here.




Linda also has a great time drawing the details of the world around her. She then emails a jpg of her drawing to me to be made into a thermofax screen for screen printing. 


You really do need to head over to her blog. She has posted lots of pictures of her projects that you will enjoy seeing. Leave a comment and tell her I said hello!

http://q-linda.blogspot.com/




















This is a thermofax screen print made from a drawing of her screened porch door. The woman has talent and is not afraid to use it. Actually - what I should say - is that she is not afraid to spend the time it takes to hone her craft to the level of excellence she has achieved. We could all learn from her in that regard.






The next session of Freeform Screenprinting at QuiltUniversity.com begins March 18th. There are four lessons and I will be available for six weeks to answer questions in the class forum. The cost is $37. The best part?  When you take a class on-line nobody chastises you for being late, or for showing up in your pajamas. I'd love to meet you there!