I was first introduced to the Gelli Plate by my dear friend Terry Quinn with The Queen's Ink. She was teaching a class in Gelli Plate techniques and I volunteered to help her. We played one evening in her home studio so I could get accustomed to it. Then I was invited to join a very fun group of ladies for a long weekend at Stamp Camp. We decided to pull out the Gelli Plates that Saturday and went crazy pulling all sorts of gorgeous prints right and left. There were papers strewn all over the place, one prettier than the next. I was hooked!
I was playing in my own 'studio' of sorts this past weekend and spotted my Gelli Plate, minding its own business, laying nice and clean in its nicely fitted clamshell package on my bookshelf. Not for long. I pulled that bad boy out along with a brand new ream of crisp white card stock, and the fun began. Before I knew it, I was running upstairs to find combs and various kitchen tools I could use to make more and more new marks and designs in my freshly brayered layer of acrylic paints. Here are some of the prints that I ended up with:
I really liked the way this one came out. It was a ghost pull through a stencil of small circles and captured a lot of the previously used images. I love all the little flecks of the metallic paints I used. (Can you tell I like circles??? Just sayin'!)
This one ended up being one of my favorites, and I almost chucked it. It was that last layer of the flourish stencil that really made it pop with depth and layers.
Another favorite - hence the background and header of my blog! I LOVE turquoise and really loved the crackle pattern I got. The flourish kind of pulled it together.
The background of this one that looks like a chain link fence was actually an inner piece of corrugated cardboard that someone at stamp camp was going to throw away, until the sharp eye of Ellen Vargo saw its worth on the Gelli Plate.
So here's the stack of prints I had at the end of last weekend, many of these pages are printed on both sides. That was the my original plan, make a handful of double sided prints to make into a small journal, however, I got just a tad carried away into Gelli Plate euphoria. HELP - I've fallen on my Gelli Plate and I can't get up!!!
The scene of the crime!
If you haven't tried a Gelli Plate, you don't know what fun you're missing! Its one of the most inexpensive tools in my art arsenal, and quickly becoming my favorite. The Queen's Ink in Savage, MD carries them. If you're not a local, you can always find them online at the Gelli Arts Website.
I saw a recent YouTube video about some brand new tools especially made for the Gelli Plate, The Catalyst Wedge Tools for use in wipe out mono printing. Check out the video here. I ordered mine (shocker!) and received them the other day. I've been too busy this week to give them a test run, but that will be what I reach for the next time I get to play in my studio. They are very high quality, sturdy, and a great price. They feel great in your hand, they have a nice weight to them. I was pleasantly surprised at what I got for my money. I'll be sure to post some pics of what I come up with using them.
