We first met Laura Fesser in March of 2022 when she demonstrated how she works with polymer clay. Laura, in fact, works in many different mediums, both 2D and 3D, but always returns to painting which is her first love.
We invited Laura back to share her latest adventure in painting: Gelli print painting. Gelli plates are made from a unique plastic that contains mineral oil. You can purchase Gelli plates at Michael’s. There are even beginner kits available on Amazon and many how-to videos on YouTube. Laura recommends using acid-free paper and water-based craft paint. Gelli plates are washable with hand sanitizer or baby wipes.
Painting with Gelli plates is a process of building up layers. Your first layer is the background and each consecutive layer prints on top of the one before to build your image. It’s all about playing – don’t be afraid to make mistakes!
You’ll never look at things in the trash or hardware store the same way once you’ve tried Gelli print painting! So many unexpected items have textures that leave wonderful patterns and interesting positive and negative shapes: bubble wrap, corrugated cardboard, chicken wire, hot pads, vinyl placemats. Other tools Laura has tried include wine corks, credit cards, clay shaper tools and a massage roller!
Use a brayer to roll out your paint. You don’t need a lot of paint. You don’t want to see ripples or bubbles in the paint after rolling it out. Laura doesn’t find it necessary to clean her brayer in between colors.
Once your paint is rolled out, lay your chosen texture atop, then drop your paper on top of that and give the paper a nice massage. Hold one edge and pull up from the other to reveal your printed image. The lighter the weight of paper you use, the more you can work in to the negative spaces of your texture.
Members leaned in hard for this demo! Laura’s enthusiasm and curiosity with Gelli print painting was contagious. The unexpected results and multitude of possibilities quickly caught on with our artists. We are hopeful to coordinate a Gelli print painting workshop considering space and supply feasibility.