This is one of my favourite images....
I revisited the white pastel with a watercolour wash to replicate the effect of a resist on fabric. I experimented with different background colours and altered the size and spacing of the "stars". I can see a lot of pattern design potential if I can successfully transfer this "look" onto a fabric.
I took a completely different tack with this second series of images. I used a piece of cut sponge (make-up sponges have a great texture for printing - a bit firmer than kitchen sponge, still absorbent but with a smoother finish and more resilient to squashing and washing).
I began by printing in one colour using triangular shapes to make a star/flower image, then using a wet sponge to swoop across the surface, smudging the images to create an impression of movement. The stamp is much larger than the pastel version and the shape bolder, giving a totally different effect although inspired by the same basic image. By using an unstructured repeat this could be used on a fabric without needing to worry about pattern repeats, direction, nap etc. The pattern could be cut/centred almost anywhere in the design which would save on fabric and would also make joining sections of, for example, a garment, simpler without drawing attention to the joins. There is scope for using this motif in a wide range of sizes.
My next experiment was with overlaying different colours and offsetting the images to give a more3-d appearance. By varying the amount of paint on the sponge and combining different colours this gave the design life and movement. The less dense prints make the stars looks as though they are spinning, rather like a motion-blur effect. This design makes me think of catherine wheels. It could be reproduced in a range of sizes and colour combinations and like the first version has no specific repeat so would be versatile and economical to make.Although I did my prints with a single triangle to give maximum flexibility it would be possible to speed up the printing process by creating several stencils and either printing or screenprinting the images onto the fabric.
