My Tips for Stitching on Paper
I didn't learn to sew till I was in my late 20's, but it was the creative activity I spent the most time on until I discovered the gel plate. But,...
Recent Posts
Finding My Way to Child's Play
The development of my Child’s Play series has truly been a story about the importance of play and experimentation in my creative process. Years ag...
Managing "Waste" in the Studio
Wasted material, wasted money, wasted time. No one wants to waste "things", but it's a big part of what motivates me, not just in art, but in life....
Texture of the Week: Plastic Packaging
Does it feel like there is a lot of unnecessary waste in product packaging? My exploration of textures often comes from my desire to repurpose thes...
Texture of the Week: Plastic Straw Plate
During the early phase on the pandemic I was searching all over for projects to keep my son engaged during "Mom School". It was a pretty crazy time...
Reflections and Priorities for the New Year
My kids are back in school after winter break and while I savor my quiet home for a few hours, I’m trying to reflect on 2025 and dive into plans fo...
Texture of the Week: Printing with Wooden Letter Blocks
While this is a new blog post for my "Texture of the Week" series, the video and cards below are a couple years old. But, I still love them and I h...
My String Wreath Project...and "Clean" Printing
I thought I'd spend a little time talking about each of the projects for my workshop, Gel Printed Christmas, available for purchase through Decembe...
Texture of the Week: Produce Bags
My household goes through a fair amount of lemons, and frequently grapefruits. Usually, the most economical way to purchase these produce items is ...
What's the point of all those textures?
My first experience with a gel plate was through a workshop about 14 years ago. I credit the approach in that initial exposure to the approach I st...
Texture of the Week: Marbles + Paint = Playing Like a Kid
Honestly, this was not the gel printing texture tool I thought I'd be sharing this week, but sometimes a girl's just gotta have fun, right? I start...
Texture of the Week: Mark Marking with Water
Normally, when I use water to create texture on a gel plate, I'm using a small spray bottle and lightly spritzing a layer of it on paint already lo...
Solving the Scrap Puzzle
During the summer of 2023, I created a whole bunch of scrappy squares and rectangles (above photo). I had been using a large piece of brown paper t...
Texture of the Week: Lego Bricks
We have A LOT of Lego bricks in my home. My son loved playing with them for years and we have many large, difficult sets displayed in various rooms...
Texture of the Week: A Ball of Thread Scraps
I love using thread or yarn on my gel plate. These long, thin strings are one of very few non-botanical textures that create interesting silhouette...
Texture of the Week: Rokr Puzzle pieces + Bingo Cards
My brother is always one for creative gifts. Over the years, he has purchased a few Rokr wooden puzzles for my son. The first one was a marble ma...
Texture of the Week: Paint "Boogers"
First off, I want to say that I know paint "boogers" is not the nicest term and there may be better ways to describe this texture. But, as I noted ...
Texture of the Week: Honesty Seed Pods
Towards the end of 2023, I started a series of Instagram reels focusing on various stamping or mark-making tools for the gel plate. I released a ne...
The meaning behind the stacks
My kids are back in school after a few months of summer fun and family time. Near the end of July, I was having trouble keeping up with my normal r...
Art on the Road
I enjoy summer, especially in the Pacific Northwest. We have beautiful weather and longer days, which means more time to find rocks at the beach! B...
Progress vs. Productivity
As I write this, it’s Day 67 of the 100-day project for 2025. If you haven’t followed my progress, check out this blog post explaining my project o...
Reaching the halfway point
This past Sunday was Day 50 of the 100 day project for 2025 and to celebrate the halfway point I made a quick video of all the work I've created so...
The Challenges of Changing the Rules
As I prepared to jump into the 100-day project in February, I selected rocks as the focus of my project. I love rocks in life and art, so I probabl...
17 days down, only 83 more to go!
As I type this, it's Day 17 of my #100dayprojectofrocks and so far things are moving along quite well. I'm not sure why the last part of that sent...
When to start or stop experimenting?
I love to experiment with my gel plates. My family knows that I'll try to press nearly any object into a loaded gel plate to see what texture it wi...
Preparing for #the100dayproject
About 4 years ago I noticed an Instagram post by another artist about #the100dayproject. I had never heard of the project, but her post explained t...
Making Your Own Stencils and Masks for Gel Printing
Many companies and artists sell fantastic stencils for gel printing and mixed media art, but I am a big believer in the D.I.Y. approach to stencils...
Quick handmade cards?
The one time of year I enjoy making cards or other crafty projects is around the holidays. However, I usually run out of time to accomplish the Chr...
Did I learn anything on my social media break?
I’ve been off social media for about a month: no posting, scrolling, messaging, or commenting. And surprisingly, it was pretty easy to stop. Initia...
“What do you do with your gel prints?”
“What do you do with your gel prints?” Or some iteration of that is the most common question I am asked in workshops or on social media. People wh...
Exploring my feelings on selling and sharing older pieces
Although I have been creating artwork for many years, sharing it online or actively trying to sell any of it is a fairly recent phenomenon. I recen...
Join me for the Gel Printers Summit 2024
I've been waiting all summer to share the big news...I'm an instructor for the Gel Printers Summit 2024. This online event features 14 of the most ...
Saying Yes (or No) to Opportunities
The last month has been a bit of a blur—lots of end-of-school events, my kids starting summer break, and some unexpected opportunities popping up. ...
My Favorite Plants for Gel Plate Printmaking
It's finally Spring where I live (still plenty of rain and cold), and I'm starting to see leaves on trees and many weeds around my house. I started...
My Love of Beach Rocks
I live in an area close to the bay and I have been walking the beaches searching for rocks since I was a small child. Some are covered in barnacles...
Tips for Framing Works on Paper
First things first, if you take anything away from this blog post it should be to ALWAYS wire your pieces properly. Don’t expect galleries to hang ...
The Intersection of Art and Motherhood
This winter I've been thinking a lot about the realities of balancing an art career with parenthood. Maybe the winter feels more challenging becaus...
How long does a gel plate last?
One question I often get in my beginning workshops is, "How long does a gel/gelli plate last?" My reply is usually, "Forever". Then I point to the...
What is your favorite color?
I recently heard a story on NPR (and later found it in a New York Times article) that recalled an interaction between the well-known Abstract Expr...
The Best Way to Learn is to Teach
What's the old saying? The best way to learn is through teaching, or some iteration of that quote. This past weekend I taught an intro gel printing...
Sorting through multiple ideas at once
This January I'm focusing my creative time on exploration. I'm playing with new ideas, revisiting older work, and trying different techniques on my...
Found Textures for Gel Printing Series
For the past 3 months, I've been posting a series of reels on Instagram that have featured different found textures I use when gel plate printing. ...
Gel Plate Christmas Card Ideas
As the song goes, "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year", right? I do enjoy the holiday season, but honestly, when you're the person in your ho...
Yes! You can make your own gel printing plate.
Most of the time I use a commercially made gel plate by GelliArts or Gel Press for my printmaking. Some artists prefer the surface of a homemade ge...
Matting 2D Works on Paper for Artists
If you want to exhibit or sell your artwork, it's not just about creating the art, you have to know how you're going to present it. When I first st...
Using 3M Post-It Tape
A couple of years back, while taking an online drawing class, the instructor suggested something called “Post-it” tape for taping the edges of our ...
What paint are you using?
When I post videos of gel printing on Instagram the most common question I get asked is "What type of paint are you using?" Most days I am working ...
Found Texture for Gel Printing: Raffia
I think of found textures in three categories depending on how you use them with the gel plate: stamp, scrape, or mask. Raffia is my favorite found...
To Register or Not to Register? Is That a Question?
There are several different methods for registering your prints when using a gel printing plate, but is it even important? It probably depends on w...