Climate Craftivism

In February I made this valentine for the earth, which I handed out at our February Climate Revolutions bike ride. It started with this drawing of the earth and a bicycle, which I transferred to a 4 X 6-inch linoleum block, and cut with gouges and knives. (My first linoleum block in years!) I used black block printing ink, rolled out with a brayer on my pallet, then spread onto the block. Then I placed pre-cut printing paper on top and rubbed. I added the blue wash after the ink dried.

Last spring we got together to silkscreen some patches-- these are small logos on cloth that we pin onto clothing or bikes or packs. We hand them out for free at our Climate Revolutions meetings, for people to wear, and our goal is to start seeing them all over town! Last week we cut out and painted more to hand out. And at our last bike ride, I took these photos.

Our 350 and Climate Revolutions group will ride our bikes in Eugene's annual street parade, and we made a banner! It's ten-feet long, and say: Step Up For Climate  Bike Everyday! I decided to use an old canvas drop cloth because it's got some weight, and it was free. I spread it out in my driveway and used a 2x4 to draw lines I roughed in the letters with pencil, then outlined again with black Sharpie. Then I brought it in to my studio to start to paint. I'm using flat latex house paint and a foam brush. I used some old white house paint to cover up some paint stains on the cloth. And some leftover orange latex paint to make a stripe down the center On Friday we had a banner painting party, and I forgot to take pictures, but we finished the letters and the stripes. We cut small slits and used zip-ties to attach it to a bamboo pole!

I went out of town for a Quaker Annual Session, and I wanted to bring a small project that I could work on during plenaries and other meetings. I decided to make some stamp-printed pins to give away. My small alphabet stamps. All my supplies in my tackle box: Cloth, stamps and stamp pad, felt, scissors, thread and needle, safety pins.  1. Test on paper, then stamp on a scrap of cloth. 2. Cut a piece of felt for the backing. 3. Sew together around the edges, then add a safety pin on back. Kids made some too!

Some of us got together to cut, sew, and paint our patches. (We had snacks and conversation too.)

I finally got this new flag hemmed and attached to my bike! After the paint was entirely dry,  I heat-set it with a hot iron. Hemmed the edges. Made a casing for the flag stick. Slid it onto the flag stick.

I stenciled this yesterday onto a scrap of gortex, with acrylic paints and a stencil brush-- and had lots of fun with the colors. My next step is to heat set the paint with an iron, and hem the edges. Tape the fabric and the stencil down well. Mix the first color- yellow and white, straight from the tube. Dab the paint, building color gradually. Add more colors. The reveal.