Written by Guest Artist, Rita Summers - based in Tasmania, Rita creates her work from the land itself – leaves and earth – the result of a direct relationship and collaboration with the Tasmanian landscape. She finds and reinvents vintage and recycled materials with natural dyes or earth paints combined with contemporary stitching techniques and gelli printing, allowing the materials themselves to inspire her creations. She formerly operated a gallery/studio called "Gone Rustic" in St Marys, Tasmania for over 20 years. Her work has been juried into numerous exhibitions within Tasmania, interstate and overseas, and has attracted many awards. Through her business Rita has hosted and curated art exhibitions from Tasmania and further afield, including Europe and the USA. Here is her artistic journey - Thank you Rita!
Since I opened my business over 20 years ago, a very important goal for me was to be as sustainable and ecologically responsible as I could - not only as a business owner but as an artist. I have always loved to collect and use vintage and recycled materials in my work, including items that other people might throw away. I also love to push the boundaries as to what is classed as 'art', focusing on media such as fabric, paper and stitch.
Too often, the definition of 'art' has been overly purist, especially in relation to materials. That is changing these days, thankfully, but this attitude still persists in some quarters.
More recently, I have begun to think of myself as a mixed media artist. lt gives me more scope for entering exhibitions and continuing to establish myself as an artist. This development in how my work has been a journey, but it has given me permission to use a variety of materials in my own way, to express my own ideas and inspiration.
Part way through this journey, I gave away my synthetic paints and dyes, although they had been excellent tools in developing my skills and output. Most of my new commercially printed fabrics found new homes as well. I began to use natural dyes and to experiment with eco printing, initially using powdered mordants and then finding ways to be totally natural in my methods. Recycled cloth was my go-to base material, with paper a close second. I began to incorporate collage with my eco printed substrates, layering found papers such as junk mail, packaging, old book pages and sheet music, often adding stitch to the layers.
Another thing that fascinated me was earth pigments, perhaps a natural progression from eco dying or printing. About 6 years ago, I began to make paint from the earth around me: paint with texture, paint that still showed evidence of its source. I used a natural binder, and tried my process on both fabric and paper.
© Rita Summers gonerustic.com
Finding ways to add stitch to my earth-painted designs was another avenue of exploration. When I had developed my methods to a satisfactory level, I offered them online in the form of a tutorial.
This was offered in combination with an exhibition I would host in my gallery, to showcase the work of my students. It was a resounding success. I was thrilled with the work produced, and the encouraging feedback from participants.
One of the students, after a class Zoom session, mentioned the Natural Earth Paint website. She surprised me with a gift of 20 earth pigment sachets and a large jar of Natural Acrylik Medium, and I experimented with painting designs inspired by UK artist Mark Hearld.
Some time later, I discovered gel plate printing, or gelli printing. I researched it thoroughly over a period of some months, but I held back from trying it out. I didn't want to use acrylics but wasn't sure what I could substitute.
Then I remembered my earth pigments, which I had neatly stored away! At about this time, a group I belong to met at a friend's house, and she showed us some beginner tips to get started on gelli printing. Sherrie had several gel plates of various sizes and a range of tools and paint colours. We were in heaven. None of us had tried gelli printing before but within minutes we knew we were hooked.
I went home and pulled out my gifted supplies. I ordered a gel plate online and waited impatiently for it to arrive (I live in rural Tasmania so I can't simply rush out to a shop to buy things). My first attempts at mixing earth paints with acrylic medium showed promising results. The paint was a lovely creamy texture, and the colours were beautiful.
I pulled my first prints, using only 2 or 3 colours. Then I added some botanicals from around my home (the same ones I use for eco printing), and added 1 or 2 more colours.
To me the results were wonderful and exciting. Before I knew it, I had done half a dozen batches of prints, experimenting with different colour combinations, stamps. textures and plants.
As I worked, I noticed that the effects I was getting were different from gelli prints l'd seen online. I thought this was probably due to the natural pigments and binders I was using so I started to capitalize on this. I changed binders, and was able to build on these perceived differences. To me, they looked like weathered walls, ancient frescoes, medieval wall paintings.
So of course I had to research examples of these, and found that there were a lot of similarities, mainly due to the natural pigments used in the past and the patina and wear they had acquired over the centuries.
When someone commented in a gelli printing online group that I was developing a unique style, I was very encouraged. I never want to be the same as or similar to other artists. lt's important to be authentic in what I create, reflecting me and who I am.
My surroundings are also an important influence on my art. We live on a property in northeastern Tasmania that is half forest, and we look out on hills, trees and mountains in any direction. So it was quite natural that I would also do a series inspired by trees, representing in an abstract way the view from our back verandah.
The latest development in my gel printing journey is to find ways to add collage and stitch. This process took a while to percolate, but the results are very satisfying. Stitch not only adds texture. It also adds a visual element that is unique, without overwhelming or distracting from the original work. I became more minimalist in my approach, and made some accordion books as well as creating stand-alone art pieces.
During this time, I couldn't find anyone else who uses earth pigments for gelli printing, so I reached out to the Natural Earth Paint founder, Leah. She was very receptive to my offer to collaborate in some way. I was impressed with her back story and reasons for setting up her business, and the quality and eco credentials of her products.
The result is that I’m now a Natural Earth Paint affiliate and a wholesaler, which I would never have dreamed of a few months ago. This is a very exciting development for me and my art practice.
I have now written and produced several online tutorials about my gelli printing methods using earth pigments, natural acrylik medium and stitch - and the more I explore the more I am fascinated with the possibilities!
You can find Rita at:
YouTube channel: on my studio table (series)
Free tutorial: Stitching your art
Website: gonerustic.com
Email: gonerustic@gmail.com
