Designer Interview: Emily Becker Bruzzini

 

Emily Becker Bruzzini

What inspired you to make your own prints?
My undergrad is in printmaking so I have an interest in prints and why not bring that to textiles? I enjoy creating patterns and wanted to be able to use my own fabric to make quilts and other sewn items.

How long have you been printing?
Well I took my first fine art printmaking class in 2007 and fell in love. After that class I made printmaking the focus of my BFA and have been doing it ever since. One of the things I have learned is to make what you want to make, make what you love, I once made something dictated by someone else and it was a disaster!

Preferred method?
I screen print. I have experience in intaglio transfers using photocopies which can produce some lovely results as well. Mono printing on fabric also gives the piece a special hand-drawn feel and block printing is also fun and easy. I screen print mainly because I like the finished feel and look of screen printed fabric and the ease of making a lot of prints with little effort once everything is all set up!

Do you actually carry around a sketchbook?
I do usually but I should use it more often. Funny thing is when I find myself without it I have the most ideas...and end up drawing on anything flat near me!

Favorite designer?
I love Heather Ross, her style is so whimsical and each fabric tells a story through her illustrations. I am also a big fan of the work of Leslie Keating of Maze and Vale and Yuko Uemura of Pata Pri.  They both hand print their own textiles and have wonderful bold and pretty designs. Leslie actually inspires me to make some time for printing by organizing hand printed fabric swaps every once in a while.  Perfect motivation!

Favorite fabric?
That is a hard question, as I love so many! One of the fabrics that I find myself using over and over again is a print called Aviary by Alexander Henry from 2006 (I have it in a lot of colorways but the yellow is my fav!).  It was one of my first designer fabric purchases and I am still not tired of it!



Seriously, how big of a commitment is it to get started?
Well, depending on how you wanna start and what you wanna make it can be very little commitment or quite a large one. There are many great tutorials on how to start screen printing with very little by using embroidery hoops as screens and converting acrylic paint to textile ink using medium. I prefer to go the expensive route, I went out and bought a nice metal 220 mesh count screen that was 22”x40” and a gallon of base extender to make my printing inks last longer. Though many people expose their screens I find that I am not ready to do that kind of a set up so I cut all of my designs out of contact paper. I use the contact paper as a stencil and stick it on my screen like a giant sticker, this is economical and effective and once I am finished I can clean it and stick it to some plastic wrap for future use. The most import thing about starting to print is starting to print, so no worries!