Last weekend I was lucky enough to take two classes from Fred B. Mullett. Fred has become a friend and a fine (and exceedingly funny) friend he is. He calls me silly names and I call him FishBoy. I can't claim to have coined the phrase, my friend Bee did that, but it fits him well. Fred manufactures some of the most intriguing rubber stamps available, in my humble opinion. As a member of the Nature Printing Society, Fred has fine tuned his talent for Gyotaku, or fish printing (thus explaining his pet name, besides the obvious). Many of his beautiful rubber stamps are of fish and they all have the beauty of Gyotaku.
We learned a lot of very simple but extremely effective ways to turn a rubber stamp print into something much more interesting. With watercolors, embossing powders, colored pencils and a little patience, you, too, can turn your rubber stamp into a wonderful tool.
These are examples that I made during class. I was only trying to learn the techniques, not to make a perfectly enhanced print. (Process rather than product, as my ceramics instructor always said!) I know they are rough, but you can get the idea of what can be achieved with Fred's techniques.
It was really fun to take a couple of classes from Fred, and wonderful to see him again. (He recently moved from the Northwest to the Midwest.) If you get the chance, don't hesitate to sign up for anything Fred might be teaching.
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