HAPPY TRAILS

Front Side of Becky Dawson's One Lane Road Business Card

By day three at Lucky Star, the clouds were getting more and more ominous, and our chances of spending time outdoors on the riverbanks were getting slimmer and slimmer. Did I let that get me down? Heck no!

I was just waaaay too excited about spending the entire day with the amazing Becky Dawson, of One Lane Road, who came all the way from Estacada, Oregon to teach classes in both leather work and hand screen printing again this year.

Becky is wearing one of her own creations.

The minute I saw those cute "chicken butt" cup towels hanging on the line last year, I knew I had to take this class, and I've been looking forward to it all year long! Nonetheless, when it came time to pack for camp, I still hadn't come up with any ideas for my own projects. I was flipping through my sketchbook at the last minute, looking for inspiration, when I stumbled across a page of rocket and robot sketches I had been collecting for no particular reason, and found myself saying "Ah-Ha!"

She taught us two different techniques for hand screen printing at home -- one using a simple mask cut out of cardstock and the frame screen she made for each of us to keep (see rocket bib) and another one using a simple screen made from an embroidery hoop, plus Speedball's drawing fluid and screen filler (see robots).

Unlike some projects that are only manageable in class with your teacher's assistance, this is something I can't wait to do more of at home -- though it may have to be relegated to the porch or garage, in order to protect the wood floors in the bedroodio.

Check out this awesome logo one of my classmates designed!

Loved both of these as well, though I don't remember who did what.

The only downside was that the dang humidity made for interminable drying times, which made us less productive. Still, we were better off than the class which was actually painting outside when the sky fell, and had to run for cover on our porch until their instructor found a classroom to move them into!

Best part of the day? Gathering around the fireplace before meals, to dry wet feet, and to hear about what everyone else had been up to that day!

That evening our Fearless Leader suggested that we go cabin hopping after dinner, since all the cabins were added at different times over the years, in a wide variety of styles. My friends and I decided to go check out Ranch House, one of the older units just a couple of doors down from the dining hall.  How cute is this?

They even had a giant metal longhorn, holding two retro-fitted kerosene lamps, hanging from the ceiling! It got me to thinkin' that I probably ought'a come up with some little buckaroo designs for my screen printing, this being Texas and all. Might even branch out into some lino cut prints as well, on the order of these. Just mad about that cowboy bedspread! Anybody know if I could use the same inks for both screen printing and lino cut printing? Got any good books to suggest on either subject?

Well, happy trails to you, until we meet again...