On screenprinting…

Last Friday, I took a much-needed mental health day. As a freelancer, I don’t get paid when I take a day off, so it’s kind of a big deal when I do.

I checked my email first thing in the morning, went to the gym, came home to shower/change, and then headed straight to Emeryville where I spent the day silkscreening.

While it can be exhausting, it’s a form of active meditation for me.

Once the screens are measured in and set up in the machine — a manual one — and the inks are flooded on each design, it’s then just a matter of doing. It’s a physical process, one where your mind can sort of drift off somewhere nice for a while your body takes over. And since my mind is usually busy churning away while my body is sedentary, it’s a nice shift.

Put the garment down, screen a color, turn the press’ head. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Then comes the drying and curing, and then the folding. It’s a slow process, a bit uncomfortably slow but you get into it. You have to lean into it to enjoy it. You begin to remember what your pre-device brain was like. You are now the machine and you can only go so fast. Get distracted at any point in the process and you could ruin the entire thing. You don’t want to do that, so you are present. You pay attention.

The Grease Diner, the studio where I screenprint, has a cool, youthful vibe. The music is good and loud. This time when I was there, the owner jOn jOn had on early B-52’s which reminded me of being in middle school, but in a good way. It’s the kind of place where a revolution might be printed. In fact, I saw a screen with the words “Smash the Patriarchy” and a raised fist.

I dreamt of getting into screenprinting for soooo many years. I may not be the best, but I have started and that counts for something. I’m so stinkin’ glad I didn’t give up on my dream.

I’ll be there more, hopefully soon.

P.S. If you celebrate, Happy Pride! [insert rainbow here]