Listening to music, especially live music, can be a religious experience. These days, most of us say that figuratively, but for medieval monks, it was the literal truth. Every aspect of life in a monastery was meant to get you that much closer to God, but especially the times when everyone came together and sang. […]

Don’t swallow Polonium-210. You won’t last long, and it won’t be pleasant. There are poisons all around us. The arsenic in your rice, the drain cleaner under your sink. Alas, some poisons are impossible to avoid, and it’s not productive to live a life that’s poison-free. But it might be worth considering three questions when […]

It gets dark before dinner now in my part of the world, a recipe for seasonal depression. Vincent van Gogh wrote about such low feelings with deep insight. “One feels as if one were lying bound hand and foot at the bottom of a deep dark well, utterly helpless.” Yet, when he looked up at […]

The satisfyingly fuzzy printed lines of a monotype are usually reserved for prints on paper. However, using the method below you can create prints onto fabric with the same texture and line quality, making fast and spontaneous fabric designs to sew up into bags, quilts, or whatever you fancy.  Fabric Screen Printing Ink is ideal for this technique - it has a soft handle, can be heat set on fabric with an iron, and will stay wet long enough to take a print. Begin by rolling ink onto a plastic or glass sheet. Use a Textile Roller - a standard roller will slip in the ink. Drypoint plastic makes a great monotype plate.  Gently lay your fabric on top - don't press it down! It's important the fabric gets minimal contact with the ink.  Place a piece of paper on top and draw your design. You can also trace an image if you would prefer not to draw freehand. Don't touch the fabric - hold the paper at the edge if you need to. Use the pencil quite upright and press fairly firmly for best results.  Peel off the fabric to reveal the print. When your prints are dry, iron them on the hottest setting that the fabric will allow until the fabric feels too hot to comfortably touch. This will set the ink and make the fabric washable.  Watch the whole process below: You will need: Plastic or glass plate - drypoint plastic or an inking plate work well Textile Roller Screen Printing Ink for Fabric like Versatex, Permaset or Speedball Fabric to print onto - poplin is ideal Paper Pencil Iron

Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity, Islam.… Claims to ancient origin and ultimate authority notwithstanding, the world’s five major religions are all of recent vintage compared to the couple hundred thousand years or more of human existence on the planet. During most of our prehistory, religious beliefs and practices were largely localized, confined to the territorial or […]