Dip, position, press
Photo essay: Printmaking, paintings and watercolors

November 16, 2006
iranian.com

Sandra Sonbol Banava has recently joined with Robert Kaufman Co., Inc, a leading converter of quilting fabrics and textiles, to produce her licensed collections of elegant and vibrant fabric designs.  Her collections “The Sonnets” and “Rhapsody of Grace” will be available in quilting fabric stores in March and May 2007.

“Ancient Persian hand-block printing on silk was my first contact with the exuberant world of fabric design.  This was in 1994 in Al-Zahra University, Tehran, when I carved my first design into a block of wood.  The carved block was then bathed in warm wax and pressed onto the luscious surface of silk.  Dip, position, press.  Dip, position, press.  There, appeared the pattern through layers and layers of color, shapes, and texture,” said Sonbol.

Same wooden blocks were showcased in the U.S in 2001, when Sonbol created her first mass-produced fabric collection, “Medallion” for Studio Sampou.  “Medallion” was a lively collection of geometric patterns that paired Persian hand-block printing feel with textures and colors influenced by the Mediterranean.

Sonbol has been a practitioner of art for many years in Iran and the U.S.  She has explored a variety of studio environments in a number of media such as oil & acrylic painting, printmaking, and watercolor.

"Orange Sonnet" watercolor & linocut
Click on photo to see 20