Blim Art Center
Blim Art Centre
Blim is a DIY centre, rather than a traditional gallery, which primarily exhibits art for sale. This community-based art resource center primarily facilitates screen-printing and offers workshops in button making, drawing, knitting, local experimental audio, film screenings, animation, video, dance, spoken word, visual art and other crafts.
What is Screen Printing?
Screen printing is a very flat medium, so images that are well-contrasted work best. When preparing your artwork to be burned to the screen (to create the stencil), work in black and white only — grey tones and the subtleties of photographic images will not produce a workable stencil.
Screen-printing is a printing technique that uses a woven mesh to support an ink-blocking stencil. The attached stencil forms open areas of the screen that are blocked off with a non-permeable material to form a stencil. This is a negative of the image to be printed or the open spaces are where the ink appears. A roller is moved across the screen stencil forcing or pumping ink past the threads of the woven mesh in the open areas.
The main advantage of screen-printing is that the surface does not have to be printed under pressure, unlike etching or lithography. Screen-printing inks can be used to work with a variety of materials, such as textiles, ceramics, wood, paper, glass, metal and plastic – making it a versatile medium for the arts.
Blim Screen-printing Services
- Screen printing facility for t-shirts, posters, bags, cards, vinyl stickers, cds, jewel cases, etc.
- Level 2–4 include emulsion application, 3 color separation and print, how to build your home screen print station, working with plastisols.
- Private bookings and Gift Certificates available.
- Bring the items you want to print on and your 8″×11″ image on disc or transparency.
- Or email your jpeg and we can print a high quality ink jet transparency for $1.00 extra.
New Blim Community Market
Beginning March 29, 2009, Blim presents the monthly Blim Community Market. The events are located at Cambrian Hall on Main and 215 E. 17th (across from Blim behind Granville Island Toys), from 11am to 5 pm, and are held on the last Sunday of the month. Its mandate is a focus on nurturing and promoting creative production in the community.
