Fiber art project- Organized Chaos

Last week I started working on an idea that has been bouncing around for awhile in my brain surrounding the topic of how to organize chaos. While this may seem like an oxymoron, it is actually something that I deal with daily.

The picture above, is of crepe backed silk satin cut to 33" x 96" and stretched on my frame, ready for waxing. I have already lightly drawn in guidelines to keep the design in the forefront of my mind.


Next I apply the hot wax to the outside areas because I want to keep most of the color in the center, but not all of it. The wax was applied in a thick and thin manner so that some of the dye will come onto the back side and stay there where the wax is thin, but most will of course be contained in the central panel. You'll see what I mean in a minute.

Now the dyes are applied in the combination I want and lightly smeared with gloved hands and encouraged to wick and bleed as they will. I have lifted two portions of the work so that more wicking will happen in those areas.

The dye that is beading up along the sides is exactly what I hoped would happen. Some of it has found its way into the thinly waxed areas and will remain. Most of it will not be absorbed because the wax barrier is there to stop the dyeing action.

The process is timed so that when it has done its thing, it will be rinsed and will dry and be ready for the next part of the process which is the removal of the wax.

More next week! Thanks for stopping by to see what's up in the Dye Studio.