"So you just slap on the dyes and this is what comes out?" That comment was made about my work this past week. Essentially they are correct. That's exactly what I do, but the comment kind of took me by surprise because it has taken me 40+ years of dyeing to arrive at this place in time.
To make myself feel better, I was reminded of just what goes into "slapping" on the dyes. This white board and the large pad of paper beside it currently hold the directions to one way of "slapping it on" that actually takes 2 1/2 hours to accomplish that "slapped together" look.
Like ballet, the trick is to make it seem effortless.
Here is the piece I was working on last week called "Organized Chaos 3". It is the third in a series of I don't know how many, dealing with wicking. The size is 45" x 108". It is dupion silk.I spent a lot of time manipulating this silk. There are hours of time in between manipulating sessions. I blocked the magenta from going too far and encouraged the gold to travel up the white areas away from the rest of the colors. The blues were encouraged to run into the middle and then eventually south before being allowed to leak completely off the table.
Total dye time- 9 hours. Total time working the dyes- about 30 minutes. Total planning time- about 8 hours. If that is slapping on the dyes, then so be it.
This piece is called "Organized Chaos 2". It is 8 mm habotai silk as I may have told you below when I showed you a section of it. It is about 36" x 50". It is impossible to photograph. The depth of color is amazing. Originally I had thought that I would add some very light stitching into the deep purple caves but have decided that understated is best for this one.I spent about 1 minute planning this piece. Spent another 2 minutes slapping on the dyes. Did not manipulate the dye at all. Time spent in the dye- overnight for a total of 10 hours.
Other comments through the ages that I have enjoyed are the ones that people make about how "Aunt Mildred used to do tie dye like this". Oh Really? Fantastic! Or regarding my batik work- "I did that in Girl Scouts." Wow. How progressive of your leader! Or the best ones of all in regard to batiked fiber art pieces- "How do you tie the knots so it comes out looking like a painting like that?"
Yes, I suppose I do do tie dyeing. And yes, I'm sure Aunt Mildred was an amazing artist. Don't you miss her gifts at Christmas time? God bless her. Rest in piece.
Thank you for looking at what I did this past week in the dye studio.
Next week- more slapping around of dyes. Maybe you'd like to have me come show your Brownie Troop how to do this professionally? There's a career in this, you know. (wink)
2 comments:
A good rant is good for the soul. The general public has no clue what goes into a competed piece of art and they really don't care. Why else would they ask "how long did that take you?" There are a whole lot of people out there that put their noses up and ask such stupid questions because deep down they have an opinion about artists being flakey, unproductive (don't work a day in their lives) and lazy. It's a crying shame they don't pay attention long enough to see that we're just like them..working stiffs who have learned to express ourselves through our art rather than how many minutes they can put on their cell phone. I appreciate what you have created and they are both beautiful. Louise
Thank you, Louise. Well said and yes, artists are underappreciated. Always have been and probably always will be??
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