Marjie's Dye Studio

Nui Shibori

2008-05-12T09:33:00.000-07:00

Here is a detail shot of a very large scale Nui Shibori piece from the show of graduate work at California College of the Arts in Oakland, CA. The student's name is Laura Kramer.

Here is another detail shot (sideways- sorry). notice that she left the tiny bits of thread in the piece. The piece is actually black with a very pale blue background.

Here is the whole thing. Four long panels. The fabric is like our silk velvet but the pile is a lot denser and shorter. It was either dyed black or purchased black and then discharged after the sewing. The panel on the far right has the most black left and is the most striking. I wonder if she meant to loose so much on the first three panels? Kind of cool having it increase in intensity.

Here's that last panel again. Nice job!! Lots of work. What do you think about those bits of thread staying in the work?

Batiking-back to my first love!

2008-05-06T12:53:00.000-07:00

My batik students from Quilt University were asking to see some of the ways I hold the tool called a Tjanting Needle. Above you will see "Pose #1...The Pencil Grip". I like to hold it fairly far back on the handle for two reasons- if I hold it too much closer to the spout, it is risky as the metal cup and shaft that holds the wax is HOT and secondly, moving my hand back makes me hold it more loosely so that the movement is more free and relaxed.

This second picture shows "Pose #2-The Pinkie Out". This gives me some added stability as the point of the tjanting needle AND my finger steady my hand for a more even and precise line.

Last one- "Pose #3-Arm Down". This one is for the long haul. I rest my arm on the stretcher bar for when I am tired or going to be using the tool for a long line. It makes for a much more steady hand. I guess I should have included a fourth pose- "Point, Pinkie, Arm" for the ultimate in control. You get the idea, right?

Here is a picture of me making a thin line with a very wide (but thin) brush. You don't need lots of equipment for batiking. If you can load up that wide brush with lots of wax; carry it successfully to the cloth, and then turn it to the side you can make a very long, thin line without any trouble at all!

Since I had all the stuff out and the wax was hot and ready to go, I decided to start a new batiked piece. I didn't stop to plan or draw or set myself up at all for this one. I do have a picture that I really like of our son with a professor of his from college and two other friends. So I have the general idea of what I want to do but no other preconceived ideas of what to do or how to do it. I really like to work this way.

The picture above is the first waxing. I laid out the main shapes very quickly; perhaps spending no more than 10 minutes on this. It can be critical to the success of a piece but I tried to not think about that too long and too hard.

This is a fairly large piece (maybe about 45x45) and I am not sure it will be a masterpiece but I need to do something with no agenda and no huge brain drain at the moment so we'll see where it goes. I already see a problem in my composition. Due to the large size, I made our son's face a bit lopsided (he's the one on the right) but I can fix that as I go along.

Here is the first pass of dyes applied with a brush- black to gray tones. Used a lot of chemical water to pull the black down into the lower sections of the background.

Can't tip the piece up to take a good shot of it because the dyes are still very wet. Added color and it's starting to shape up quite nicely. I'm liking it. I am pleased with the placement of the people and the piece is hanging together so far so I decided to stop for now and let it dry. Tomorrow I will hang it up on the board and start thinking about what should happen next.

I purposely did NOT bring the dyes UP to the edges of the eyes and mouth for a reason. You'll see when I show you the next step of the process which will be to add some detailing- maybe with fabric paints and maybe with dyes. I want to keep the two mediums away from each other until I figure out what I am going to use for those important features.

The most critical thing I can do with this piece is NOT over think it. I want it to be free and easy and light. The next two sessions of work on it will tell me if this piece will be successful or not. If I get too tight and serious, it will fail. If I go too dark or get too fussy it will fail. If I get too critical with myself and with the subject it will fail. Yes, there is a lot of opportunity to miss the mark BUT there is also a chance it will be a smashing success!

Thanks for looking. Happy batiking everyone!

Workbook coming out August 2008!

2008-05-05T09:35:00.000-07:00

I am working on a new product that will be ready for sale by August 1st of this year! It is the first in a series of workbooks that will lead the beginning dyer through the process of hand dyeing cotton fabric. It can be used at the same time you take my Quilt University (http://www.quiltuniversity.com) course called Cotton Dyeing Basics, or you can use it separately without the course.

We cover full immersion dyeing for solid colors, partial immersion dyeing for mottled colors, gradation dyeing, dyeing the spectrum, and over dyeing. It is a five lesson course and has a few tips and bonus lessons not found on the online course. Other features will be discussed later but these days I am spending my time collecting pictures and re-shooting new ones.

I'll keep you posted as to the progress of the workbook. It goes out next week to my editor!

Cheers!

BBQ, Bamboo, and More Magic in the Sink!

2008-04-26T18:10:00.001-07:00

It has been a long time-again-since I posted something on the blog but it seems like I haven't done anything very interesting lately that is blogworthy. Up until the last few days it's been business as usual. Here are a few pictures you might find amusing.

I have been thinking about the BBQ piece (below) and my critique group suggest Angelina fibers. I went online; found a place that sells it; bought it; it arrived and I just now had some fun experimenting with it. Kind of garish stuff BUT there is some potential for the flames and smoke. Little bit of wire, little bit of sewing to make the stuff dimensional and I think I've got it!

This product is pretty eye popping. I'm sure I could paint it to tone down the iridescent qualities. Belongs in the land of unicorns and mythical beasts.

Next picture....

I made a fiber art piece a few months back called "Hiroshima". I hung the shredded silk on a bamboo rod. I liked the effect and was thinking that it would be a good idea to stockpile more of the bamboo to have on hand for future art making adventures. My friend Jerry knows where the stuff grows along the road out in the country and actually used some to fly one of my silk banners at "Burning Man" a few years in a row. It's good to have friends like this who aren't too terribly worried about getting arrested or shot at or captured by space aliens. I asked him to call me when he had some time to go harvesting. Yesterday was the day. Isn't it beautiful?

Each shoot is about 12-14 feet tall. If they are to be used as armatures, I want them to be as straight as possible but there is the possibility of using ones that are slightly swayed if I can dry them out flat on the patio.

How many? I knew if I said 100, that would be ideal however there were only two of us and the patio is only so big. How about 50? Ummm....we didn't bring any coffee and donuts. How about 12? Okay!

Jerry starts sawing. I watch and take pictures...and kind of watch over my shoulder for the cops or UFOs. Don't know which would be worse or better. It does cross my mind that this could be stealing however, bamboo is one of those things that most people who own the farm land would probably say to us- "12??? You kiddin' me? If you don't take 1,000 and right now, I'm loadin' your backside with lead!"
Once he cuts a few, then I snip off the small branches and lop off the parts that are too curved to use.

Starting to stack it up on the top of the truck. Pretty sky. Pretty bamboo.Once I had my 12, which turned into 14 and some shorter pieces that was enough so Jerry ties it onto the truck so it doesn't end up in the middle of the road or by the side of the road or on a car that goes by or....
Here is a picture taken across the road from where we cut the bamboo. It takes only about 10 minutes from my house to get out into the beautiful countryside of rural northern California. This is looking north west toward the Capay Valley. Over these mountains is the Napa Valley. That wine you are sipping may have come from over them thar hills.

So now I have bamboo drying on the patio. I would really like to use about 5 of the poles to fly silk banners from on top of my roof. I'm thinking, thinking, thinking of how I would get the poles to stay put as it gets pretty breezy up there. What I love about the idea is that only certain people would ever notice them and only certain people would enjoy the fact that they are there. Umbrella stands may be the answer.

Next picture...

You remember the silk that I had forgotten about that sat in dye and soda ash for over a year? The stink was what tipped me off that something was amiss. (The picture and story about that was posted awhile back on this blog.) Well.....it kind of happened again only this time the silk you see above and below had been cut for a project and the dye color came out way too dark. I needed a very pale pinky pearly color. I was experimenting with the color and got distracted and then when I remembered what I was doing it was slipping over into the lavender side. Not good. I threw it in a corner of sink #1 and started over again and didn't get around to rinsing it out until yesterday. So...it sat for about 3 weeks in the corner of my #1 sink. Each time I did a dyeing, I would toss the left over dye on top of the silk and rinse the container and brushes out on top of it as well. Browns, greens, reds. Didn't matter. This repeated itself about 20 times in 3 weeks. Then I needed the sink space and decided it was time to rinse out that awful looking blob of silk and clean and clear the space for the next project. While rinsing it you can imagine what I was thinking....maybe you can't....

The best way to get electric blue in the deepest shade imaginable is to abuse the silk for a minimum of three weeks. Dump on it. Abuse it some more. Dump more chemicals than you can imagine on it and let it stew. Do not care about it. Do not look at it. Do not poke it. Pour any color you want on it. When so much time has passed that you are ashamed of yourself, rinse it. I do not know what I will do with this piece but it is about 46x46 and I plan on wearing it somewhere, sometime soon.

Thanks for looking at my blog.

Happy dyeing.

Thanks, Jerry. One of these days when you drive by the house, look up!!!!!!

BBQ!

2008-04-18T18:56:00.001-07:00

This piece is for a show coming up in Davis, CA at The Artery called "Hot Fiber" and contains selected work by the California Fiber Artists. I posted some pictures of this awhile back but think I am done now. My critique group gave me some ideas about how to make the flames which I may still do but for now I thinking it is finished. This piece is called "Burgers Or Dogs?"

Here is a detail shot. The coals are hand dyed silk as are the burgers and dogs. Mostly it is habotai silk but there is quite a bit of Crepe Backed Silk Satin as stuffed coals. The container on the side rack has fabric paint in it and a brush to look like BBQ sauce. I should take a picture of that for you to see....maybe tomorrow.

Thanks for looking.

VIDEO- How to filter red dyes

2008-04-14T14:00:00.000-07:00

Here is a short clip of how to filter any Procion MX dye that has red in it. I prefer using a knee high to a coffee filter as coffee filters burst and take way too long.

Happy dyeing!

Fishing while bi-polar, BBQ, and thoughts about new fabs

2008-04-03T10:22:00.001-07:00

Thank you everyone for your loving comments regarding my posting below. Anna- I received your hugs. Michele- you know. So true about the rhythms of life. Helen- you know. Heather- wow. Thanks for that. God never leaves me which is what saves me- literally. Bog- thanks too. Made me cry. Okay. Better today.

So....I don't know if my fish shows any changes from the last posting of it but I have embellished it a lot with hand stitching as well as machine stitching and am working on the background now. Using a bit of metallic thread for some more light play.

The BBQ piece sits. I am stumped by the fire I want to add and my first attempts at it were wimpy. Needs a lot more guts if I want to portray that moment in time- I described it below- you know...where the men all start jumping around spilling their beer and yelling and instructing the guy with the tongs about what to do and how to do it. I LOVE THAT MOMENT! It makes me fall over laughing every stinkin' time it happens. GREASE FIRE!!!!!!!! Men and their BBQs. It's a beautiful thing. I must admit that when it doesn't happen I feel cheated. Now when women are standing around the BBQ (rare in and of itself), and a super nova happens do we dance and scream and jump around and spill things? NO indeed. We just move the food a bit and keep talking. Am I right or am I right? I have to be able to capture that flare up; that moment in time where we once again see the age old dance of the primitive/primate man. I'm working on it.

Here are some things I am thinking about offering at some point in time- I want to start exploring and experimenting with and testing out these new fabrics that are springing up everywhere- bamboo, and bamboo/silk blends. Soy/cotton blends. Organic cottons and hemp combination fabrics. I have three different kinds of bamboo fabric in the studio but haven't started dyeing them yet because I am pretty busy with QU classes and life issues. Tennis is also gearing up since the weather is getting warmer so I have to hang with my girlfriends on the court. Steve, my husband, is unemployed and considering a major job change. We are hip deep at the moment.

Question is - anyone interested in exploring these new textiles with me? I also want to do much more with the anti-fussants on silk. I will need some students to try my new lessons and give me feedback. Still thinking it through though. Ideas? Any other new fabs you've seen/been interested in dyeing? I love cotton flannel and burlap dyeing too. Cheesecloth is awesome. So many fabrics so little time!

Sort of better and sort of worse today- musings about making art

2008-04-02T08:28:00.000-07:00

Thank you everyone for you kind postings from yesterday. Made me shed a tear or two or three.

Okay....now a confession....

I suffer from depression and anxiety "disorder". I have been hospitalized three times for this condition. I now call it "going to camp" when I have to join My People in the loony bin. I am seeing a fantastic therapist (she is an art therapist- how cool is THAT??) and have an awesome psychiatrist who monitors my meds. The condition I suffer from is called "bi-polar with anxiety and obsessive compulsive tendencies". Most of the time this is under control but is compounded by some deeper life issues that have been haunting me for most of my life. SO. With that said, I come to you to tell you that some days are better than others. I can't really ever tell when it is going to sneak up on me and bite me in the butt but making art is something that is a saving grace.

Here's the deal...I have noticed that those of us who have suffered are the ones who can "go deep" with life. It is the struggle that makes us richer and thicker and heartier and more interesting. Do you know people like this? Are YOU like this? You have bad days but they define the good days. The good days are so much sweeter having known the days that are filled with personal sorrow.

I am learning to pick up what is needed for the day and leave the rest alone. This is hard to do. Being a high achiever is a good thing but a bad thing when exhausted or trying to prove to oneself that you are GOOD or worthy or well or whatever you want to put in that slot.

So today- I may do some art or I may not. I'm not feeling all that great but that is subject to change. It can change at any moment and often does. If you are suffering, know that this will make you richer somewhere along the way. If you are free from that, then do a dance. Breathe deeply and give thanks.

Moving on...

nothing to show nothing going nothing doing nothing to say nothing happening nothing but nothingness............

2008-03-31T18:27:00.001-07:00

I have been pretty busy with my mother-in-law. Alzheimer's is no fun. I haven't been able to do art and barely had time to work on student orders so it's been bleak BUT the time spent was time WELL spent. I think we should have had more kids so that when we get older we would have a bunch of them to share the load and thin it out over the crowd. Maybe 12 would have been a good number....ah me.

I'll get back to the BBQ piece and the Fish and do some more with the Anti-Fuse stuff on silk and post pictures when I have recovered.

I don't even have any pictures to show you and my pal Myrna is busy with her relatives so she isn't even emailing me....this is baaaaddddd.

Hope the rest of the world is still spinning.

No Flow,Stop Flow, Anti-Diffusant, Anti-Fusant

2008-03-28T16:21:00.000-07:00

One of my QU students asked me about a product that I SHOULD be familiar with but am not...until today. It is made by Jacquard and is called by a whole boat load of names which has always amused me but not enough to investigate it...until today.

This first picture is how "No-Flow Primer, Stop-Flow, Anti-Diffusant, Anti-Fusant" looks when it is applied to silk habotai. It looks and feels and acts like very diluted water soluable gutta resist. Maybe that is what it is. Maybe we could all save a bundle of cash by just thinning down our stuff and be done with it, I don't know yet.

So what I did for my first experiment was to paint on three bands of "NFPSFADAF". I was wondering how I would know where it was on the silk since it is clear or kind of milky looking. You can see that it leaves a dark place where it is wet. As it dries the lines fade but you can still see where the stuff is when you come back with the dyes.

Next step was to paint on the dyes. I painted a 1" line across the entire piece with blue and then green Procion MX with the chemicals added as you can see. Notice that right away, the places that have the Flow Stop keep the 1" line in tact while the open spaces do what silk does best- the dyes spread and merge! So far, so good!

Here is a detail shot of the bands of color. Awesome! Look how well this works! I'm excited about the possibilities! Next step when the dyes are dry will be to wash out the resist.
Here is the piece finished. One thing that happened that will be something to watch for in future uses of this product will be that in a few places I must have applied too much No Flow because the dye did NOT go through so there is a white line. Those places were pretty slimy when I rinsed them and felt a lot like gutta does when dissolving. You can't see it in this picture. One other thing- the places that HAD the Stop Flow contained the dyes in a much more localized (or concentrated) place so those bands are darker in color than the places where the dyes bled and spread and are a lighter shade than the 1" bands! Very interesting. I certainly will be playing with this product some more. Love it! Love having a new toy too. Thank you, Kristin for the question that led me to something new.

Salt on Silk results

2008-03-26T17:49:00.000-07:00

Here are some examples of the experimenting I did with the last lesson in my QU class regarding the use of rock salt on silk habotai. Even when I did this using a faster method than in the instructions, the dye separated and moved and reacted to the presence of the salt.

Here is the blue section with a bit of the purple seeping down into it. It has some movement and separation of color.
This isn't easy to do and is something that takes practice and knowledge of which intensities of color will give the best results. If your silk is too wet the salt can't absorb all the dye. If it is too dry, there isn't enough to work with so the results will be less dramatic like you see here.

Show and my fish

2008-03-22T09:43:00.000-07:00

Still working on the fish. Here she is with the background in place. The background is a combination of fabric dye and fabric paint. I have started machine stitching it and it is looking okay. Not fabulous yet. I am not sure how I like the way the machine stitching is taking away from the luminous qualities of the paint. We'll see.
She Spilled Her Guts is on display at the 40th Annual Olive Hyde Textile Show in Fremont, CA. It looks great where it is hanging. Show reception was fun with quite a few members of the California Fiber Artists group represented.

Myrna's Classes and My Fish

2008-03-18T17:20:00.001-07:00

As you may or may not know my friend Myrna Giesbrecht has written a seven week course called “Discovering Design” that starts at the end of March. The class is almost full but you can check out the details at her website - http://www.myrnagiesbrecht.com - and get on the list for a future one or sign up now. I just edited the lessons including adding a critique of her developing piece with each lesson. You can watch her progress through her own design and hear me put in my two cents worth every week. The workshop is not only fun and doable, it's thorough and comprehensive. Added to that, she will share her personal reviews and insights about YOUR projects. You can trust Myrna to be gentle as always. Discovering Design is loaded with information, projects, and personal help that will help you rev it up a notch; maybe two or three. It'll be an awesome class. Get yourself over there to keep your right brain active and sharp.

So while Myrna has been writing AND arting away in her studio, I have been painting some more and thought you might like to see my Moonlight Gourami so far. This fish is fantastic. You mostly see it as kind of a drab, silvery fish but when it hits certain light, it shimmers and picks up all these colors that make my eyes go nuts. I have to capture it on fabric. The next thing I need to do is work a bit more on the body, blending in the spots on the underside and back and then I am going to use some fabric dye for the background colors. I'll post the next picture tomorrow as I work on that phase of the project.

Size is going to be 24" x 46" when finished. This fish absolutely glows. Hope I can capture that. Happy painting/dyeing/arting everyone.

Marcail's Senior Show

2008-03-14T15:14:00.000-07:00

Wednesday night was the opening of our daughter's senior show at California College of the Arts in Oakland. She did 6 pen and ink drawings of the houses on our block. The show was called "First And Laurel" which detailed what it was like for her living among the oak trees, Victorian homes, and history of this city built at the turn of the century. Here is a picture of our daughter on the left with her dear friend Maria. Maria had HER senior show last night at the University of California, Davis.
This is one of her drawings of the cross section of an oak tree. Next to each piece she wrote a bit about what the inspiration was for each drawing and a memory she has of the subject. It was wonderful to see that the people who came to see her show took the time to read each statement. The stories were personal and touching. Each piece is 22x28.

This drawing is called "Oak". This city used to be covered in Valley Oak and it is said that in the 1800's even up to the 1960s, you could walk from one end of the town to the other completely in the shade. There are many 300+ year old oaks left but many are decaying and being taken down for safety measures.
This is our house. I was surprised with each of her written pieces because there was at least one thing in each essay that I didn't know; hadn't heard before, or had forgotten.
This is the Nicholson's home. It has been wonderful to have this as our view across the street from us for all these years. I forgot to take a picture of the Blevin's house drawing which is directly across the street from us, so if you were at the show and have a picture of it, please send it to me!
Here is the drawing of Roy's house. This house is on the same side of the street as ours and across Laurel Street.

Here is our daughter with two of her cousins who came up from Fresno to see the drawings and be a part of this last event before graduation.

It was a wonderful show. Personal. Elegant. Lovely. Just like you, Marcail.

Today's work-

2008-03-11T13:22:00.001-07:00

Today I added a layer of silk and polyfill to the otherwise harsh environment known as The Old Webber. This is a gray silk scarf I hand dyed a few years ago. I hot glued it to the sides of the Webber. Next....added some silk sewn and stuffed to look like briquettes. Some of the pieces are silk charmeuse and some are cotton that was batiked- white dots on black background.

They are very pretty and look like little jewels...too bad they'll be covered up some with the next part but oh well. I know they are there and you know they are there.

They look pretty hot, if you know what I mean.

So this is the last thing I did this morning...guess what these are? not brownies. Stuffed silk habotai never tasted so good. I have some "dogs" I will stuff tonight so tomorrow you should have a good idea of where I am heading with this piece. Really having fun with it.

Next project!

2008-03-10T15:02:00.000-07:00

I'm not going to tell you what I am going to do next. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, I will let them do the talking. Here are the first two shots. You can guess what this is but maybe not. The white lamp is NOT a part of the sculpture.

Here is another angle of the piece. It is sitting on a drawer of our son's old desk that has been covered with fabric. It will act as the base for the art piece but maybe not. I am still trying to think this part through because the REAL legs are broken and not able to hold the top up any more. There's so much to be done that I'm not sure I should invest myself in this but the idea is a good one. What do you think? Should I go for it? Maybe not. I could try and then decide as I go along. What do you think???

Silk Dyeing Class- project one

2008-03-06T10:32:00.000-08:00

Here is the video of the Quilt University Silk Dyeing class's first project that has some students a bit stumped. One thing I realized as I was making the video that I am assuming you know is that you can add more dye as you go along. You do not need to ONLY use what is on the fabric. You CAN do it that way and it will work but takes longer than what you will see me doing here which is heaping on the dye and sloshing it around as I go. I do mention adding more dye in the DF but perhaps you are thinking the only way to blend is to use what is already ON the silk. Hope this helps. You know what to do after it cures and is ready for rinsing so I left that part off of the video.

Happy dyeing!!!! See you back in class.

By the way, my next class at QU is Cotton Dyeing Basics opening March 22nd. Then Shibori Dyeing April 19th. Tea Stain Dyeing comes up May 17th.

Check out all the fantastic classes at www.quiltuniversity.com

Two acceptances and one rejection

2008-03-04T11:03:00.000-08:00

Here are some random pictures that have nothing to do with anything but I know people like to look at pictures so here they are. This is our daughter in Japan getting ready for her dance team performance.

I told you that I was accepted into the Olive Hyde Textile Exhibit in the Bay Area. That's good news. You can see the piece in an earlier post. It is called "She Spilled Her Guts".
I also told you that I was accepted into the California Fiber Arts group. That is a very nice place to be.
Then I applied to a third group (which I will not name) and was not accepted which was what I thought might happen but also thought that perhaps there was a chance that I might get in so what the heck. Nope.

Here is a picture of our son kicking a soccer ball while at a family reunion in Oregon. A major portion of my husband's family plays soccer so there was a lot of this going on.

So here's the question- why do we feel so bad when someone or a group says "no" to us? I had two acceptances but there was a bit of a sting when the last group said, "sorry". It never is something we can just shrug off even when our brains can tell us other consoling things about how worthwhile we are and how much we have accomplished.

Here is daughter kicking the soccer ball. I never once touched that ball even when it came over in my direction. Tennis balls I will play with but not soccer balls.

To not be accepted is a human condition. It is going to happen to us all and happens to us more times than we care to admit. I was beginning to actually think that with those first two acceptances that perhaps my work was becoming too mainstream! I am so used to NOT being a part of the group.

Here is Steve kicking the soccer ball. He is really good at keeping it in the air.

I must say that it's really okay that I didn't get into the last group because I can now apply more of my efforts into the ones I AM a part of but rejection is an interesting phenomenon. It can cause you to withdraw or it can cause you to excel and more often than not, I have found that it causes me to step up my game. It can be a good thing or it can be a paralyzing thing. At the moment I have shrugged it off and am looking for the next thing to do.

Talk to me about your experiences with artistic rejection. It's a good thing! It makes us who we are.

Next Shell Piece Completed

2008-03-02T11:08:00.000-08:00

I just finished my second shell piece. It is a bit different from the first one as you can see. I used lots mor fabric paint and applied it in a looser fashion and even used a palette knife and slabbed it on like putty. Machine stitching finishes it off. I did use some fabric dye on the pink portion of the shell to keep that portion of the piece soft and almost paint free. I am enjoying the combination of dye and paint and will be exploring this more in future pieces. The photo above is the true color while the picture below is more yellow due to the lighting issues.Here is a detail shot. You can't see the stitching on the blue background very well but it follows to contours of the thick paint and brings the focus back to the shell.

Olive Hyde Textile Exhibition acceptance

2008-02-26T13:06:00.001-08:00

I am happy to report back that this piece entitled "She Spilled Her Guts" was accepted into the Olive Hyde Textile Exhibit that will be held in Fremont California March 21- April 19.
Here is a larger picture of it and my description follows with the next shot-

This is a detail of the piece which includes broken glass and plastic beads as well as over 27 yards of hand dyed silk.

“She Spilled Her Guts”, 12/07, 41”x 41”-silk “tail” adds 42”, Woodland, CA, Silk, cotton, metallic fabric paint, plastic, glass.

Here is my statement about the piece:

“She Spilled Her Guts” is made from about 27 yards of braided hand dyed silks with broken glass balls and plastic beads on painted raw silk. I had recently gone through my piles of excess fabric and found a wealth of teal silk that had been either returned by the customer or I had dyed too much for various reasons. When I began making this piece I realized how much I miss making art. The process of making art is at the core of who I am and to not make art hurts me…well…in the guts. It’s a beautiful thing and it is a gut wrenching thing all rolled into whatever piece I make. So be it.

Do a happy dance with me and also do some smirking since this was the very first piece (of many) I made to launch the next phase of my career which includes a return to more art making.

Chat about the dyes in the paint

2008-02-22T16:21:00.000-08:00

Thank you for the nice comments about this piece, everyone.
About the dyes added to the paint- I have found that adding Procion MX powdered dyes to fabric paint (and also to latex house paint and even to poster paint) makes for some interesting effects. I don't add any salt or soda ash; I just add the powder and it tints the paint. The best part (which could also be the worst part in some cases) is that when the paint is applied and another layer of any other color is put on top of that, the dyes bleed through. On this shell piece, that's what I wanted to have happen. It looks like dirty marks on the beige but it was really beautiful and even though I ened up having to cover up the beige as it wasn't working for me, it took quite a few coats of the gray to stop the dye from bleeding through. It's hard to see the sand added to the paint as the grains are very fine but it adds some interest.
This piece is growing on me. I was disappointed with it at first but am liking it more and more as I study it from about 6' back.
The purple door to my dye studio that you see at the top of the page was originally green so I got some beige latex house paint that I tinted with fuchsia and sky blue dye powder until it was the perfect color. I'm not one to leave things alone. I always think I can make it better by adding this or taking that away. Hard to stop the wheels from turning, if you know what I mean. One thing about my art making- if I don't have what I need I make it. Rarely do I buy supplies. A friend just introduced me to a spot out in the country that has bamboo growing by a soggy creek bank that are a good 20' high. He cut some poles down for the silk flags I made for him to take to Burning Man. Perfect for the rods I will need for some larger wall hangings and the price is right! More on that later.
Happy dyeing. Happy painting!

Painted Piece Finished

2008-02-22T08:39:00.000-08:00

Next step was to work more on the detailing and start the background. I started with a beige background and added table salt to the paint for some texture. Adding a touch of Procion MX powdered dye to the paint is something I do now and then when I KNOW I am going to put on multiple layers of color and KNOW that I want the color to bleed through to the layer on top.
After fussing with the back ground a LOT I decided beige wasn't doing it for me. I wanted it to be more dramatic and for the shell to stand out more so I started mixing some white and black paint ON the fabric. That looked better but it was very close to being over worked. Danger! Walk away! Which is what I did so I could let that dry and think about what was to come next.
The next day I came back ready to work out my problem. The best part of this piece is the translucent section of the shell so I won't touch that. Machine stitching will help.

I started machine stitching the detail portions of the shell in a dark gray and dark grayish brown thread. Better! It is time to let this one be. I sewed on the backing and am done. In reality the background gray is a lot smoother but the salt still stands out as texture. Hard to photograph but it's there.

Fabric painting start to finish-

2008-02-18T18:12:00.000-08:00

I have an idea of two paintings I want to do using fabric paints and salt with some fabric dye. I will chart my progress for you to see how they develop. This may be of interest to students currently taking my Fabric Painting class at Quilt University.
The first picture is the enlarged drawing on the fabric I will use. Taking a picture and expanding it 10x is not hard for me to do. Some people need to use a projector which is fine. Some people take the picture to a printing company that can make the "cartoon" enlarged and ready for a light table. If you can draw it out yourself so be it.
Here is the fabric on the stretcher bars and held in place with silk clips. I love these things! Poking holes in fabric gives me the creeps; like nails on a chalkboard, especially when pinning down silk. These clips leave no mark and I like using them so much that I bought 5 bags of them. Dharma has them if you want to place your order. Good investment. I prop up my corners using upside down yogurt containers to make the whole thing higher. Even though it is on my high, slanted drafting table I still like my work closer to my face so I don't get a pain in my back or need to wear my glasses.
In this picture I am applying the first coat of fabric paint. Because I apply so many layers, I like to start with fairly bold, deep color and then lay down thinner layers of color as I go along.
About 10 minutes later this is how it looks....

...and about 1 hour into the first day of painting, I am going to stop and let this part dry. I want to think about the next pass and what I will be doing with the background so letting it "brew" for awhile is the way to go.

I'll show you more tomorrow. Happy painting everyone!

The painted chair

2008-02-15T15:22:00.000-08:00

Here is the chair before I began to over haul it by painting with Jacquard fabric paints. It's a good solid piece of furniture and cost $40.00 at the thrift store. It is replacing another thrift store couch that the dog ate (see posting below). Bad dog.
Here it is finished. I'm not so sure about the seat and may go for something a bit more conservative later. Have to live with it for awhile. You need to see the other furniture it sits with to get the full idea.
The other smaller chairs have curved backs as well and there is a lot of green in the house. I like funky stuff so maybe it will grow on me as time goes by, you think?
Looking from the front windows and couch into the living room. I need to sit in it and ponder if it will be staying green.

Details- it took 4 coats of paint that had to be heat set with an iron at the end. The chair that I considered buying instead of this one cost $176.00 and wasn't as comfortable. I think I am liking this one better and better the more I think about it.

Painting a stuffed chair

2008-02-14T16:39:00.000-08:00

Here she is before she ate the chair.

Yesterday I began to paint a stuffed chair I bought at the thrift store to replace the other chair I bought at the same thrift store that our dog ate. Bad dog. Here is a picture of the Bad Dog. That's Steve weeding. Aren't those the best pictures ever???

I will post a "before" picture of the hideous chair with such potential when the scanner comes back to life.