Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Dyeing in the Studio

I had a great time dyeing in my studio last night with my friend Heather! We were sort of trying to combine our knowledge, efforts and experience, plus try some new stuff too. I read about using soy wax as a resist. It's environmentally friendly, as it just washes out and it works pretty close to a traditional batik using petrolium based wax. I also wanted to try using white screen printing ink as a resist. Both of which we did last night! I did a couple of the "reveals" this morning, which were a bit disappointing, but I learned something. There is no "waste" here, just "starts" that can be overdyed in time...
This morning, I took some photos which I'll share here. Please note: everything is in the washer now and I realized once the washing cycle began, that I forgot to heat set the white screen printing ink. But! This might be a good thing, because I printed on a tan fabric, so now those areas would become tan, which might not be a bad thing...or better yet: it might stay in some areas and wash off in others. Again, I'm anxiously awaiting the result!
Here are the prewashed images:
This is some really cool fabric that my sister carries at The Seam Shoppe in Key West.
It comes in beige/white, so I thought I'd see what it looked like when dyed...


On this piece, I carved a stamp using the Artsy material available at Jerry's, then dipped it into the white screen printing ink and stamped the overall pattern onto a kind of beige linen. This was then dyed in a warm black dye topped with some orange. Nice! We'll see what happens with the ink after washing...

This one was started with white muslin. I originally did a similar stamped design as above using washable Elmer's glue as the resist. I then layed it on my table and squirted the dye onto the surface and covered it with plastic. I let it sit for 24 hours and oops! Little did I anticipate the glue would get all gooey and pretty much dissolved and when I washed out the fabric, I was left with a boring piece of turquoise fabric! So...that's what I used in experimenting with the soy wax. You set it up the same way as encaustic...melt it down and use it as a resist by painting or stamping it onto the cloth. Let that dry, then put in the dye bath. Voila!

Here are two more soy wax resist pieces.
These will need some more over dyeing and manipulating,
but I think we got a ton done in a short amount of time!

Heather also did this awesome piece using warm black dye and maybe another color??? But it really turned out fabulous. I did not get a photo last night, but her plan is to stretch it onto bars, then gesso with clear or maybe rabbit skin glue and paint on it! Oh the wonderful possibilities...
Can't wait to get back into the studio again!
Cheers!

Monday, August 16, 2010

Fun Day Off!

We had way too much fun on our day off in the studio yesterday! Joe and I listened to old rock and roll. Awesome picks. The Who, Talking Heads, Santana, Doors, etc. I am working on products for my first outdoor show, Art in the Gardens. The show is Saturday, 9/18/10 from 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. at Duke Raleigh Hospital, 3400 Wake Forest Road. Right down the street from Jerry's and across the street from the Hilton North Raleigh, where Art of the Carolinas takes place. I am delighted to be one of the 30 or so artists invited to participate in this first Art Show, Art Sale and Raffle! The show is free to the public, rain or shine! So, come on down and check it out. I will have an assortment of items available for sale: bags, bowls, collage items, pillows, and maybe even some encaustic pieces. You name it! I'm pulling out everything under $200 and that's what will be on display and for sale! September is not a bad time to start holiday shopping. Might as well get some bargains going on now and save some time to celebrate instead of last minute crazy shopping! See you there...Saturday, September 18th 10am-5pm. Mark your calendars now~Be there! I made this humongous bowl yesterday, as well as all of these hand painted bags...

Here are some photos:

Here are some of the finished hand painted bags...


This is the HUGE bowl I made. It dwarfs my regular sized pin cushion!

Here's another shot next to my iron. I think it's almost 16" wide across the top...

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Some new art!

As I noted yesterday, I really have been doing some art through all the other craziness, so I wanted to post a few images. I'll probably put all images on my Facebook page...
This is the beginning of a new art quilt...still in progress. This is about 24 x 24 right now. I started this when my sister was in town and we actually stole some time to play in the studio!

A collage on Ampersand Claybord cradle

Another collage

This is a larger collage...18 x 24

One of 6 in a series of cards...

I am trying to focus on making items of all different sizes, both in collage and fabric for an upcoming show in September. Art in the Gardens will be held at Duke Hospital. I'll post more information about the show as I receive it. I'm working on lots of items now, because I know I'll be all twisted up in the prep of Art of the Carolinas at that time. Prepare now! Thanks for stopping by!

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Hello August!


My latest collage
Hello there blog friends! Hope this finds you all in the middle of absolute creativity heaven. I was there for the entire month of July. WOW! You know, this creative life is really a great one. I just can’t imagine a life any other way. We really have to take a moment every now and then and thank our Higher Power for all the gifts that are showered on each of us…


July was filled with family, friends, workshops, painting, sewing, tie dyeing t-shirts, a girls couple of days out to the beach, more workshops, show deadlines and openings, sales (yeh, sales!), demonstrations, lots of photo opportunities, laughter, love and exercise! Oh and some weed pulling and relaxing walks on the beach. That about sums up my July. I tried to cram everything in to this one little month and I think I did a fairly good job. Oh, and finishing up the Web site for Art of the Carolinas and getting the brochure (almost) to the printer. Actually, today is the day for that. But, if you want to save your spot NOW in the workshop you have to have in November, you can sign up now. Registration is well underway, so check it out.
Here are a few photos from July...

Fourth of July Feast
Matt Dog
Miss Bella
JP, Cindy Lou and Me
The Album Cover: Joe, Dougy, Carol and JP

Kera and Mike
Zach in a Nut Shell
In the pool at theAdams Luau
Bryan being normal again
A Stormy Night in Rodanthe
Getting ready to tie dye
Nick, DeShaun, Zach
Dougy in the Barn
Frankie's new mullet haircut
The three Amigas: Cindy Lou, Me and Lynn (Husetta)
Blue Chairs in Hatteras

Bonnie and Bella
  
What a wonderful family filled creative month! Bring on the next one, I'm ready!
I really did some more artwork, I swear!