Persistence in method and material

This is "Skin Keeps Us In" from 2006 and at the bottom, one of my "Ornamental Innards" a foray into soft 3D also in '06.

I've decided to call this compositional process "cat herding" for obvious reasons. Comes as no surprise to me that it's a place I like to go - organizing a group of small and not necessarily compatible elements.

We spend a lot of energy in this household doing just that. Who's in, who's out, who ate or not, who's fighting - and that's only a herd of 3.

Both of these pieces have a lot of a large damask tablecloth that I ripped into quarters and dyed.  I can't recall the larger motifs but the tiny dots woven into the cloth are everywhere in my work.

That little patch of blue on the piece I'm working on now came from that tablecloth and "As Yet Unbaptized" has some of it too.

There is almost nothing left of it.

not just imagining threadpainting

Feeling much better today. Being recently under the weather gives me a good excuse to avoid big issues like pressure washing the pool. Instead, I spent most of the day working on making this come to life. Unlike Jude, I have no patience for silk's delicate sulkiness and am only too happy to pinch it, stab it into submission and then nail it into place with a million little thrills. Much related to my new job, I have a new appreciation for my Janome.

Mmm mmm good.

Some outstanding results of a process that involves dirty rock salt . This is going straight into the private stock. We're expecting some wicked weather shortly so I decided to hatch these out early, wash and dry them and then scuttle upstairs to the studio and get to work.

No Spring in Georgia

Anyone who's read my blog for any length of time knows that my time of year has arrived. I don't care if that water is only 60 degrees, I will be in it tomorrow afternoon. Maybe Friday. This is one of those quilted bags that have gotten so trendy and overpriced. I just don't understand how something that I bought for half price in the grocery store (because no one else wanted a bright yellow quilted mini duffle) got to be such a hot fashion accessory. This poor bag has spent most of it's life being mauled by the TSA or housing a sleeping cat. It was pretty tired looking so I broke out the scrap bowl and starting making it over bit by bit. I hope it will be fit to travel again soon.

warm up continued.

"Frida Brings Home the Bacon" Any of you who are addicted to watching the barn owl cams will appreciate this one. After the mayhem and cannibalism of last season I only peek in from time to time. Still, nature's ongoing drama is compelling. I've jumped up to a 12"x12" format playing with shapes and space. Still very aware that the details and patterns of the much of the fabric that I have just made will not translate or work for much larger pieces. I might have to (gasp) make some more fabric with just big stuff in mind but the trouble is, in the past those pieces have become whole cloth pieces as I am unable to break down the dye painted design elements. Start with smaller pieces of fabric?

Avalanche of Fabric

I've just finished shooting and posting 16 new pieces of fabric to Like Hotcakes. Making them was a whole lot more fun and there's a lot more to do. Take a look -> Of course I kept as least as much for my own stash. I'll post the pictures of that tasty stuff as they come into the palette for projects. It's wonderful to take a piece off the line, iron it and start daydreaming about how it will work with X, Y or Z who are waiting to get on with the work. I was rooting around in boxes in the ex- studio and found another damask tablecloth that had been dyed by some lunatic. It called out for soy wax and overdyeing so that's been added to the morning agenda.

Rust Never Sleeps

Lately, neither do I for any extended period of time. You would think I would need a good night's sleep after yesterday. After I finished drying and folding all the new fabric, I decided it would be a sin to waste the beautiful weather ironing.Instead, I got busy with the annual Cleaning of the Pool, easily on a par with the Cleaning of the Aegean Stables.

This year I beat the tree frogs to their egglaying but they were not too busy to hang around on the walls of the pool kibbitzing as I worked. In the foreground, Jim's cast iron frying pans are hard at work rusting a couple of pieces of fabric that got left behind. The studio is in chaos with piles of fabric everywhere waiting to be worked on. Tomorrow.

Chag Sameach - Happy Passover !

wash day was never like this

This beats using a dryer any day but I'm real glad that I didn't throw out my old ironing board. You know, the kind you can adjust for ironing while sitting. My grandmother is spinning in her grave. The rusty business in the middle here is one of my favorites. The spotty looking things are in a preliminary state. Painting comes next. Some of these things look like skins taken from non-terrestrial beings. My "Custom Blood" recipe worked out quite nicely. I usually don't dally much with reds unless they are close to neutral. From the sublime to the ridiculous. All delicious.

FIBERcrack!

The making of it anyway! After I get home from the office today I'm going to be incommunicado for a while. I forgot how much fun magik-making was. left - Worlds Away 25"x18" below - Mystic Cheerioz 17"x23"

Fizzy Fat Quarters

I returned to the studio last night and started rummaging through all the wonderful commercial cottons I was recently gifted with. My intention for these fabrics is to transform them any way I can. These two fat quarters have been discharged and then hand painted with textile paint with some iridescent powder mixed in for sparks. They've been heat set and I don't really want to see if they are wash fast since my intention is to use them only for Art pieces that will never be washed or dried. The base fabrics are all excellent quality cotton that you will probably recognize if you look hard enough. As these accumulate and strike my fancy (or not) I will start moving them over to Like Hotcakes! where they will be for sale.

Juicy bits

Okay - here's what excites me about dyeing my own fabric. This black is just like most black horses - from a distance they look inky. Step up close to pat a flank and you discover that their color is more likely a layer of dark brown, rusts, with black dusted over the top. In this instance, iridescent paint too. Behind that one is one of the two rusted pieces that came out so well. The teal damask has an overlay of iridescence too.Impossible to photograph but still gorgeous.

Then again there's a fool at every party!

Personal Archeology

I'm worn out and not entirely thrilled. It's a real mixed bag of results. Some of the things that I already know won't suit the work I have in mind are posted for sale on my Like Hotcakes blog. The second day of hand dyeing is all about the hard work - the serious cleanup, the rinsing, washing, drying, ironing, measuring, documenting....yada yada, on and on. There are a few jewels still rumbling around in the dryer waiting to pick up my spirits later on. While I was rooting around in one of my directories looking for old hand dye images to delete, I found this one from early 2006. The imagery got me thinking about the work that I want to be doing. I have no idea what became of the fabric. Hacked up into something no doubt.

First Fruits

What's this, you say? Some kind of bread dough complete with mold? Nope. It's a yard of vintage cotton damask hatching out a sprinkling of rock salt (which actually had rocks in it!) coated with a variety of dye powder colors. Yesterday during a particularly slow Braves game I just couldn't stand looking at all that fabric waiting for color. I left it stewing in the soda ash solution since Tuesday as it has been just too cold and wet outside for dyeing. Wet is OK but cold is a no-no. Here it is after wash, dry and iron. I also gave the rusted pieces a thorough cleaning. I made two of each of these pieces with the intent of doing some further surface design stuff to them. Some soy wax, some overdye - who knows. Today is going to be the first sunny day in a week! Today the colors get mixed and the real fun begins.

FOF08 - Lawrenceville Frankenstein Dyeworx- day 1

All right folks - daylight's awastin'. I know my awfully early ways aggravated my immediate neighbors at FOF last year but for me, sleeping in is not an option. As I begin my own studio week, one of the things I'll appreciate is having my assistants close at hand. If I can get the Black dye the way I want it, I will be making some cloth in Karma's honor. Such pretty patterns. I did this yardage last night while watching the Braves home opening game. No idea what becomes of Sharpie markings through the rest of the dye/discharge process but I'll find out. The first order of business this morning will be making a big tub of soda ash solution. We are expecting thunderstorms here all day so I'll be inside working the soy wax at the kitchen table. There is also a bundle of cloth, vinegar and rusty frying pans outside that has to be opened and inspected. Is color taking a back seat this year? I dont' think so. Although I have been in a black/grey state of mind for a spell, I'm counting on the dyes to bring me back to myself. C0lor mixing begins later today! Thunder and lightning be damned.