Random Acts of Dyeness Renovation

I've come to terms with the need for working smaller and have decided that most of the pieces of hand dyed fabrics that I have for sale are probably more than anyone needs. They are more  than I need for sure.

To that end, I'll be overhauling the store -taking down some of the yard sized pieces, cutting them up and putting them together in project sized collections and groupings like this one. 
I've run out of ideas for naming things like this so I'm just going to run the alphabet..here's Archer.

battle banners

This unfinished piece is so large I have no place to hang it for pictures and here I missed the shade opportunity of shooting from the upper deck by about 10 minutes. I'm planning on a lot surface work with metallic textile paint to bring up all the stitched motifs that are lost from a few feet away. Think medieval, illuminated manuscripts, etc. The commercials for the new Robin Hood with Russell Crowe reminded me that this piece and Front Runner were designed as battle flags.

Store Update

It's time to let go.

I've posted several of the most recent pieces shown here for sale at

Hand Music Fiber Art

If you would like to see more images or have any questions including information about international sales and shipping, please email me.

deluge

By my mason jars on the deck we had about 4 inches of rain overnight. Enough to top off the pool and later today Jim will run the new pump for the first time now that the water level is where it needs to be. The frogs are so happy that we are not using the pool yet that they were up screaming about it all night long. With that and the thunder and lightning, sleep was scarce. 

beach

getting his bearings

For those of you who are following the Bear restoration, he can see where he's going now and his inner eye is on the game as well.  Mere buttons would not do here. A nice no-nonsense nose seemed in order. I'm still thinking about how I want the mouth to look but I have to get some new stuffing first and get him back to being 3D before any grinning or dental work is started.

silkwinds

I'm done stitching on this one - the base was starting to deform. I love working with the dyed silk.

It reminded me that I had a whole series of 3D pieces that evolved just so I could wrap them with a variety of transparent fabrics including a rainbow of sheer poly and some cotton lawn all stitched over stuffed damask "heart, livers and other uniformed body parts" .  More of this here

and here. I'm thinking of rounding these up and making them available.
Boy, do they take up a lot of space!

stitching silks

Here's a game's worth of stitching (minus a two inning nap) with some of the scraps of silk that I dyed earlier this morning. I've always been drawn to the possibilities of transparency no matter the medium. It can spell trouble for me, too many possibilities that is - like having the really huge box of crayons used to trouble me. I always felt like I had to use them all.

I held the line at just three colors of silk for this little sample which was supposed to be about getting used to handling and stitching silk and silk gauze.
Lesson one...I need a manicure - I keep snagging the gauze with my leathery finger tip!

silk experiments

This was a lot easier than coloring Easter eggs only no vinegar and no boiling water and no egg salad later.

It looks like like an extravaganza but these are little tiny shreds most no bigger than your palm. Replacement butterfly wings. I have to keep a watch or they will be blown away as soon as they are dry! Also need to go find the directions for the next step but I don't think there are any.

studio day?

Chores done, and a ballgame to look forward to this afternoon, if the rain holds off and IF I can stand to watch. The Braves lost an unprecedented 9 games in a row and the win last night almost felt like a fluke. It's been a horrorshow.

I'm going to see what happens in the studio this morning.  I can't wait to see how the new dyes work with the silks that came with them. As you can see, it works really well on hair.

The red bangs washed out just a bit to dark pink but my hair is tough as wire and doesn't hang on to anything for long. This gives a whole new thought to the Blue Haired Ladies.

The bear restoration process goes on, if slowly. I could go really outrageous of course but I don't think I want to stray too far from the innocence of the thing, pink as it as to it's soul.


The third eye was a given. Now to make the other two eyes different but compelling in their own way.

Kitty don't freak out!

I was recently gifted with a set of ColorHue dyes and while skipping through the directions saw that it works on Hair!  It's been a stressful "put your feet in the stirrups and scootch down day" so a whim got indulged without any forethought. My favorite way of being creative. "Fling it on the wall and see what sticks!"   It worked at least as well as I'd hoped but I just wished I had given a leetle bit more thought about my choice of colors before I jumped in. I'm about to find out just how permanent ColorHue dyes are.  

Meanwhile, the bear project creeps forward. I've decided that his (despite the pinkness of his body) face is going to have to offer him some protection  against future indignities and damage. Think KALI. There will be lots of teeth and definitely a third eye.  here's a sample.