Saturday, April 28, 2012

incubation


Here they are, forty or fifty half and third yard pieces of vintage damask of varying weights, a few pieces of high quality cotton muslin and a little linen. They will just be poaching out here in the sun until Friday. I've never set a lot of store by the notion of batching dyed goods; that is, giving them time to acquire color (or not). Several notable dyers have posited that whatever is going to happen will happen in two to four hours. Now we'll see what five days looks like.

Friday, April 27, 2012

Brewing a good time

the pieces of black damask and linen from yesterday came out just as I wanted them..the greenish cast in this photo is bounce from the outside lawn/trees light. The non color is dense and actually warm. Photographing anything made with this will be trixy.

Below is the wet table mopper from the session I just finished out on the dye deck. My current colors have been jacked up, doped sideways and titillated to the max. There is  Bloody Bordeaux, Monkeys Blood, Bile, several Blues from Beyond, Indigo Hell, Yell-ow and Grape Grotto among others.

The remaining vintage cloths are in the sauce waiting and tomorrow everything will be put together with Jazz & Heart and left to stew and fritter until I get back from New York on Friday. That's right folks..you read it correctly. Steeping for almost a week..a record for this hasty, impatient colorista.

And now to try to scrub the green off my feet so I can wear sandals on the plane..don't want to be accused of having something odd going on bodywise.

Thursday, April 26, 2012

blues on the line

Sure..hang things on the line and just watch the storm clouds gather. Oh well, what's one more rinse.

 I'm busy gathering bits and pieces for Jude's Contemporary Boro class that starts tomorrow. A thing on my mind will require some pieces of black and I have zero pieces of hand dyed black cloth, so, there's an experiment brewing out on the dyedeck right now. I mixed dry dye powders that no longer had readable lables...one said "JET something". Hope  it wasn't jet fuel. It looked black and got blacker as I blended in other things. Fingers crossed, results tomorrow.

bluebirds


Letting these drain off before a trip through the wash cycle. Out of superstition, I'll wash the yellow one separately, by hand.

Driving through the neighborhood yesterday I was reminded that we are infested with bluebirds here. If you take the time to notice, driving or walking, almost every little flit of wing is a flash of bright blue. It's a habitat thing -  there are older trees everywhere with lot's of nesting places and there must be something tasty out there that draws and keeps them.

And who knew that all these years we've been harboring an international film star  !!! He'll be starting his own blog before you know it.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

back to balmy

Ever the deviant, I scared m'self a bit and had to interject a little wackiness. I'll just leave these outside today to soak up the heat. No doubt,  I will go upstairs to the studio and unearth a big basket of blues later today. But first, a nap..it's been a busy day and will be a very late night. With a nod to the natural dyers out there...these jars were full of rainwater that had some algae getting started and some things swimming around  I when added the dye stock and cloth wet with soda ash.

I think I may be making another ocean.

Monday, April 23, 2012

stalled and shivering

not my pictures...just the colors in my head.


After working on putting fabric sets together for the store, I find I'm woefully short on blues...unless there's a basket in here someplace that I've overlooked. The one bright blue I did find was a piece of silk..almost no damask. Oversight!
These are the colors I wanted to go after this weekend past but the whole dyefest is on hold until later in the week when the temps return to normal. It feels like February!

Instead, this morning I have a handful of entry calls to look at and hopefully act on. It's been too long since I've put my work out for public consumption. Short of draping a quilt over the trunk of my car and driving around town, no one would know what I do these days. Sometimes I wonder myself.

For those who have asked about  the writing- it is stalled because the story I was working on has come unmoored. I had no real plan in the first place and nothing annoys me more than a story that spins into dust and leaves me scratching my head and being pissed off.  I know I can think my way through the mystery maze to a satisfactory ending but there are so many distractions right now. I used to scoff at the notion that writers need to sequester themselves away, like a stint in stir, in order to get anything worthwhile written. No more.

 Which leads me to watching "Drive" yesterday afternoon which  I really liked on a lot of levels BUT..without spoiling it I'll say what I always tell my husband when we finish watching a film that didn't resolve well..."Hollywood- they musta ran out of money or coke."

Sunday, April 22, 2012

out of the Wood

The day is fresh and breezy..too fresh to do anything on the dyedeck. I put a bunch of things into the soda ash solution last night in anticipation of a day spent working the colors but it's barely 70 and experience has taught me that I would be beyond aggravated with the results if I was expecting any thing other than pastels and I have Vivid and Exuberant colors on my mind.  I will abide. The summers in Georgia are long and hot and I have a few experiments in mind that call for dry fabric. Later I'll fish a few of the larger pieces out of the soup and hang them up to dry.

I'm finally taking a serious whack at getting the studio in order, drifts of finished work, UFOs and raw materials cavort unchecked. The guest bedroom will be opening up soon and I want to be ready to move.

 The morning task was to finishing re-photographing some older pieces and getting the store inventory in order. If I must say so, there are some inspired groupings and I re-cherry-picked the whole lot and kept a few more for my own purposes. That chore out of the way, and the big sewing machine unearthed, I pulled "The Wood" from the wall and faced it, envelope style, and while not completely sacrificing the wonkiness of the edges, it's ready for some quilting/embroidery.

Now I'm going to select some threads, load the little basket and find a comfy spot to sit and  stitch once the game comes on. 

Saturday, April 21, 2012

a day in the fiber mine


 
You're in for it now!

Eleven new sets, each prettier than the next, up and available today over at Random Acts of Dyeness. 

Now it's time to chill with a new book "the Story of Edgar Sawtelle". So far it makes me think of Annie Dillard. I'm hooked.

Later I'll be hand tossing my own pizzas for dinner ..sorry no film, it's not a pretty sight but the results are always tasty. I do promise to sweep the floor and turn off the ceiling fan before I begin.

an art day

Wait wait...did they win?

 I fell asleep in the middle of the game last night. yes 9-1. good on ya Bravos. Now I can carry on with my day once I finish this cup of coffee.

Had to set this piece aside last night because I was stitching while tired and twice stabbed m'self bloody and didn't want to have to wash the thing half finished. There 's not enough light to stitch by yet this morning so there are two large baskets of hand dyes  beside me for divvying up into new cloth burritos since the store is about wiped out (thank you!)

Here's hoping the temps lift out of the sixties later because I'd also like to get a new batch of cloth into the dyepots.

I had the most realistic and complex dream last night - the kind of dream where a long forgotten unfinished piece of business comes together with a bow on it as if written by some master storyteller. In the morning the world looks different.

Yesterday I was moved to silliness and tears repeatedly by both of these videos here and here

Thursday, April 19, 2012

great tool

When I took them up to the register and asked the price I can't recall if she said "69 or 88 cents each". All I could say was "I'll take them both!". I must have a half dozen measuring tapes snaking around the studio someplace not ever where I recall putting them.

A full 1.5" wide and .25" thick, this is an old school tool. If a teacher cut you a lick with one like this you would surely remember the lesson. These days, they would be jailed for assault.

With a tight, smooth grain I'll forgive the advertising and  store it over the door frame to keep it from warping or ask my resident carpenter to drill a hole so I can hang it up. 

Rush on down!

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

origins


This is what you do when you are trapped in place with nothing but a crochet needle and a ball of cotton string.

These are the originals. The softie on the left is my thread catcher and the one on the right was saturated with watery acrylic paint and now feels like a little wooden basket. I use it as a catch-all on my desk. These are a bit smaller than the ones I've been making lately.

Look what Deanna has done with hers!