more dyepainting

the scene of the crime

and the perpetrators hand. she wore gloves to no avail.

results from yesterday (tepid to boring)

One of the things I like about dyeing cloth is that you get several chances to have your way with it via over dyeing, discharging or painting it. Problem number one is usually knowing what the heck you were looking for in the first place. It is very easy to lose sight of the goal when you are caught up in (or stumbling through) process.

 I've always struggled with choosing between different extremes with everything - with the middle ground always boring me to tears as a place to be avoided. Here we have middle ground 1 & 2 . Back to the burning dye deck

and thanks this morning to Nancy Natale for reminding me about Joan Mitchell.

something different for friday

gratuitous cat graphic

It's 'doo deciding where to spend the day chilling.

It's going to be another blazing day today so I decided to take advantage of getting up with the chickens (who work in construction and leave while it's still dark) and seize on the dreams of archipelagos that filled my night.

I've been wearing earplugs in an effort to quell tinnitus and I think my brain hears the sound of my own heartbeat and blood rushing and thinks it's the surf breaking somewhere close by.

I'm starting with hot soy wax..the cloth is not presoaked with soda ash so some areas will take the dye less fiercely than others where I've mixed dye and SA,  something I rarely do.

There are two owls out there in the trees and I swear they are singing "Who are you, who who, who who?" 

dye+soda ash applied directly to the cloth and wax. those discs are rounds of clear glass intended to act as a resist to the next step but I have my doubts. I should have stuck them down with more was but I ran out.

last step, bring on the ocean via a spray bottle filled with dye and soda ash solution.

Cleanup is going to be hell but I'm just going to let this one dry completely before I even try to move it.  There are three more panels all about 5'x5' -  but I've got the whole weekend ahead to expand on this path.

Happy Birthday Colin

Colin modeled a bit when he was a baby.  How could he not, as cute as this and he was a laughin' fool the minute anyone broke out a camera.

The day came for a TV commercial try out for the Glow Worm toy.
Colin was very small and his almost invisible blondness made him look more a baby than the running toddler he was at a only year old.
 
When we got to the shoot in NYC  they sat him up on a raised dais - cameras, lights and people everywhere. Colin was unflappable. The toy company exec, the photographer, the director and all the support people fussed over how adorable and perfect the baby was for their plans.

I stood back as an assistant showed him the toy. You squeezed it's belly and the face would light up. He showed it to Colin and demonstrated it's magic.
Colin smiled obligingly, squeezed it a few times and then looked up and said very clearly for the whole room to hear "This is a stupid toy".

The director fell back clutching his heart, the client walked out and everyone else was peeing themselves and smothering laughter.  It was hysterical. No one expected such a little baby to have such a big mouth.

The AD picked Colin up gingerly and handed him to me like he was radioactive and said "He's a little too articulate for our needs today, thank you".

We had ice cream before boarding the train for the suburbs and I had to scold him on the ride home for rumpusing  and disturbing the sleepers. On reflection, the sugar rush was my fault. Modeling was not fun anymore. Thus ended our career in TV. 

(in case you haven't figured out the vintage of this story, these pictures were taken in 1981)

yeah, yeah, the script needs work

diversions

I've finished the second "Rêver" and would make more but there were only two armrest covers on that couch and I'm not ready to skin it for the rest of the upholstery...although who would miss cloth taken from the back to the wall?

To keep from tearing down the trail with my eyes closed on another project, I've committed to finishing off a fling I started a while back...miles of white quilting are ahead, enough to keep me out of trouble I hope.

This one will be a warm up for the Islands  now that I have a better idea of how they should be built.