B&W in heavy weather

I had a two hour dinner break from work this evening.

The trees are thrashing about under darkening skies and the thunder and lightning are getting very serious. Power will probably go soon. We made up cold salads for dinner and I gobbled mine like a prison inmate and ran outside to get a few more pieces painted. All the while "George Harrison - Living in the Material World" playing in the background.

I scored a beautiful linen dress at GW today - here's one half of the front, the buttonholes ranked down the right side. There was also an enormous cotton lawn skirt..yards of white cloth, thank you Queen among women, and a teeny tiny white party dress..something a hooker might wear to a christening maybe. Halter top, peek a boos around the waist and a short flounced skirt, all in white cotton with tiny dots fuzziness woven all through.

All of them deconstructed and plunged into the sauce for further contemplation and action tomorrow. 

sad to say both of these were spoiled by my haste and optimism. It rained a lot harder than expected and too much water too soon smooshed paint and dye excessively...

thinking along those lines

I'm   starting to think about a Karma cloth.

I wanted more contrast that just dye would give me so I reworked these pieces with textile paint. My bag in the foreground  tells me how hard it's going to be for me to stick with just black and white so I'm not going to force the issue.
 
Spent a little while last night snapping the fuzz out of the latest batch of dyed cloth. With all those raw, torn edges why am I amazed at the amount of lint generated.  I even made bold with the iron for  while to seek out the true nature of some of the sorrier looking pieces.
 
Like civilized folk, we even had company for a little while. It was nice to see Jake and Missy.


( I do not put blue dye in my pool)

finishing

I took advantage of the morning light to start the homestretch on Consolation. It's been trimmed, hemmed, fitted and generally civilized yet maintains it's original wildness. For me, being pleased with the journey of a piece is as strong as the satisfaction of finalizing it. I would guess that the proliferation of UFOs comes from when the artist, myself included, loses sight of this core idea, usually by letting the process or the materials take control. It's a constant battle.

I let both of them, process and materials, get the better of sense yesterday by spending several hours out on the dyedeck when it was too damn hot, again. The sky was overcast, in fact there was even a rain shower for a while, but the heat got the best of me and some stupid and ugly things came out of it. I didn't pay attention when a new discharging agent leaked into my left glove and  I reaped a mild chemical burn over most of my palm.  The cloth...a mixed bag of mutts that will need further work, but not today.

I've started staring at some of the latest pieces from the ongoing dyefest. I thought I'd never see that Bonnie Blue again since it's been discontinued but apparently I've hit on the right blend of who knows what snip of sky and dash of deep blue sea. You'll be seeing a lot more of this color in my work. It pulls me like the sound of the surf.

While I was cleaning the pool this morning (must be in it to do a proper job) I was joined by a hitchhiker who plopped coldly onto my shoulder as I passed by the ladder. I wonder if he was one of the jillions tadpoles that I've rescued from the pool cleanings over the years?

a working 4th

My July 4th is probably a bit different than most folks. As a veteran of the phone company and the current employee of another round the clock operation, I'm accustomed to working on most of the major holidays. So it will be today. I will hear the local fireworks and give thanks for the drenching rain we had yesterday but keep my fingers crossed that some yahoo won't set fire to the neighborhood with illegal fireworks.

Knowing that the shank of the day would be taken up listening to people lie, complain, and whine, I officially set down the burden of judgement and started my day with a little creativity by rebooting my dye palette. I did a few direct dye painted pieces and left them in sun to bake.

They are all sparkly and intense while wet but don't get too excited. Experience has taught me that this method of applying dye results in weak, washed out colors. It's OK though cause I have a PLAN. It's all about the lines and shapes much more than the colors or lack thereof. Look, even the Table-moppers are having a good time.