chaos, ordered up

I spent most of yesterday morning reordering the studio so I can start the machine work on the new piece. Poor Big J hasn't been put through his paces since the last time I had it serviced. The room is a bit cramped but highly functional...warning ..DO NOT open those closet doors!  Order is nice.

the rush!

Don't know how or why but there's a rush on at the store!
The sale is ongoing, buy one get the next 10$ off . and there's still a nice selection.

Picnic

results

Here's what's come of yesterday's work overdyeing and discharging the black and white pieces that turned up gray and green. The surprise of the whole lot? All the way on the left is a small piece of a big piece of cloth that I picked up at OHCO on the weekend.

 I bought it because it was light enough (beige originally) to dye and the jacquard pattern was bold and interesting but once I handled it, it  was so stiff with some upholstery chemical stain protection that I gave up all hope of dyeing and bought it for backing cloth.

 I cut a foot wide strip to use as a stabilizing base under the damasks as I painted them then I noticed it was wicking up the dye gradually.  After dyeing and discharging it has turned out to be so full of character and potential that  I called Jan to stop by the shop and see if the other large piece of it was still there. dumped in a bin like so much trash. $3 a pound.

taking another tack

The beautiful new cloths suffered in  a failed attempt at a neutral black. After batching a whole hot day they were crawling with green blooms. Rather than moan over it  I dreamed a plan that includes overdye and discharging. There are in the colors right now.

There are tons of cloth in the world still waiting and these will be just as special as others I have worked on, not failures...it was only the experiment that ran off the rails.

committing large

This one is all hand basted but last night I dreamed about stitching it on the machine. Successfully combining machine and hand stitching in a large piece is my next great challenge. Arlee is going to be my go-to guru here as she has mastered the trick as far as I'm concerned.

I did some research on how long "Consolation"  took me to finish and at that rate, this new piece might not see an end until next Spring if  I do it all by hand.  No sacrifices or compromises here, just adaptations that will work on larger pieces.

There were great gifts and finds this weekend too. JR and I made a stop at OHCO in Covington and, dumped in a holding pen in the parking lot, I came across a few large expanses of a remarkable cloth that you will be seeing soon...next on the design wall, for sure.

When I finally got home there was a package with several of the most exquisite pieces of my all time favorite fabric, vintage cotton damask and what I call huck. Thank you so much Nancy! As soon as the weather dude promises me a hot, dry day, these will be taking part in the great BLACK DYE experiment.  More the the yet undiscovered Karma piece which I am slowly sneaking up on. Clink on these pictures to appreciate the  workmanship that went into them.

loose on the town

This weekend has been all about a good change of pace for me - away from work, the day job and the fiber studio.

These are my two best friends, Jan and Jan. Although I am not an introvert, I tend to be an insular person and I don't get out with like minded individuals so often that I don't recognize how special these times and friends are.

 Jan K has a friend and neighbor who frequently bestows her with Braves season tickets which she shares with me when I can free up my schedule. How could I not in Chipper Jones last season? It was a strange Friday 13th at the park, with all the luck running to amazing and serendipitous. The skies were abrew with heavy thunderstorms but not a drop fell all evening. The entire ballpark was darkened by a 16 minute power failure in the 2nd inning and not a soul in the place went Zombie crazy and acted up. We had great seats, great food and great company in the people who came out on a threatening evening to love on their team, watch them beat the NY Mets  AND the best fireworks I have seen since the bicentennial events in NY!

Saturday I spent the day with my other BF Jan.
We did time together at AT&T..only other former AT&T operators and call center employees could really appreciate that.  This day out will be our last for some time to come since she is taking an amazing opportunity to move to CA and be a part of her son's growing family while he returns to school. Although I will miss her, I can't help but be thrilled for her, she loves the SF Bay area so...and now I will have the ultimate excuse visit the west coast.

jazzworking

why can't I remember how much better it always is with music? I could hardly nap I was so frothing to get on with this one..changes upon changes.  FYI it's about 42" high.

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?