Yes....I still do textile work! This piece is now ready for some hand stitching with some nice chunky natural linen thread. I surface designed all the cloth used in this piece by dyeing, gelatin printing, silk screening, breakdown printing, painting, discharging and/or a couple of other treatments that I can't remember right now.

Silk charmeuse scarves - breakdown screen printed and then over dyed. These scarves take a lot of time and effort to make. I was hoping to have 10 for the show next week but think I'll be very happy with only 5. I'm learning to not push myself quite as hard as I have in the past....trying to get keep joy in journey.

Saturday Morning

Quick post of the fabric piece I started this week. The black lines are actually shadows but I kind of like them so, perhaps, some dark fabrics will be inserted to replicate what the camera saw. Off to take a creative writing class today...more about that later...

Sweet Dye

Cotton fabric at the top and silk scarves at the bottom....all done up with desconstructive screen printing. I think I'm going to make some scarves using the same method I used on the cotton. Now it's time to go to the store and get something for dinner...it's been a busy day.

Organic

I fiddled around with fabric this afternoon and came up with this. The base is deconstructive screen printed cloth with dyed and painted silk organza pieces laid over top. I have just discovered Misty Fuse. Why did I not listen to all the other artists who use it...like before now? It's wonderful stuff.

Titles - much like beauty - are in the eyes of the beholder

Awhile back I painted on a design on a screen using thickened dyes. I let it dry on the screen and then pulled soda ash paste across the screen. This technique is called desconstructive screen printing. The mother of this technique is Kerr Grabowski (please click on her name to see some fabulous work!). Last night I finished all the hand stitching, etc on the piece. This is a very happy piece and reminds me of crop circles or labyrinths or ameobas. Take your pick!

Project 1

I have decided to methodically do the projects in the back of Jane Dunnewold's book Complex Cloth. I've tried a zillion different surface altering techniques but this weekend realized that a more organized approach might be beneficial and help me to build up some stock.
This is project one which consisted of: dyeing cotton, then discharging it, then overdyeing it, then stamping it and screen printing it with textile paint. The final touch is gold foiling. If you click on the photo is will get larger and you can better see all the layers.

Process

Here are some photos of wip's (work in progress) of some deconstruction screen printing I did this morning.

This is dye print paste painted on a screen.
This shows the first pull that was done on cotton.

This is the second pull that was done on silk.

And this is the third pull done on another piece of silk. All three are now cooking by the woodstove.

Was able to get some dyeing/printing done yesterday. I do like how these came out. I call the top piece 'tunnel', the middle piece 'path' and the bottom piece 'door'....a traveling theme....

Available

This scarf is available to a good home! It's 100% silk - soft and dreamy with a beautiful drape. It measures about 72x14". It's been dye print pasted using my hand cut stencils, deconstructive printed and over dyed. Price is $45. Please email me if you're interested.

Another silk scarf done with deconstructive screen printing and then over dyeing. This one is very subtle. Going to try another one today. I will only have a few for the show next weekend but it is what it is!

Holiday Show

Between stuffing turkeys and cleaning the house (are you proud of me?) it has been a hectic week. But yesterday all the guests were gone, the house was quiet and I was able to get some work done. I have a show next week and I'm pedaling as fast as I can! The top piece is dyed fabric overlaid with dyed silk organza and hand stitching. The scarf was created with desconstructive screen printing. It is luscious, even if I do say so myself.

Good weekend jujus everyone!

Hearts Galore

I stayed up way too late last night working on this. It began life as a piece of deconstructive screen printed cloth that I stamped with textile paint. It's not quite finished. I need to add a bit more quilting and some hand stitched accents. It may also get another piece of blueish cloth somewhere on the right side.

Today looks like it will be a great Sunday. We're meeting some friends to go see a local theater production of The Odd Couple. This theater operates on a shoestring and features only actors from the local area. It is always a fun experience and costs about the same as seeing some overproduced Hollywood blockbuster movie.

Support your local arts!