I posted this as a work in progress awhile ago. Yesterday I plunged it into a deep navy dye bath...yes after it had been painted and then stitched with batting....and then added the binding today. Kind of looks like one of those Hubble telescope photos, doesn't it?

I have been so busy this past week getting many pieces ready for the Danforth Museum of Art gift shop (yes, they want more) I haven't had time to blog post. This piece is cloth that I deconstructive screen printed and am now hand stitching. I was going to add more layers of dye but there was something about the simple nature of the first printing that made me leave it be. I really admire artists that are able to render their visions in works that are clean in design. Of course I also admire artists whose work is so filled with detail and stuff going on that it draws you in to keep looking and looking. Heck, I am an 'art harlot'...I love it all....

Maybe some day soon I'll have the time and inspiration to post a very thought provoking, intelligent or witty entry into this blog. But for now, I must post and run....this is a small study I did last night....painted and foiled cloth with silk ribbon, painted cheesecloth and glass beads.

This isn't stitched together yet and I want to add some other fabrics but...so far....I like where this is going.

With a big thank you to Rayna I'm having a bit of success with deconstructive screen printing. This piece started with a layer of red print paste that was imprinted on a screen with the use antique wooden textile blocks then, after the print pasted screen was dry, I used soda ash paste to push it through the screen to transfer the dye onto the fabric. Then I wrapped the fabric in plastic and let it cook in the sun until completely dry. Next step was to rinse and wash the fabric.

While this first layer was 'cooking' I prepared the next screen by imprinting golden brown print paste onto the screen creating images with the use of commercial stamps. After the print paste dyed on this screen I printed it over the first layer of the red printed fabric.

Many steps but well worth the effort and once you're comfortable with the process you'll realize how easy it is to do and how it can be done in segments over the course of a day, a week or a month.

Two tiny, little ATC's. I wonder how a bunch of ATC's joined together as an assemblage would look?

Pumpkins and Wings

The top piece is a pastel painting I did last night in the kitchen with the wood stove burning and homemade applesauce cooking on the stove - really! Appropo, don't you think?

The bottom piece is a sample of some deconstructive screen printing I did over the weekend. I love this image.