experimenting with the ether elements

Bear in mind that this is A. still wet B, a sample only so the work and dyes are rather random and C. the full shrinkage hasn't taken place yet.

I used shaped pieces of a heavy plasticized open mesh i found at the dollar store, buttons and a piece of plastic strapping tape (i have miles from the fresh shipments at the flower mines if anyone wants any), then i randomly meander quilted most of it, adding a few hand stitches here and there, through the main areas and through one of the meshed shapes as well.

Here are my technically astounding, incredibly detailed and thoroughly researched notes from doing the sample:

Do not hurt yourself attempting this stunt. Management will not be held responsible for any damages, hurt feelings or accidentally swallowed dye that you thought was old coffee. (What, yours is never green?)

When this is finished batching, i will wash in HAWT water and spin dry, then see how much shrinkage and texture is produced. And if the colour stuck, as i always have problems---even when i do follow technically astounding, incredibly detailed and thoroughly researched notes from actual dyers.

Update on Wed, December 2, 2009 at 4:20PM by arlee

As it dries, the threads are revealed more. I used copper to outline and hold the plastic shapes:

Update on Wed, December 2, 2009 at 4:58PM by arlee

OOPS, this is cotton layered on top of a shrinkable cotton, with the plastic, buttons and strapping tape trapped between for the stitching--sorry!

"lemonade" dyeing

What happens at the Stately Barr Manor when a pot boils over? Scroo the paper towels and dishrags: throw a chunk of dyeable cotton on top!!! Lemon situations demand lemonade making!

I *know* the depth of colour is not going to stay like this,  but after heat setting, then washing we'll see what happens. Liking all those feathery paths the liquid has taken. I'm on my way to see Karin for coffee and am leaving this with a note for Greyman "please don't move this mess"----actually, being a smart man and used to my ways, he would just figure it was "important" and not touch it anyways!

fantastic dyed backgrounds

I love dying cotton flannellette. Like velvet, it has a distinct nap, but unlike its uptown sister, the direction of the pile is indiscernible. I have immersion dyed some pieces, but this is my favourite technique with it. Spray dying means saturation rates are different depending on how heavy the application is. Some of the dye will seep down its "fur", some sits on top, which means a variety of different  effects are possible.

Cotton flannellette is one of those utilitarian poopoo not fancy fabrics that is with us through our lives, from diapers and swaddling blankets to pyjamas, nighties and sheets. How can you not love it? It cries out for hand stitching as well: machine stitching works but doesn't have the same satisfying depth to it. Working with it is a tactile experience that is comforting and exciting at the same time.

These pieces below are from the "shop towels" i bought at Princes Auto. Not as high a quality, but the sheerness of them, due to the lower thread count, means the hand is lighter as well. The threads separate easily on a raw edge, an advantage if one wants to then use those threads for stitching back in or couching them, or dyeing them separately.

And they make a great resist if you're using a spray bottle of dye! Lay some in a grid:

Spread some out in tangles, knots included:

The detail can be very fine:

Lay more tangles and torn strips on top and spray again:

YUMTH factor to the nth:

Scrunch up the pieces themselves and spray again, lightly:

DElishus!

 

These were done with fuschia, scarlet and golden yellowy orange, all in Procion. I had done severaal with over the counter dyes (Rit and Tintex) and the colours were almost "smoky", a  reaction that implies (to me) that the OTC's weren't "saturated" enough and don't penetrate as much. Still lovely though!

Several pieces with both dyes were used in "Baby XX80XY" back in March of this year:

The hot colours are the Procion, the cooler are the OTC dyes. This wasn't a deliberate choice in usage for the colours, it was an expedient way of using the dyes i had on hand--all my Procions are hotter colours! I've since remedied that, but realized that the black and the olive i have chosen to use next are classified as "warm" versions--must be a subconscious thing :}

 I have a more "expensive" version of this fabric "on the table" and will be trying the same technique with it. I figure the colours will be even richer because of the density of the thread count and the pile. YUM.

mmmmmmmmmmmmorannnnnnge

more info and warbling on about this later. have a garden and yard that need some attentions :}

scouring, part b, and some results

Well, was there scum on top of the pot when it was done? Nope, but the water was a pale pale greenish colour and there was a little bit of fine silty white residue in the bottom. Guess that proves that even bleached, washed and well rinsed fabrics can still have something left in/on them no matter how clean they appear.

Did things shrink? Meh, maybe a minimal amount, neglible though, as these had been washed in a home setting before.

Did it change the hand at all? Nope. A hypersensitive person might think so, particularly if they had allergies to common cleaning agents used in laundry pursuits, but i'm not worried about that for my purposes.

Things are soaking now in various colours.

Results in part c, coming soon to a blog near this.

not scowling, scouring, part a

 Tonight i put to test the new big pot. It holds 10L of water but i filled it only a third full with these:

I didn't go out and deliberately buy these; in my stash already from top to bottom, a good quality cotton flannelette, the shop towel flannelette, cotton sheeting and a miscellaneous eyelet embroidered piece. All have been previously washed.

I have the same amounts unscoured, as "controls", and am going to see if it makes any difference with the Rit and Tintex dyes. I do love Procion, but sometimes just wanna mess with easier methods and less chemical fuss and cost. Why am i doing this? Curousity plain and simple--if i can use less spendy dyes and still get good to reasonably exciting results, i can do more dyeing. No, these dyes aren't as lightfast or as fade resistant, but so what? Even if anything made with these results becomes an "heirloom", well, it's in the nature of an heirloom to be faded and vintagey! HA, take that, you purists.

The nice thing too about this pot is that filled only partly, things do not bubble over. It does get very hot though all the way up!

results of the compost dyeing

Possibilities, but ultimately, not that exceptional this go round. I won't give up though. Next time, more light, items placed more evenly and planned rather than strewn piles and puddles. Would something that attracts molds help? Sugar? Something sticky and easily molding to begin with like mushy fruit? A lot of what if's to consider here. Patterning with the raw materials? At least it's an easy experiment process: do it and leave it.

I had only one area i found interesting. Do you think i can remember what was on that section though? Watermelon? Cherry pits?

For the most part, it was black mold stains and bits of rust that had dropped from the layering above.

Ah well. At the very least i have some naturally dyed base fabric for something subtle. Is that word even in my artistic lexicon though? I knew i wouldn't get dramatic colourings or markings as that's not the nature of this, but still...kind of a numb blah result i think.

Tomorrow i'll check on the rusting flower grate---it's starting to show the pattern, but i added another dollop of vinegar and moved it to a sunnier spot to cook more. If *that* works, i will be quite happy.

Raggedy Black Heart, lessons learned, compost dyeing

I've taken 5 days off in a row from hand stitching, so hopefully my finger won't be as a'painin' and this will start coming together!

Not much done yet, and not terribly exciting yet either :} but as i work on it, the ideas are coming.

I'm going to add text to this one--i was looking through my "mark making" sketchbook and found pages i had created back in late October of last year.   (I'll dig the pages out when i collect all my remaining belongings from the ACAD studio.) I have the words to a song that K wrote in his happier, however fleeting, sober days, and will use that as the poetry here. I think given the subject matter and feel of this, the words are very appropriate. I don't mean this to be a tribute piece or a warning: it's just happened as it's happened. Sometimes the subconscious, the ether, the settling of karma, or whatever it is turns your art psyche crank, insists on being heard. This looks like a dark work, but it's respect and sorrow that prompts it from somewhere down in the past. I had a question from a reader about "the shoe polish sandwich"---yes, it was exactly that. Shoe polish has a low alcohol content, but smearing it between two slices of bread makes it more palatable, i guess; K had progressed in his disease to the point of "wet brain" and anything that had alcohol was fair game, akin to the lysol drinkers......Here's a glass to you, K, one that won't hurt......

I've also realized that given the "dark" nature of this piece, i will have to be working on something else brighter and a little frivolous to clear my head!

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The residency at ACAD is almost over. Clean out of the studios is next Sunday. I won't be participating in the end of summer exhibition---i couldn't get enough work done to have anything i'd show. I learned a hard and expensive lesson with this---i simply can't divide my time and energy between a home studio where i have everything i need (and readily accessible coffee and garden!), and a separated by distance and focus work area. When i wanted something, it was always at the other place. I spent more effort dragging stuff back and forth (when i could go) than the work actually required, and started feeling stretched thin and "put upon"--there was little point of focus anymore.....getting requisite supplies was problematic as well, with having to mail order and then meet up with whomever had received it. I'm not sure if i'll do it again without a LOT of planning. Depending on myself should have been the order of the day from the beginning, another lesson learned. Still, i'm glad i took the opportunity, however little i actually accomplished--if i hadn't, there would have been big "what-if's" plaguing  me and a sense of loss somehow. I'm a little disappointed in myself, but resolute that i did the right thing by trying, however ineffectual. Apparently i did learn quite a bit then...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's been almost a month since i started the compost lasasgna on its epic microbiotic journey. Today i dug it up, and sluiced it off to see what was happening. I figured if it wasn't terribly exciting, i could always layer it up and start it again. Well, it looks like *something* happened to it. I'll spare you the photos of stinking mud, liquescing sludge and tiny tiny wiggling-ass worms! It's in the washing machine as we speak, so we'll see what happens. And for those of you going EEEEUUUUWWWWWW, yes i handwashed the shit out of it FIRST before i threw it in old Faceful. If it's not as pleasing as i think it's going to be, back to the compost pile, this time in a sunnier spot with less blocking the top lightwise. Does mold and decomp of this sort maybe need more light?

Pics when it's outa the 'chine.

I scored a heavy duty 9L metal pot at Princess Auto. I'm going to scour some fabrics properly and see what that does for the "over the counter" Rit and Tintex dyes. Greyman is hesitant about me boiling fabric for an hour, but is curious enough to put up with it----he's worried it will "smell"--if it does, then i think i'm doing the right thing getting rid of anything in the fabric! I'm wondering if it will make a difference in the sometimes softer/weaker results with these dyes.

Yumth Factor

I was given my "share" of the fabric that had been silkscreened at Siri's workshop. Oh warmth and yumth :}

Above is the large piece we all did, with a yellow overscreening at the very end. The one below Siri did with the leftovers without a final screen over--look at the difference---same colours, same motifs:

Think i might add an overdye myself, but not sure what colour.

I also learned the other day how much personal space is respected in the "home" studio/office at the school---the last time i was there i'd taken a fresh red pepper for snacking on, and left half, not knowing that it would be a couple of weeks before i returned. In that time, the pepper sat on my desk, first getting softer and collapsing, then liquescing ----and sticking my threads container to the desk---and then it mummified. No one touched it. No one moved it. Maybe they thought it was part of the art :}

It is perfect and beautiful:

Somehow, the two, fabric and pepper, will come together as a design and finished piece.

planting the garden dyeworks

 

Today was yard work day for Greyman and i. While he mowed, i dug up a 5 x 9 foot section just behind the garage, out of the way, also leaving room for a wild flower section and freeing up some old straggly rhubarb as well.  The soil on this property is rich and wormy and black and sexy, and such a pleasure to dig! See what i've planted?

The fabric is about 3x4 feet. I wet it thoroughly, laying it on the dirt directly, slopped all kinds of gooey liquescing kitchen "waste" on it, everything from watermelons and lettuce to coffee grounds, tea bags, and lemon and ginger bits, sprinkled more dirt on it, then soaked and covered it with plastic.

The plastic was big enough that i could layer again a piece of fabric, my flower grate, fold the fabric over, plastic, then another layer of fabric, the fabulous rusty bits i found by the railroad tracks, and more plastic on top weighted with a stray peony cage. Hey, i invented compost dyeing lasagna!!!!!

The hard part is going to be letting it do its thing for the next couple of weeks, without disturbing it. I don't know how long the decomposing and molding takes, so that will be the last layer revealed. And hopefully, the neighbours will never guess what is under there, doing microbiotic work!

I'm trusting the harvest this season will be luscious and bountiful. And that the neighbours are down wind.

And next week, the indigo shop gets opened in the basement. I decided to bring home the chemicals and supplies i bought. I can't find two days in a row at the school to do this and am getting totally frustrated. And what else should a basement like ours be used for? We don't own a lot to store down there, it's bright and cool and away from the cats and any of our messes stuff, so won't be disturbed.

Speaking of chemicals and dyes, do you know how hard it is to get decent textile arts supplies in good ol' Calgary??????? All the indigo stuff had to come from Vancouver, whether by mail, or picked up in person by another residency artist who happened to be going there. Textile paints and dyes are near impossible to find in any of the art supply stores, and if they have any, it's a small, basic (or weird) selection. And half the time if you see something you're not familiar with, they don't know how to use it either...i still have  a very expensive bottle of Bronze Fragonard pigment that no one can can clearly tell me how to utilize! (The store that sold me this didn't even have any literature!)

I miss going to Opus, Maiwa and Opulence Silk and Dyes where they know what they're selling and talking about!!!

That's the major reason you will see in my top nav bar a section called "Canadian Content"--i'm trying to compile all the mail order suppliers IN Canada that i can. Please, if you have subscribed to that module, re-subscribe, as i have changed the name slightly, which affects the URL and feed lines.

And don't get me started about finding clothespins (of all things!) here.....or long nitrile gloves...... bloody ridiculous! And did you know that the alternative neoprene gloves of a good length are 218 bucks!!!!

How not to make ice tea:

If it's so iced that you have to chip it, it's too iced :} Damn good though: lemon, ginger and a bit of brown sugar, perfect after all that outside work---mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

We also bathed Mo. He got so fat at Granny's (MIL) after the FOUR FEEDINGS A DAY of canned, that he couldn't reach a lot of spots. He was royally pissed off at us:

To make him feel better and dry off faster, we had him outside with us, while we did our chores (not really chores though as we are LOVING being out there, two happy paean hummers to domestic bliss). First of course, he did the cat thing and had a bath after his bath in the sunshine. Then he perked up considerably, realizing he is again Out, and maybe this time we won't notice.

He's a pretty good boy for the most part, content to lie in the shade, all dumped up like a fat loaf, chomping on the occasional bit of cat salad and protein --grass and bugs--with a sneak deke once in awhile to the boundaries. Greyman does his Daddy Voice "HEY" and Mo stops in his tracks and lays down again. Miss Piggy stays by the door or inside in the window: she is still freaky beaky about being outside after the raccoon encounter on Vancouver Island more than a year and a half ago. Also doesn't help that Mo thinks he is funny and will kamikaze her if she goes near "his" spots. Which is pretty much the whole yard now in his tiny little cat mind. Ahh, children, siblings, village idiots.

My back feels great after all the digging, though i have a good sized blister on one hand starting. I did bugger my right knee again and as i write this, it's tensored and iced, (not with the tea: peas)....but my stitched finger has pretty much healed, so i can't sing the Stones too loudly today "What a drag it is getting old..." (Greyman has adopted this as his theme song.)

It's so good to be Home!