Wordless Wednesday

Tuesday Tip - Stamping

Occasionally I enjoy stretching my creative muscles and delving into other art nedia's. I especially enjoy mixed media creations utilizing paper, beads, found objects...and of course stamps. Problem is, I don't do this as often as I would like and sometimes I go to use my (rather pricey) stamp pads and they are dry! One of the best ways I have found to keep stamp pads is to store them upside down in a plastic bag. This keeps them fresher longer and raises my chances of being able to use them when I want.

Monday Quote

Paint your world how you desire it to be, after all you are the center of your universe and all outside of you is an illusion until such time as you wave your brush and fill in those blank spaces with what you believe should be there. You’re the artist of your life, so if it’s not how you wish it to be, simply wash the canvas and start over again



Michael Murdock

Shibori T Shirt

For a while now, I have had vision of a TShirt with a vine twirling up the arm, across the back and down the front. Seeing the TShirt in this months swap seemed perfect to try this. The original owner screen printed some leaf shapes down one side of the T.

The next person did some green ombre dyeing to the bottom 25% of the T.
I decided this was a good time to try my vision. I sewed the design using 3 different type of stitches. For the vine I used a foldover running stitch on the arm & back and on the front I used a chevron stitch. The leaves on the arm and back are stitched with a simple running stitch outlining the design. The front leaves I folded in half before stitching half a leaf design.

Then I pulled the stitches tight to form a resist.

Now it is time to dye! I chose to continue the spring green up the arm and down the right side. I put all of the previous ombre dyed area as well as the left side of the shirt in plastic bags and bound them tightly.

After dyeing, washing, drying and removing the stitches I find the effect a bit subtler than I originally envisioned. But, I think the softer design works well against the stronger silk screened side of the T. I can hardly wait to see what everyone else does with this!

Wordless Wednesday

Tuesday Tip - Dyeing

Once you begin dyeing it in inevitable that someone will either ask you to teach or donate your time to a group. I have done both over the years. I like to arrive with the dyes pre-mixed (with no soda ash). It took me many times of having the dye jars leak in transit before I found the perfect container:

Water bottles.

Finally a good use for these throw aways! I mix up 500 ml of dye at a time and put them in 700 ml bottles. Knock on wood, haven't had one leak, yet! I mix up my soda ash in 3X the strength and carry it in strong gallon containers (I have heard stories of milk containers leaking - so I like old juice containers). I carry everything in old, clean kitty litter containers. When I arrive it doesn't take long to put the dyes out, add one of the gallon containers of soda ash to the kitty bucket + 2 more gallons of water and start the fun!

Monday Quote

Mondays are tough. All those things you put aside over the weekend rear their ugly head and need to be taken care of. Any lack of sleep really shows up on Monday. And the whole week is still ahead.

Anyway, since I am a big believer in positive thought, and a collector of positive quotes, I thought I would start sharing a quote a week on Mondays.

Today's quote is one of my favorites. I like it so much I display a copy of it in my booth at art shows.

Oh, never mind the fashion. When one has a style of one's own, it is always 20 times better.
—Margaret Oliphant

Fiberart For a Cause Auction - My Winnings!

I just got my auction winnings from the Fiberart for a Cause ( see my post of April 29) ! I just love it. Anyone who knows me (and my love of palm trees) would not be surprised that this is the collage that caught my eye.

It is a fabric collage by Loreen Leedy. Loreen lives in central Florida and is a children’s book author-illustrator with over 35 published titles. Recently, one of her books, Missing Math: A Number Mystery was awarded a state medal in the children's literature division. Hmmmm, I guess she does fiber art in her spare time. A look at her web site reveals that she is both talented with fiber and generous in spirit.

Be sure to visit Loreen's blog and scroll down a bit to May 4, 2009 - there is a FREE download there of 60 images from 10 fiber artist that are really inspiring!!!

Thank you Loreen for your donation to the cause

Wordless Wednesday

Tuesday Tip - Sectional Warping

It can be quite confusing to keep track of how many yards are on your sectional warp. I have solved this problem with coins. To start I determine how long the warp is. I usually work in 5 yard increments (I usually put 25, 35 or 50 yard warps on). I divide this by 5 and get that many nickels (5, 7 or 10 for above example) and 4 pennies. For every 5 yards I wind I place one of the nickels in a pile - when they are all gone I am done! If I am interupted mid wind I place that many pennies in the pile before answering the phone or whatever. I have gone back hours later and I always know where I am! One other trick I do is count to 5 (yds) out loud - helps to hear it, too.

Just my way of keeping track. Hope it helps you.

Designworks - Year Long Projects Revealed - "Openings"

Wednesday marked the end of the year project for my art 'support group' -"Designworks". This year we focused on 'openings'. It is also fascinating to see how everyone took this in different directions. Some thought about all the houses they had lived in over their lives and focused on that. Others took a picture of doors and windows and used them as starting points.

I took a picture I had found which looked out at the ocean from a window in Maui. Someday I plan on doing that- look at the ocean from my house in Maui. So, I decided to build my own dream window. First I printed the picture on commercially bought photo silk fabric - you know, the kind to make your own tshirts and stuff. The ocean didn't look blue enough for me, so I cut it out and backed it with my hand dyed silk fabric with jacquard waves. Then I painted the sky (it wasn't blue enough, either) and the distant mountains. I also added some more flowers and enhanced the palms on the left. I mounted this to the acrylic 'glass' that came with the frame. Then I took some silk chiffon, ironed it to freezer paper, cut it to 8 1/2" X 11" and printed the image again. This one I glued to the outside of the frame making the 2 images about 1/2" apart giving the image an ethereal 3-D feeling. I then covered the frame with shells - including some that I found when I was in Hawaii a couple of years ago. Now to put it somewhere that I see it everyday!

I also wanted to share with you some of the other interpretations of this project:

Sandy Mooney painted wooden houses and put them into a window frame:

Pat Thompson also depicted looking out a window but she chose to look at a sunrise. She used silk fusion to make her pillow.

Indy Bacon took an old windowframe, door plates, wooden folding ruler and other odd bits and assembled them to create this whimsical piece:

Gisela Bosch found a weaving pattern called 'windowpane' and wove a scarf:

Gail Rachor knitted a house, felted it, embellished the outside and added pictures of all the houses she ever lived in for the inside.

Ronnie Straus took a picture she had taken in the 70's of a shack and reinterpreted it in fabric and emboidery.

There were of course more wonderful pieces (there are 15 of us in total), but it really is interesting how 15 people can take the same concept and run in different ways.....Where would you have gone?

Taste of Shibori Class A Fun Way to Spend a Saturday

Yesterday I was privileged to teach a class for the Black Sheep Weavers on the subject of Shibori. Because it was only one day I could only give a taste of the numerous different methods the Japanese have developed over the years to resist fabric prior to dyeing.

I divided the day into 4 traditional resist groups: binding, stitching, binding and clamping, and of course, pole wrapping. I could make a 3-5 day workshop out of any one of these groups so we had to keep a rather quick pace.

Binding:
Essentially this is pinching a bit of cloth and wrapping thread at the base. In Japan a skilled artisan can make thousands of these to create designs. I must admit that I do not have the patience to pursue this, but I do like making circles on the cloth by putting beans or marbles in the cloth and putting a rubber band at the base. Can't get the small designs, but these can look pretty nifty. I also like the variation of taking a bit of the cloth and pulling it through a ring until it is snug and then dyeing. I like to use pony beads or straws cut to about 1" in length. You can put lots of these on a yard of fabric pretty quickly. This is a variation of a Japanese technique that used bamboo rings to create a resist.

Stitching:

One of my favorite techniques. I really like pole wrapping, but when I am doing the hand stitching there is a zen like rhythm to the process. For most of the stitching techniques all you basically use is a simple running stitch. Making rows of running stitches creates the mokume design- which translates to wood grain, a great description for the effect. There are also variations where you fold the fabric and then make a running stitch. Whatever method you choose, the fabric is scrunched on the thread prior to dyeing. This is what creates the resist design.

Fold and Clamp:

This method is one everyone has probably tried - either in art class at school or with some other group of friends. The fabric is folded in a certain way and clamped prior to dyeing. Many times only the edges of the fold are dipped into the dye creating lines on the fabric. Or a board in a smaller but similar shape to the folded fabric is clamped on top and the entire piece is dyed. Here is Jacqueline Gilbert admiring the piece she made using this method.




Pole Wrapping

This is the method many people think of when they think of shibori. Essentially, the fabric is wrapped around a PVC pipe, thread is wrapped around the cloth and the cloth is scrunched on the pipe to form a resist. I then have people soak the pipe in soda ash solution, apply as many colors of dye they want, and wrap plastic around the entire piece to let it set overnight. This insures a better dye set, but it is the most frustrating! I can not see what everyone has done! Hopefully, some of them will share their pieces with me at meetings we both attend, because as a teacher that is one of the best parts - to see what others have done and to have them happy with the process.

The pace of the day was quick, but everyone got to go home with some great samples and a pole wrapped silk scarf. Many people said they were glad that the class covered all the different methods as there were some gaps in their understanding of shibori that they can now understand.

Overall it was an exhausting, but terrific day!