Complex Cloth Workshop

Earlier this month I was privlaged to attend the Complex Cloth workshop in San Antonio hosted by Jane Dunneworld at her studio. I was really a last minute decision as I came home from the cruise with a couple of dollars in my pocket and my husband was scheduled for a business trip the same week. By the time I made all the arrangements I had less than a week to get everything together. Luckily, I had most of the supplies already, so no problem there.

I anticipated the first part of the week would be devoted to dye, color theory, etc. Since I have my Certificate of Excellence in Dyeing, I figured I would sail through these days and the last days would be the most exciting.

Just goes to show you how anticipation can be so wrong. Of course, Jane did start with dyeing, but we quickly moved on from there. She emphasized making our own tools to create designs on the cloth. We were soon carving soap erasers. Here are some of my shapesThen the real fun began! Using discharge techniques, overdyeing, silkscreens, and other techniques we decorated our samples. For me, this was the part where food and other necessities of life became secondary. Where I look at the clock, and then glance at it a few minutes later only to find that several hours have gone by! Here are some of the samples that I came up with in the class:

This is a close up of one corner of a sample. It has been dyed twice, bleached out with a stamp, stamped with blue paint and hand painted some of the trails made by the stamp.

Some more of my samples. These are not quite done - but this is the last day so I will have to finish them at home.

I should have known what a wonderful, moving experience this week was to be as I walked into Jane's studio:

Beautiful artcloth everywhere!!!! Who couldn't be inspired ? True, they were getting ready for a show / studio walk, but it was quite magical to see this as my first exposure to what lay ahead. Most of this work was produced by other area (lucky) artists who have worked with Jane over the years. And the studio space was wonderful. There were 9 of us in the class and we each got our own table with several tables left over for other needs. There were even 2 tables for lunch!

It really was quite a treat to have all that space!!! She even had a library corner with chairs for the lecture / critique time. The over stuffed chairs were upholstered with hand decorated velveteen!

All in all it was a wonderful week. Jane is an excellent teacher, very encouraging but also is able to lead you to think for yourself. The most suprising thing that came out of the week was the level of mindful thinking that came out of it. Everyone was there for a purpose, mostly because they were searching for a piece of their artistic self (like me) and was very supportive of the others.

Mermaid Cruise

Went on a cruise January 12-19 with a group of women brought together by Rebecca Floeter a.k.a. "The Mermaid Queen" on Ebay. She has been selling clothes to what she calls 'mermaids' for years. In her words : "I am dedicated to the Mermaid Archetype who holds the pathos and mythos of the Goddess Aphrodite and the Magdalene Archetype. The Mermaid holds the power of transformation for love, death, life and inspiration. I believe we dress who we are from the inside out...so please join me in celebrating your mermaid diva-ness!". If you are in the plus sized category and enjoy funky and beautiful clothing look her up (Ebay name: beccaben).

Anyway, there were 74 women all of whom were interested in artwear clothing, Ebay and transforming their lives. Included in the cruise were classes on Ebay selling, Selling as an Artist, Feng Shui, Life Mapping and also a shaman by the name of Wendy Luckey (http://wendyluckey.com/cms/home) who offered both group and private readings. I participated in both of these and I can tell you that they were powerfully transforming! Oh yeah, and it worked with a couple of enlightened men, too! Probably one of the most interesting weeks of my life.

One of the highlights of the cruise (at least for me) was an artist trunk show. Along for the ride were Steel Pony (http://www.steelpony.com/), HVC Byrd, Amy Brill and about 6 other people who created their own artwear or jewelry. The ship gave us the uppermost bar for this venue - the one overlooking the ocean. Very surrealistic and gorgeous - I really love the ocean. When we came up we just staked out a spot and put our stuff out. Only lasted 2 hours - but it was a good 2 hours. First time I ever went on a vacation and came home with lighter suitcases!

Really got to know many of these women quite well and I feel lucky to have found this opportunity. Everyone went for a slightly different reason and many of us are keeping in contact. Rebecca is planning another cruise next April - this one goes to Belize! I have always wanted to go there. And there are Mayan ruins on this cruise. That is something I have always wanted to see, so I am planning on going on this one too!

Snow Dyeing

Can't believe how long it has been ! But, I am going to give this a try again if for no other reason than to document the experiments I have been doing lately.

Last weeks experiment is snow dyeing. I have been reading about it on my lists lately, and since I am not a natural snow lover, thought it might be nice to have some good use for the stuff. I also needed something for my Designworks group with the theme 'nature'.

So, I presoaked a yard of cotton fabric and let it dry. Then I left for a week. So, when I came back I soaked it in soda ash again and layed it out in the snow. I squirted dye all over using 3 colors, a mocha brown, butterscotch and a green. I piled some snow on top and squirted indigo on top. Looked pretty colorful sitting in the snow.

I left it for 2 hours in about 35 degree weather. It looked like most of the blue had absorbed into the cloth.

Then I brought it inside and nuked it for 4 minutes. I was hoping that would help the dye set, but in my heart I knew better. After washing, I lost much of the color. In the end it is an interesting piece, but I would rather not snow (we are in the middle of a big storm right now - all the weather people are SO giddy).

Pretty, but not interesting enough. I will be cutting this up to give everyone a piece. So I stamped and stenciled some leaves, dragonflies and some funny little prehistoric looking bird.

Hard to believe that all these pictures are the same fabric. In the end I still think I could have achieved simular results without standing in the snow, but it was interesting.

Ann Arbor Art Fair

Well, another AA Art Fair is done. It was a very interesting show. The first two days were hot and humid, but the last two were perfect. I debuted my new Twist Wrap and was very happy with everyone's reaction. I especially like seeing it on so many different people. And many people had ideas for how it could be worn. I haven't had time to professionally have it photographed, but it is the first two racks of silks. I have made it in silk embroidered chiffon, silk charmeuse and raw silk. I look forward to exploring other fabrics and am considering a handwoven one.


Ann Arbor Art Fair is full of interesting events and people. This year Mother Nature gave us a Sun Dog. I don't remember seeing one before. There seemed to be a full circle rainbow around the sun and a 'second sun'. The inner core was darker than the sky. A customer said it was a sailors term. That made sense since there was a restuarant that my parents used to frequent by that name and the owner was an avid sailor. No one was sure if it was considered a good sign or a bad one, so we decided it was a good sign.






Another great thing that came our way was the annual visit from Robert. He makes the most wonderful costumes, puts on roller skates or 6" high boots (added onto his 6' + frame) and takes a walk down Main Street. He doesn't get very far, though. I have never seen so many camera phones! He always stops to talk to us and we look forward to his visit. The hours at the fair are quite long and his visit is a brief vacation. Thanks Robert.

Relay For Life Walk

This weekend is the local Relay for Life Walk. It is a 24 hr walk to benifit the American Cancer Society. It will take place at Walled Lake Middle School on the track field. Lots of other activities, too. Pizza, DJ's, survivor and caregiver laps and at dusk they light hundreds of decorated luminarias. For $10 you 'buy' a white paper bag and decorate it. Most people dedicate their bag to a certain person. I bought one, but couldn't decide how I wanted to decorate it. I finally decided to make one dedicated to all who put up a good fight. I will be there walking at midnight, so if you have some extra time drop by!

Kalamazoo Show Report

What a beautiful day! Temps in the 70's, sunny with a slight breeze. Couldn't ask for a better day to spend in the park. Kalamazoo has a wonderful vibrant downtown area. There was a Do-Da parade with lots of imaginative floats (I could see parts of it from my booth and I got reports from people who were there). And there was music at the nearby band shell all day. Big Band, Bluegrass, Classical - they covered all tastes. Fifteen minutes before the 5:00 closing the heavens opened and a thunderstorm ended everything. Very dramatic closing! But, I will definitely look at this show again when deciding my yearly route.

I didn't get a chance to post pictures from last weeks dye time. But I did take one at the show. I just love the colors!

It's Dye Time!

OK- the last of the shawl coats and shrugs have been washed, sewn and ironed. Ready for sale. Now I move on to my silk dyeing of scarves, shrugs and tops. I love seeing the colors as they emerge from the dyebath. Then I need a few days to organize for the show. Hope to see you there!

First Show of the Season!

I have cut 50 yds. of cloth off the loom and washed/dried it. Now I need to get back to the sewing area and cut and sew my garments. My first show of the season is June 3 in Kalamazoo, MI. It is a nice show produced by the Art Museum that I haven't done for several years, so I am excited to return. If you want more information the URL is: http://www.kiarts.org/museum/art_fair.shtml

Measure time: How About LOVE?

For some reason, eblog wouldn't let me post this pic in the last message and it really is the whole point of the song.

The best way to measure time is LOVE. All kinds. I truly believe that we are put on this earth to love one another. Now, this sounds like an easy thing, but ultimately it is the hardest - especially with some people. But, the important thing is that we TRY.

This turned out to be an interesting study. Realizing mathematically how fast time is spent made it even more evident that the small petty things in life aren't really important. (again, easier said, but just keep trying).

Time Project : Seasons of Love

Been busy making stock, but last week the final project for my "Designworks" group was due. The topic for the year was "time", interpreted any way we wanted. After coming up with many ideas and rejecting them I shared my frustrations with my daughter and her friend. They suggested I use the song from 'Rent' titled 'Seasons of Love'. I liked that idea, but it took a few more weeks to come up with the idea of making an altered calendar using the lyrics. These are some of the pages:
The front cover with other pages peeking out

You can measure time in 'cups of coffee'

Or in measurements:'inches' or 'miles'

This was the most signifigant part to the lyrics for me. We only get 525,600 minutes every year. Only about half a million? But, do the math and that's what it is. Take off 1/3 for sleeping, more for the daily grooming (shower, hair etc), more for the daily working for money, more for the making and consuming of food, more for the daily upkeep of life (cleaning, repairs etc) and that leaves very little 'other' time. If nothing else can convince one to use that time wisely...................do the math!

First Post

I have decided to try my hand at this blogging thing as a way to have an art diary. I will try to post something I am working on at least once a week, and I welcome any constructive criticism.

Currently, I am trying to get ready for my first show of the year. I decided to branch out a bit and try for the Kalamazoo Art Fair the first weekend of June. I used to do this show and it is a nice one day show in a park. Since there is always that part of me that is sure I won't get in there was no big push to get stock done, but now there is. I have 50 yards of cream warp on the loom and am working on shawl coats and shrugs. So far I have woven 10 shawl coats and 5 shrugs. But of course, that is only the half of it. I still have to stabilize sew them, wash and dry, stitch them into form. So, there is still much work ahead. I hope to be able to stop once in a while and do some postcards. I figure if I can accomplish one or two a week I will have several to donate to FFAC.