Process/Product

Sometimes I feel like I am just spinning my creative wheels, not able to really get started because I don’t know what I want to say.  The past couple of weeks have been like that, drifty and discouraging.  

detail, work in progress, textile paint monoprint on cotton, machine stitching

A couple of helpful posts by artists whose work I admire have given me renewed enthusiasm.  Jane Dunnewold is a guest artist this month over at And Then We Set It On Fire.  Her essay on using the right tools lifted my spirits as she reminded me that the work I have been doing recently – sketching, making new stencils and masks, thinking – is by no means wasted time but indeed, critical to creative success.  

masks coated with gel medium drying on waxed paper

detail, textile paint monoprint on hand dyed cotton

Yesterday’s post at The Fairy Yellow Bug Queen also cheered me.  Norma writes: ‘Nothing is perfect, in life, or in art. I am ignoring the imperfect bits and won't bore you by pointing them out. My complete purpose in doing these pieces is to learn. I am having so much fun…’.

detail, textile paint monoprint with hand and machine stitching

detail, textile paint monoprint with beads and machine stitching

I am off to the studio today with an attitude of gratitude for the creative PROCESS rather than a demand of myself for a steady stream of PRODUCT.  Thanks to all of you in Blogland for your contagious enthusiasm for art and life with all its beauty and magic.  I appreciate you!

Dye Painting Process - Condensed Version

I promised to put together a little explanation of dye painting for Zom.  I hesitate to call this a tutorial, because the process is rather complex (lots of recipes, more than one way to do things, health and safety considerations).  The aim here is to show how I do things in my studio.  Everything I know I learned from Ann Johnston and Jane Dunnewold (oh, and experience).  I urge those interested in pursuing dye painting to read the excellent books available from these two artists, or better yet, take their workshops.

I work on cotton which has been pre-soaked in a soda ash solution.  The soda ash functions as the binding agent, fixing the dye molecules to the fabric. 

Procion MX dye comes as a powder and its dust is toxic to breathe, so use a good filter mask when mixing dye with water to make concentrates.  

I like to make my dye up in squeeze bottles, 1/2 cup at a time.  Dye concentrate lasts months in cool temps, but does loose strength over time.  Once the dye is exposed to soda ash however, it exhausts rapidly – 15 minutes.  I work with small amounts of dye at a time so my brushes which are contaminated with soda ash from the cloth don’t exhaust my dye too fast.  I use little water color palettes to paint out of.

Dye can be thickened for applying with stamps, and to control the flow of color on the cloth.  Prochem makes a dandy print paste which lasts a very long time once you mix it up with water.  Follow the directions on the package.  

Once you have good, thick print paste mixed up, you add dye concentrate at a 50/50 ratio or more.  A plastic fork is the best tool to blend paste with dye.  A consistency like honey is perfect for applying to rubber stamps.  I use a foam brush to pat the thickened dye onto the stamp.

In order to produce good strong color, the dye must be allowed to cure for 24 hours.  The moisture has to be held in the cloth and the room temperature must be above 65 degrees during curing.  To help the water be ‘wetter’, urea is used.  Urea mixed with water is used to thin the dye paste and to lighten values when using un-thickened dye.

Brushes for applying dye should be synthetic only because of the soda ash tends to destroy natural bristle brushes over time.  The best surface to work on is a work table covered with two layers of felt and an old sheet over that.  Plastic is a nuisance underneath your work but you will need it to cover your paintings while they cure.

I hope this is helpful to readers and sparks interest in trying this endlessly fascinating medium.

stencils

I made some new stencils last week using the method Jane Dunnewold taught us at Art Quilt Tahoe. 

 

Two new additions to my tool box... 

Making Swatches

The bundles we over-dyed Tuesday were ready for the first layer of stamping when we got to class on Wednesday morning.

 

 

 

 

 

Jane provided some great exercises to facilitate our swatch-making:

Tone on tone with a registered repeat stamped over the entire cloth...

Registered repeat in a complimentary color...

and scattered design elements using both tone on tone and complimentary colors. We also covered a silk screen and some cloth with flour-and-water paste resist.

I did my first successful silk screening with Jane’s encouragement and help.  I was ELATED to find that I love this process of getting an image on cloth, and feel so grateful to have overcome my fear!

Other processes we learned included glue resists, foiling and gold leafing, freezer paper screening, and working with Thermafax screens.

At the end of the day today, our last, we all hung some of our completed – or nearly completed – work on the wall.  This is but a small sample of the terrific work that was produced by our class over the four days.

Art Quilt Tahoe was a truly wonderful experience all around, mentally, spiritually and physically.  What I learned here is going to take my work to whole new places.  Thank you to Jane Dunnewold, and all the great women I met during this memorable week. 

 Cat in her workshop, hard at it.