Copper Collection

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 It’s a beautiful morning, even if it will reach the upper 90s today.  I painted two 44” x 104” pieces of devore, which have been pole wrapped.  Theresa is going to use these curtains in a protected area on her patio/deck.  There is a hint of purple in the garden so I chose a shade formul of purple, yellow green and yellow orange.  The silk for the serenity scarf is dry, waiting to wrapped in newsprint and steamed.  I also painted two ties in the copper, rust, olive formula.  DJ wants to give one to his friend Kevin.
           

Back to Work

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After two months of disarray due to finishing off the basement I am beginning to get my dyeing station set up again; this time on the back porch; then, eventually in the little cabin.  The walk-in basement is too nice to risk spilling and splashing dye.  Which, no matter how careful I am, always seems to happen.  I know that the porch and cabin will be weather affected.  Like today when it is 100 degrees.   However, I kind of like that.  I have been spending way too much time indoors. 

During this break I have realized how important it is and easier it is to work to finish one step at a time.  When I think about the projects I need to finish, I am overwhelmed and stay too long in the hammock.  When I just think of what silk I have to wrap, or steam, it is manageable and I get to work.

1.        Thinking, visualizing, making notes
2.        Assess supplies and place order if necessary
3.        Iron silks in preparation of wrapping
4.        Make sure poles are clean
5.        Wrap fabric
6.        Mix dyes; make notes
7.        Paint dye onto fabric, and hang tags and let dry
9.        Wrap dried fabric in newsprint
10.       Steam set dyes
11.       Rinse in laundry tub
12.       Wash on delicate cycle
13.       Dry on delicate cycle
14.       Iron and sew
15.       Take photograph      

Today I painted pole-wrapped charmeuse, crepe, devore, and charmeuse with horse images in preparation for a five  piece serenity shawl for the Lexington Art League Reverse Raffle.  I used my rust, copper, olive formulas.
While waiting for those to dry, I’m going to wrap two 44” x 104” pieces of devore that will be curtains for Theresa.
After that I will need to put some thought into what I’m going to do with the wool that I have already felted.

You Are Prolific!

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Got scraps?  Have remnants?  Share them.  Sell them or give them away.  "You are prolific," my painting teacher, Marilyn Hamann, once said.  Sometimes we can hang on and save too much.  Too much stuff can hold us back.  Too much time spent moving it around.  Looking at it, thinking, someday I'm going to use this.....Today, I pack up and send this collection of  handfelted painted shibori alpaca and merino wool to my daughter, Danielle. Can't wait to see what she comes up with!

Rearranging

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I didn't plan to rearrange everything.  It's just that when we decided to finish the basement everything got rearranged.  That's why I'm temporarily not creating.  I don't know where anything is because it has all been tucked away, safely, to avoid paint and drywall dust.  The good thing is that during this process I have realized that I don't want my studio back in the basement.  I want it out in the little cabin that we built to be used as a shed.  I've decided that having my dyeing studio in the basement keeps me in the house too much.  If I'm in the little cabin, then I have to go outside and see the stars, or feel the sun, even if it is hot, and even if the little cabin is hot, it will be worth it.

Art on The Wall, or on the Body

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Sewing and thinking about Mom

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 Everytime I work on the sewing table I got from my mom I remember all the dresses she made for me and my sisters.  And while she always thought she wasn't an artist, she definitely had her style!
Fuchsia, hand-felted, shibori dyed, Kentucky alpaca, Texas merino and silk.

New Inspiration

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Hiking for Color

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For me, it’s all about color. After using the Shibori technique of manipulating fabric by wrapping it around a pole or rope, I always place at least three colors, or shades of one color of dye on the cloth.  The fabric resists the dye and creates a pattern.  Many of my wearable art designs consist of several strips of hand dyed fabric which have been torn and serged before sewing them together. Through this process I frequently recover memories contained in the 5/8” seam allowance I learned when my mother taught me to sew. In her own way she also taught me that the art is in the ironing.  

Some of my newest designs are created by felting alpaca and merino wool to silk before Shibori dyeing the fabric. It is my intention that My Truly Wearable art has a performative quality.  When you wear it, not only are you only one hand away from the artist, you become the art.

Currently I live in a cabin in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, hike the mountain and try to figure out how to formulate the colors I see around me.


Shibori Prayer Book

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First there was writing.  

"Tell your own story," 
Adrienne Rich said.  

So I wrote.  
Then there was publish.  
"To publish is to make public," the dicitonary said.  
I began to read my work fearlessly.  
"You should take a silk dyeing class," a friend suggested.
"Then you can cover your poems with silk and your art will be come performative."  
I signed up.  
Two weeks after enrolling, 
my son had a paralyzing accident.  
"You should quit school," I said to myself.  
Myself answered, "No.  We will both learn to adapt."  
I became obsessed.  Everything became an opporturnity to make art.  
As I waited in the intensive care waiting room, 
I covered muy journal with sequins.  
I learned Shibori silk dyeing.   
Shibori is manipulating fabric, placig dye upon it and surrendering.
I surrendered.  
When I visited the capel at the hospital, 
I wrote in my journal.  
It became a prayer book, 
covered with silk.