Jane Dunnewold Workshop

I attended Jane Dunnewold's Dye workshop at the Pacific Northwest Art School in Coupeville. Jane took us through many different dyeing techniques. I picked up lots of valuable tips to fine tune my dyeing practice and I was able to correct the bad habits I had developed over the years.

The first exercise was to dye cloth to make a colour wheel. Jane talked about the importance of making a colour wheel that was our own personal 'colour constant' - a reference check for all colours produced. I use Joan Wolfram's 3-in-1 Color Tool but it is printed on paper. I have put on my 'To Do' list to make a cloth one.

We worked with thickened Procion MX dyes. Here are 2 different cloth samples batching. A lesson learned was: take to workshops my best fabrics for the exercises. I had taken several used 100% cotton bedsheets and got some disappointing results. I suspect one wasn't true to label and there was some polyester spun in with the cotton thread. It did not take the dye well. When the base cloth is inferior for the job it is very difficult to assess the results of the other dyeing variables.

Pots were set up outside for silk dyeing.

It was such a warm breezy day the conditions were most pleasant for working outside. I dyed all the silk I brought with me.

Shibori and random scrunch resist techniques with results that could be achieved within minutes.

Jane demonstrated many unique techniques she has developed over the years and left us lots of time to experiment with whatever we wanted. She created such an atmosphere that for me it was low stress and intensive at the same time. I felt tired at the end of each day and so keen and energised at the beginning of each day.

Jane is thinking of offering her 'Complex Cloth' course again, after a hiatus of several years. It was this course coupled with her book 'Complex Cloth', plus her own output that played a major role in a better understanding of surface design in the art world.

So keep your feelers out for 'Complex Cloth' and 'run-don't-walk' to sign up.

Play With A Silk Screen

 

 

Whole cloths using Kerr Grabowski's 'Play' technique.
My kind of silk screening.

Playing Around with Bubble Wrap

 

 

 

Kerr Grabowski says you need to/have to pop the bubbles before using the wrap.
That is a fun part of the technique.

Deconstructed Screen Session

I had another session experimenting with deconstructed screens.

Oh oh - the wet screen sagged and touched the plastic lifting off the thickened dye.

This screen, made from drapery fabric, will not hold much dye.

Playing around with bubble wrap.

And stencils.

Just playing, Kerr Grabowski style.
Another great learning session. 

Deconstructed Screen Trials

Next technique was to embed a variety of materials on a screen painted with thickened dye.

Once the screen was dry the materials were removed.

This screen produced 4 images before it was exhausted. 

This screen produced 12 images before the dye was finished.
I suspect the variable making the difference is the fabric on the screen.
This fabric is rougher and seems to be able to hold more dye that the fabric used in the previous screen.

Screen Printing - Stencils

I made a print board from insulation foam, an old wool blanket, vinyl and an old poly-cotton bed sheet.
   

Ready to go, starting with primary coloured Procion MX dyes.

Working with a newspaper stencil is the 1st technique on Kerr Grabowski's 'Deconstructed Screen Printing for Fabric and Paper' DVD.
The image fuzziness is an example of learning from mistakes. The cloth was too wet when I rolled it up in plastic and left it for 12 hours for the dye  molecules to bond. The water encouraged the dye molecules to continue migrating.

More often I would be working for a crisper image but now I know how to make a fuzzy one when I want to.
The spots(drips) on this sample show where I learnt the ideal viscosity for the print paste.
Both valuable lessons to learn.

VCA Fine Arts Textile Students' Work - Cut-back Applique

 

 

 

 

 

Samples of Cut-back Applique by' Mark Making With Machine' students at Victoria College of Art: Kati Akhavan, Dana Davies, Pat Davis, Laura Manning, Sarah McLean, Wylie Paterson, Esther Pomeroy.
They have used their own dyed fabrics most effectively.

Adding My Staining to Tree Cloths

I am at the stage in my dialogue with the trees where it is my turn to respond. I need to make a mark reflecting the development of my relationship with these trees. I sampled dyeing with a Cedar branch  extraction but wasn't enamoured with the colour nor the overall even covering of the tree's marks. Next I sampled more textural dyed marks using Procion MX colours.

Successive randomly scrumpled immersions in various greens built up the colour complexity.

Results were OK but while I was spending hours in the kitchen (natural dyeing on stove top) and in my dye studio, I felt quite removed from the trees. I didn't know what the trees were doing. The dialogue had shifted to a monologue. I needed to find another way to respond to the trees.

VCA Textile Students Colour Sessions

For the past 3 weeks the VCA textile students have been learning about colour by dyeing.
Kati has produced a wide range of different colours using a couple of different dyes.

Kati's analogous blue-green palette

Dana has worked with a bright light palette

The wide variety of results provided a valuable learning experience when students talked about their fabrics

This week they added black to make a range of shades.

VCA Textile Students Dyeing

The students have dyed their fabrics a 2nd time, adding complementary colours to their analogous palettes.
Esther's 1st dye layer is shown at the bottom with over dyeing shown on top.

Esther also dyed matching threads

Laura's 1st layer of dyes
She found linen dyed the darkest.

Pat is working with the same palette as Laura but their individual folding of the fabrics have produced different marks.

Wylie began with a lower intensity Paulette, the light blue fabric on the left.
With the 2nd layer she built up a lot of luscious  greys. 

The cloths were folded 6 different ways to give distinctive marks.
The same folds were repeated  with the 2nd dyeing.
This is Sarah's 1st layer of dye.