Work In Progress - Cryosphere II, Hydrosphere

I have the idea for my Yukon panels in Articulation's 'Provinces' exhibition. 

I want to show the phase change when water hardens then melts.

I have settled on the colour scheme - white (not yellow-white), silver and cerulean blue.

I haul out from my stash all of the light to sheer fabrics in those colours.

I collect up all of the threads, papers, and embellishments in those colours. 

I draft up a pattern for the size of the panels and cut it out in Tyvek.

Pinning the different sheers on the wall gives me an idea of their transparency and drape.

It is looking distinctly bridal in the studio.

Sampling, sampling, sampling.

I am sewing on different layered fabric sandwiches searching for the look I have in mind. 

The burning and melting station is set up.

I test all of the fabrics and sandwiches with a heat gun and a burning tool.

I don't want brown so anything with cotton in it is put away.

I have settled on the colours and fabrics now I need to sample to find a technique that best expresses the idea. I have made lots of drawings and compiled many lists in my workbook.

Now is the 'percolation' phase. It takes time for the ideas to sort themselves out. I record these ideas in my workbook and continue sampling until the way forward is clear.

French Bucol Fabrics

A friend gave me 2 lengths of lame-type fabric. One had this label. A search of the name revealed Bucol has been a famous silk house in Lyon since 1920.

I needed to test the fabrics to find out if they were silk, or not. Out came the burn chart.

The silver one burned briefly then self extinguished. It melted giving off an odor of sweet chemicals and formed a hard black round bead.

It is polyester.

The gold one burned and melted. It was not self extinguishing. A hard black irregular bead formed. 

It is an Orlon or Acrilan acrylic.

I am a little disappointed they are not some vintage French silk from the 1920s but their melting properties will be something to take advantage of when working with them. And they are very pretty and shiny.