Company Means A Butchart Visit

When more company arrived there was another visit to the Butchart Gardens. 

This time I focused on looking past the flowers.
When I looked up I saw trees.

When I looked down I saw this interesting fern.

But I couldn't help looking at the flowers.
Many of them were buzzing with activity. 

And these new cyclamen in the Japanese Garden were eye-catching.

As was this 'brain' tree in the Japanese Garden.
It is a good exercise in 'seeing' to go back to a place many times.

Marina Reflections and Bull Kelp

While down at a marina on an overcast day I captured these great reflections of boat rigging and a moody sky.

There is just a hint of colour.

Bull kelp adrift.

I recently bought this bull kelp and otter bone basket made by Maggie Squiresmaggiesquires.net I
put it at our front entrance so all visitors have the chance to admire it.

September Tree Colour Studies

With September's new moon I did colour studies of  the same 4 trees I have been studying for over a year.
The red arbutus bark is peeling again to show a bright green under layer.

The cedar continues to produces a mid-yellow green ...

...and the Douglas-fir a deeper yellow green.

The withdrawal of chlorophyll is happening more rapidly in the maple tree this month.
Now I need to find these colours in thread and stitch a band of running stitch on each tree cloth.
The work is due to be exhibited again, this time in the Oakville town hall during the World of Threads.
It will look different with 4 more bands of colour added to each sheet.

Screen Printing Techniques

The messy bits off the edge of the screen were caused by saggy screens. One of the drapery fabrics I used to make screens stretches when wet. 

More embedded screens.

I used a variety of grids collected from produce wrappings.

Extruded technique.

More extruded play using a squeeze bottle full of thickened dye.

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.

Screen Printing

I am exploring screen printing techniques.
I made a pile of screen frames from stretcher bars, picture frames and bits of wood then sealed them with 2 coats of marine varnish. 

I bought a variety of drapery sheers from thrift stores and gave them a good wash.
I experimented with different ways of attaching the screen to the frame. 

I covered the frame and screen edges with duct tape.

Then I left the screens rest for a few days while the duct tape cured.

Victoria College of Art Textile Graduates

Last night, at Victoria college of Art, 4 people were awarded Fine Arts Textiles Certificates: Esther Paterson (above), Dana Davies, Sonia Park, Michelle Mleinek.
Congratulations all of you on your achievements.

Kati and Sarah help Esther celebrate on graduation night.

Company and Butchart Gardens

We have had lots of company over the summer and most have wanted to visit Butchart Gardens.

The gardens are different every visit.

 

A different flower steals the show each time. 

 

Tree Colour Studies

I continue my tree colour studies each new moon day of the month.
Here is a leaf on the maple tree in July. The chlorophyll has started to withdraw.

 

Here is the same leaf a month later showing very little change. We must have had a cold night back in July.


The arbutus is back to peeling its bark.

There has been no change in the colour of the Douglas-fir branches so I looked at its rough bark.

I also looked at the cedar's bark.
I am stitching these colours in a band across the tree cloths.