I'm on a mountain high.......both environmentally and artistically....
The Fiber Junkies met at Val's house......we LOVE having our 'good weather' meetings at her home. Her gracious hospitality would be difficult to match!
And...the view from her home....overlooking Asheville also can't be duplicated.
Our lunch break on her porch is like sitting in a tree house!
Her home is like visiting a gallery.....here's a new piece of pottery she had on display. I'm remiss in not documenting the name of the local artist!
Our focus today was 'flat dyeing'.....meaning we generally positioned our fabric flat on the dyeing surface. Of course we are such rebels.....folding, scrunching, and tray dyeing all came into play as well. Here Kate is carefully measuring our dye powder. We try to remind each other to take the necessary precautions when mixing powdered dyes.
Across the table, Judy is doing the same...starting first with urea.
This is the first piece I did....not sure why I kept the reddish dots...rather than pull in more dye to even them out.......hopefully once it's washed out I'll still like it!
What I did really like was how the dye split, providing a bit of a pattern. I began with a dry piece of soda ashed pale yellow silk noil.
This is the same fabric, but it was wet when I began the dyeing. My goal today was to create some 'background' fabrics'. I sort of forgot that when I did my first one!
The dye placed on this white cotton fabric (pretreated with soda ash) struck so quickly, a pattern emerged before my eyes.....I didn't want a pattern!!
Which made me even more careful when I dyed this pretreated white cotton, using a foam brush. Once my fabrics are batched, washed and dried....I'll report back whether I had more successes or failures.
Stay tuned too for a look at what my FJ buddies created......
6 comments:
Don't know how you tear yourself away from that view to get anything done. It is quite spectacular! And yet, dye awaits. I like the reddish dots on your piece. Always fun to see how things turn out. Try not to have a plan, because it's going to be what it's going to be.
Well, still good eye candy!!! You always have such a great time together..did't you just meet! Lucky you!
Mary here.....oh my gosh Robbie....you do have a good memory..... Yes, the Fiber Junkies met a mere two weeks prior.....normally we only met once a month but due to schedules we ended up doing gatherings nearly back to back. There will be a bit of a dry spell during July.....boo hoo......
great group of artists you have. Great meeting place too. Dye has it's own agenda... that is the blessing and the sometimes irritation with it. LeeAnna
That looks so fun! Thanks for sharing the pics! :)
Wow! I would love to have a group get together in such a beautiful spot! Cool fabrics too!
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