Stormy skies

Procion dyes on voile 

©Christine Linton

tie-dye chances

My other half asked me to dye his jeans back to blue again (that shows our age), so I bought some hot-water dye and did the job.  When I took the jeans out of the dye, I gathered some assorted bits of fabric and a pale peach t-shirt, left to recycle in some way due to - what?  Couldn't find stains, no apparent holes from cat claws, so anyway I put it in the dye and didn't move anything around so I could get some random effects.  I knew it would be pale because most of the dye molecules would have gone into the jeans (everything was cotton).   After an hour, I rinsed everything out.  The odd bits of fabric were actually quite dark blue but the t-shirt was light, with terrific tie-dye effects, couldn't have got this effect if I'd tried.  Even the back came out great.

t-shirt front

t-shirt back

Textiles or paper?

We all need to spend time without conscious thoughts and labels circulating in our heads, to allow creativity to spring up.  We can think too much.

My whole life I have been a textile fan.  Recently I've discovered how wonderful paper is to work with too.  But I've been trying too hard to combine textiles with paper.  Just because I have a weakness for both (or is it a strength for both?) it's ok to use them separately.  I kept thinking (thinking!) that I had to use everything I like at once.  Too much thinking, not enough being.  Losing creativity.

Paper is wonderful in codex form, and folded books.  Textiles are great in scrolls because of their properties - they still lie flat after being rolled up for ages, unlike paper (except soft paper napkins).  Other types of paper hold the rolled-up effect depending on the thickness and stiffness of the paper.  Paint adds to the stiffness even if diluted, while dyes don't.  So I prefer textiles and papers to have the vehicle to show their own special qualities.  They can be combined, but don't have to be to still be a mixed-media artist.

I made a scroll from wet felting which unrolled beautifully every time.  The cover for this scroll I made from a silk scarf that I bought plain, then dyed with silk dyes, then patched with torn, dyed silk organza pieces.  It is luscious.  I love it.  And being silk it unrolls flat.

Dyed silk scarf with patches of organza, used as a Scroll Cover

To help you let thoughts go, and let creativity surface, please look at this beautiful photo on Sweetpeapath blog - what peace it brings to a mind.  Master the art of doing nothing, to quote someone but I don't know who - does anyone else know where this comes from?

http://sweetpeapath.blogspot.com.au/2012/11/texture-tuesday-dream.html

Another face

After looking through my Dye Unit Folder for more inspiration, I found this mop-up cloth - originally a piece of calico dyed with leftover orangey dye, then I used it to mop up all the little bits of dye left around inside my containers.  I didn't see the face until I heat-set it with the iron.  By the way, if you have an old iron it is better to use that for heat-setting dyed or painted cloth, otherwise you are forever cleaning your iron before using it on your best white blouse - and there's always a dot of red left behind on the iron from the dye or paint anyway, no matter how much you clean it!

Squinting Face

After looking through my "Faces" posts, I looked to see what else I could find online about faces - here is a post about an artist "Terry Grant"  painting faces on art quilts.  It is from 2005 but still rather interesting.  The second link shows some more of this artist's work.

Dyeing the Coral Reefd

This is my finished dye project.  The sea was pole-wrapped and dyed shibori-style; the reef components were drop-dyed with a few lines from fabric markers to define a few corals; the fish were made of vilene.  The dyes were cold water Procion dyes.  I very much enjoyed this project and left the border open (just a zigzag finish) because I wanted to show the vast openness of the sea.

Dyeing

I've just started studying Textile Arts at my local college (hence no recent entries, too busy) and one of the subjects is Dyeing.  This is one of my early efforts, I was rather pleased with it.  I plan to use dyeing lots more in the future in my work, I love the brightness of the colours.