After my Artist’s Talk last Monday, I was in a meditative mood this past week. I spent many hours taking apart all these silk ties – prepping them to be usable for my textile work.
ties on the lines
Thinking about the making while doing something else
Doing things like this is a part of my creative process, what appears to be a mindless mundane activity allows my mind to wander and contemplate new art ideas and how I might realize them.
eco-dyed silk and cotton strips, including juniper, sumac, and some with combinations of both plus metal.
Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve also unwrapped a few of the sumac berry and juniper bundles. I love the variation of color and texture on these strips (above) that were used to tie up the bundles and interesting variety of colors achieved with sumac, juniper, and black bean dye pots (below).
silks and cottons dyed with juniper, sumac, and black bean dyes
Below are the results of a couple of pieces of silk which were pre-mordanted with an alum solution, bundled with sumac berries and juniper “leaves”, then steamed in a stainless steel pot. They were left for ~ 1 month before unbundling:
silk, pre-mordanted with alum, bundled with sumac berries and juniper, steamed.
silk, pre-mordanted with alum solution, bundled with sumac and juniper, steamed in a stainless steel pot
I’m done now with the sumac and juniper, but not to worry, I have some avocado pits quartered and soaking, so will get a chance to try dyeing some fabrics with those in another couple weeks.
My studio walls are now covered with lots of eco and rust-dyed cotton and silk. I haven’t washed any of it yet….letting the colors set as long as possible before washing them. They each have an inherent beauty – I love looking at them and contemplating how I will use them. Ideas come readily for some, not so much for others.
Guess I’ll continue to meditate on that for awhile, while beginning to do some stitching.
