Imprinted on Cloth

Tonight was the opening of the Schweinfurth Art Center's exhibition with four surface designers -- Petra Fallaux, Karen Schulz, Margaret Boys Wolf, and me. It is a lovely look at rich  color applied to fabric, unique voices and motifs, and a wonderful statement on current surface design in fiber work. Go see!
 

Deceptive Color

Top pic is unwashed, with my mystery color (turquoise and magenta), with mixed mystery and turquoise. I know what happens, so I'm not shocked with the resulting color. Turquoise goes down dark when wet; my favorite purple is that mystery blend. I like what I have, and I'll plan to do it again. 
 

Scarf VS Shirt

I've two one yard pieces of crepe di chine that were tagged for scarves, but wouldn't it be fun to use as a shirt? Lord knows I've a few more things to get finished before I try more garments, but I can maybe move this up the list a bit, can't I?
 

Your Invited Saturday

Drinks are on the house, er, the Schweinfurth Art Center. It should be a wonderful set of works who share the art of printing on fabric. They may even have cookies, too. 
 

Taking a Bow

I'm heading to the opening of "Imprinted on Cloth" at the Schweinfurth Art Center this Saturday for the opening. Slight of Hand, on loan from a collector, will be shown along with work by Margaret Boys Wolf, Petra Fallaux, and Karen Schulz. Join us in Auburn, NY, May 31 from 4-6.

 

Screen Time

I've got some screen time waiting for me, and the silk fabric is in. Two kinds of silk scarves are on my table for next week, one that is a round and 60" long, the other a large 42" square. I know we're heading into hot weather, but my calendar calls this task before it heats up. 

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The Print Table

I'm using the dyes leftover from the class in Auburn; there's not much, but enough to cover this yard. It is mainly red and turquoise, but the wet turquoise always looks black, so this view of a wet print is deceptive. It'll washout completely differently. Plus, I've added red to purple it up. 
 

Next Up

When I get the chance to work in the studio again I'll take on this construction. I like the motif, and there's good movement in the background where the color shift is working well, so it's a matter of shifting the elements to strengthen the composition. Which is to say, it'll take a bit of finagling.

Groundwork

When I'm printing, I'll have several puddles of color, much like a painter's palette, waiting at the ready. At the end of a print session, I hate to scrape them up and wash away, so I've used them in a color block background. I'll add a background heavy motif over this allowing the colors to come through. 

 

Short Time Work

Good to steal away to the studio for a little bit of time. I went back to what waited for me, kinda liked what I had, but then reinvented it. I'm not finished, but I think it's improved. Here's the before and the after for the session.

 

Finishing the Last Layers

Monoprints I make as demos for workshops come home with me. They allow me to take a second look at how I'd finish them, use the print as a base or a starting layer for the square. This is not yet washed out, so I can't tell how deep the colors will be. But I do like the spread of motifs and the color blocking.