Mushroom dyeing: once is enough

My most recent surface design (dyeing) experiment turned out to be a stinking mess!  When I saw these weird mushrooms in my backyard last weekend and noticed how they'd stained the grass around them, I thought FABRIC DYEING!  Don't they have an interesting "border" design? 

Mushroom in my yard.  Type???

 I harvested more than a bucketful!

Shroom Family

An 18" garter snake was hiding under this crop, below.  Just to prove I could, I caught the snake by the tail and proudly showed it to my husband.  Sorry, no photo!

"Turtle shell" shrooms!

Big Daddy Shroom!  (12" across)

I took some of the harvested fungi and placed them on my PFD fabric.  Wearing rubber gloves, I smooshed and smashed them into the cloth.  They were juicy!  Next, I rolled the fabric into two bundles, with the mushrooms still inside, then double-bagged them in plastic.

Shrooms smashed and bundled in PFD fabric

After 2 days on the backporch, I thought my project might need heat to yield better results.  After photographing it, I placed the mushy bag on the hearth in front of our gas heater.  (I wonder if the word mushy has its origins in mushroom?)

After 2 days . . . yum

Last night, I turned the bag over one rotation.  Five minutes later, I saw that it had begun leaking a thin, dark brown liquid onto the hearthstone.  I quickly cleaned up the mess and decided to stop the experiment.  Back on the porch again, I unwrapped the bundles and nearly gagged from the smell!  I persevered and got the fabric rinsed out, and the rest of the nasty mess went outside in the trash.

The result. 

This morning I studied my mushroom-dyed fabric.  It's not pretty.  It IS organic, though, and does look like some of India Flint's experiments in her wonderful book, Eco Colour.  I'm not sure how or even IF I'll ever use it, but I'm pretty sure I won't repeat this stinky experiment again!

Going backwards, again

I'm going backwards again, posting something that should have been done in late September!  However, since I looked forward to my Watercolor Journaling class with Jane Lafazio at Art & Soul for such a long time (actually, I've wanted to take a class from her since I learned about her work a few years ago), I can't NOT post this!
I had a copy of Danny Gregory's book with me, An Illustrated Life, which came in handy when Jane related the story of her art life.  If I've got this right, it was when she first discovered Danny Gregory's watercolor-journaling style that she left behind her more formal style of watercoloring for this freer, more spontaneous way of working.  And now, in turn, Jane's inspiring others to give sketching and drawing a try.  (I never even considered learning to sketch and/or watercolor until I saw Jane's work, and I know I'm not the only she's inspired to take up pen and moleskine!)

Love this book!

page 145, autographed.

Our first exercise in Jane's class was to do a pencil sketch, after choosing a subject from her traveling collection of silk flowers and little birds.  I wasn't the fastest in the class (and I have no natural talent), so I found myself wishing I'd been practicing drawing on a regular basis.  In a previous class a few years ago, I learned the basics of drawing, how to see like an artist, blind contour drawing, etc., and most importantly, that regular practice is the only way to get better at it.
We then drew over our pencil lines in black ink, then added the watercolors.  Mine wasn't great, but wasn't horrible either. I like the imperfections.  It provided lots of opportunity for progress (especially in learning where the stem should join the blossom)!

Sketched and watercolored lily.

My 2nd piece had some problems.  He looks pretty cross, for one.  I won't point out the others (like giving him something to perch on!), and there's not much left to do before he's finished.  This poor birds just wants it to be over with!

Not-quite-finished blue jay.

So that was Art & Soul 2011 (Portland).  Just one class this year.  No new (and unfinished) jewelry projects to tempt me away from needle, thread, and fabric.  Well, maybe an exception can be made for a short, but regular, sketching practice!

Inspiration: Cascades in the Summer

It's time to post some of the photos I've taken over the past few months.  Most were taken as possible sources of inspiration for design, while others were meant to capture a summer memory.  Here they are:

Yes, part of Clear Lake is turquoise! (as seen from our canoe)

near Camp Sherman

Ponderosa Pine (can't you feel the warm sun on your back?)

Closer view of Ponderosa pine (press your nose against the sun-warmed bark; it smells like vanilla)

Old fencing nailed to Ponderosa pine

Pine drops

Mt. Jefferson, glimpsed through the trees

Canyon Creek Trail to 3-Fingered Jack

Wildflowers on Canyon Creek Trail (late Aug. 2011!)

New Look for Fall!

So . . . whadda ya think?  Do you like this seasonal look?  I'd like your opinion!

Joanna

Crosscurrents: Finale!

Now that I finally have people reading my blog, it's a bad time to neglect posting and keeping things updated!  Sorry that I disappointed anyone by not sticking to my plan of daily updates on the Crosscurrents workshop.

My progress at end of Day 4.

Little green centers (cotton lame') added to X's.

One of my favorite "units" was the one below, which I started on Day 4 and finished the last day.  It's based on Lisa Call's style (the example in that link shows her typical use of solids and repetitious stitching), though mine is a little different. 

First, the base is made of 9 fabrics, stitched together at an angle.  A stabilizer was added to the back, then I used a fabric chalk marker to lightly sketch in a grid on the front, totally ignoring the lines created when I stitched the 9 pieces together.  I began straight-line stitching, changing the direction of the stitching lines within the grids to create lots of movement. I believe Lisa does her stitching in the quilting stage, but my goal was simply to make an interesting "background."

"Grid-stitching."

On our last afternoon, each workshop participant talked about their work and what they learned that week.  For me, I learned to think differently about backgrounds.  Rather than simply a base to add your work to, I learned that the background could more accurately be described as "the first layer," and to make it as interesting as every other part of my design.  I now realize that multiple layers give a richness to your work, and can be the element that beckons the viewer to come in for a closer look.  I'm not sure I'd previously heard the phrase "Would it make a man on a galloping horse come back for a closer look?" but it really makes sense to me now.  And finally, I liked Rosalie's term for negative spaces:  the spaces in-between! Like the background (or "first layer"), those spaces provide another design opportunity.

More tucks.

 

During the week, I left my piece of Black Cherry-dyed shibori hanging on my design wall because it gave the impression that I'd made more progress than I really had.  But as I explained this during my turn to sum up my experience, several classmates encouraged me to include it.  I hadn't thought the color worked with my overall design, but I've played around and casually made some tucks and fabric inserts, and now think it might work.  I think tucks (which I used successfully in my piece for the Bits & Pieces exhibit) may become a recurring element in my work!

There's still one more story to tell from this week, but I'll save it for the next post.  Thanks for reading about my explorations!

Crosscurrents: Day 3

Day 3:  still designing and constructing units.  I should be starting to consider how these will all fit together, but I feel like I still need to construct one or two more units (and maybe a few mini-ones) before putting them all together. 
We crossed the halfway point of the workshop today (Day 3), and everyone's work is amazing..Here's a quick look at my progress thus far . . . no more words; I need to sleep!

Day 3:  everything constructed thus far

A remake of my first unit from Day One

Day 3:  A line of vertical tucks with surprise color bits

Tomorrow is Day 4.  It's going to be a good one!  After our class, Jean (Wells) has invited all of us to her house for dinner, followed by "show and tell."  Then at 8pm, it's the season premiere of Oregon Art Beat.   Half of this episode is a feature  story about Jean and her contributions to the quilting world.  I can say that I was there at the film shoot (along with other members of our Intuitive Color and Design Group) and had the privilege of participating!

Crosscurrents: Day 2

I used so much creative energy on Day 2 that there was no energy of ANY kind for posting an update last night.

Day 2:  some X's, crossed lines, cross-currents.

 In the last half-hour of Day 2, I stabilized a piece of black dupioni silk (in upper right of  photo below), then added random rows of machine stitching to it.  Along with the white-and-gray background piece next to it, I quickly created more crossed lines using leftover fusible-backed fabric strips.

Day 2:  old and new pieces

My design wall on Day 2

My design wall now includes a long piece of Black Cherry shibori-dyed fabric created a few weeks ago.  Not sure I can use it in this project, but it fills out my wall area nicely!

"Crosscurrents" Workshop with Rosalie Dace: Day One

I feel so fortunate to be taking the 5-day Crosscurrents design workshop with S. African art quilter, Rosalie Dace.  What an incredible teacher!  The workshop is at the Stitchin' Post in Sisters, OR.  In the weeks leading up to this workshop, our assignment was to pay special attention to the shapes x and +, which have intersecting lines, and collect images of these shapes.

My design wall: Day one

Day One was all about PLAYING, EXPERIMENTING,
and trying out different ways of designing with intersecting lines. Tomorrow we'll begin our actual design compositions, but Day One was all about exploring.


   
 Rosalie brought a wonderful selection of images that featured intersecting lines.  I sketched a few ideas from them, but went back to a previous little sketch in my design journal.  Here's how it looks now that I've interpreted it in fabric:

My first piece.  (Ignore the dark line on the right; I don't have a photo-editing program on this laptop!)

Exploring that idea further, I had a good start on my next piece.   Then Rosalie came around and asked the magical question   " . . . what if . . .?"  She gave me that extra little push that I needed, resulting in this piece:

Designing in layers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 I knew about "what if . . .?" but now realize I hadn't been asking it enough when designing art quilts.



 I began one more composition before quitting time.  It's not finished yet, but here's where I left off:

3rd design, still in progress.

I'm very excited for Day 2!  And something special happens Thursday evening -- Jean Wells, who's also in this class, has invited all of us to her house for dinner that evening.  Then at 8pm, it's time for Oregon Art Beat's season premiere (Ore. Public Broadcasting); one of the two featured stories is the one about Jean, filmed this past July!  I was privileged to be at the filming as one of her "students" working through the critique process.  It will be so much fun to see the results of that day's filming, done in the classroom and at her home studio!

Shibori, revisited

I had the urge to put color on fabric one weekend in mid-September, so I gathered my supplies and wrapped 8" strips of (dry) soda-soaked PFD fabric around PVC piping.  I recently splurged on some new Procion MX dye powders, but couldn't decide which to use.  My son (Max) was home from college for the weekend, so I asked him to make the choice between Eggplant, Black Cherry, and Rust Brown.  Without looking up, he proclaimed Black Cherry as the dye of the day.  (Probably because he doesn't like eggplant -- has he even tasted it?? -- and anything with rust in the title probably sounded unappealing.)

Fabric wrapped, scrunched, and tied on PVC pipes.

Ready for the dye

Dyeing in progress

The results

I was very happy with my results, both the shibori and the two extra fabric pieces I scrunched up and submerged in the dye bath.  I want to use these pieces, not add them to my bag of "experiments"!

VAST

This past weekend I visited Alley Art Studio, where Dayna Collins mixes her media and artistically expresses her motto:  Be Bold.  Dayna's studio was open to the public last Sat. and Sun. as part of the Visual Artist Studio Tour (VAST).  Her studio itself is an artistic wonder.  There are paintings on the walls, mixed media pieces, and collection after collection of curiosities such as vintage hose nozzles, doll heads, and one of my favorites, a vignette of used watercolor sets arranged on a wall.

Some of Dana's art was available for sale -- her Curious Elements.  I've admired them for awhile, and now own these two pieces:

Curious Elements by Dayna Collins

Now I need to find a special place to display them!

Starting the Architecture Challenge

Last Friday night's excitement has calmed down, gradually being pushed aside by a growing interest and flashes of inspiration for our next challenge.  I wanted to play with another hand-carved stamp again, so I looked through my photos of the Ladd & Bush Bank's architecture.  I decided to experiment with this image:

My selected architectural motif

Cropped: a smaller section to work with

 I opened the cropped image, rotated and resized it in PhotoShop Elements, then applied different filters.  The one I liked best was under Sketch, called Reticulation.
[Reticulation:  an arrangement resembling a net or network  (in photography, reticulation is the process of fracturing the film for creative effect).]

The reticulated image

 I printed out the reticulated image and darkened the lines with a fine-point marker (left, below) to make it easier to trace onto tracing paper (middle, below).  The traced image was placed face-down on a Speedy-cut block.  I re-drew the lines on the back of the tracing paper, which transferred the markings to the block.  With linocutting tools, I cut/carved the image into the block (right, below).

Three steps of the process

 A sponge brush was used to put a thin layer of fabric paint on the carved stamp, then the design was stamped onto fabric and heat-set with an iron after the paint dried.  Here are a couple of samples I stamped:

Image stamped onto fabric

The architectural motif I began with has been slightly morphed into a more abstract design.  Now I have to decide if I like it enough to use it, and if so, how to use it in a 12" x 18" design challenge.  This is the incubation period, a time to be patient and not to make a rushed, forced decision.

Surprise: an award!

Torrie and I went to the artists' reception for Salem Art Association's show, Bits & Pieces: Intuitive Quilts from the NW and Beyond this past Fri. night, since we both had quilts juried into this show.  It was a really fun time -- people were friendly, the energy was high.  Several times I overheard comments such as "finally, quilts are being accepted as fine art."
We were there for about an hour and a half when someone pointed out to me that the tag on my quilt said "Merit Award."    I don't know how I missed that, but it was true!  When the awards were announced, my name was the first one called.  It was a huge thrill, happily shared with several friends and family members.  (Thanks to those who came out that night!)  We had planned to go out for dinner afterward to celebrate my first juried show.  As it turned out,  there was even more to celebrate!

Merit Award:  my "Natural Symphony"quilt.

 There were three other Merit Awards presented.  Two went to Jean Wells for her two quilts below:
 

Merit Award:  "Coffee Country" by Jean Wells.

Merit Award: "Steppin Out" by Jean Wells

 In my excitement, I've forgotten the recipient of the 4th Merit Award.  (That, plus other details, I'll add later after I've returned from seeing the show again.)

The award for Best of Show went to Salem's Kay Worthington, whom I met for the first time that night.  (I'll add a photo of her award-winning quilt later . . . my camera's batteries died early in the show!)

LOVED this one!  (title/maker to be added)

Another entry by Kay Worthington.

The color RED was well-represented at this show.  (Title/maker to be added)

 The show will be up until Oct. 15 at Salem's Bush Barn Art Center.

Who doesn't like cupcakes?

Cupcake fabric postcard from hand-carved stamp

I finished this fabric postcard, placed it in the fancy stand to show it off, and delivered it to my friend Nancy Smith today.  It's my donation to the big raffle basket (with a dessert theme) that she's coordinating as a member of the Willamette Valley Auxiliary (an extension of the Assistance League of Salem).  This fundraiser, as part of Operation Backpack, helps provide backpacks filled with school supplies for local K-12 students  who might otherwise start their school year without these basics.

My hand-carved stamp and "practice" postcard

 I realized how much I enjoy carving my own stamps and using them to create one-of-a-kind fabric designs.  I stamped the cupcake image on 5-6 different cotton fabrics that I'd dyed, painted, screenprinted, etc. beforehand.  On both the pink and blue postcards above, I freemotion-quilted with a Mettler 50/3 brown cotton thread (on top and in bobbin), using a Topstitch 90/14 needle.  No problems; just an easy meditative little quilting experience.

I have a tendency to overdo it when using most types of cutting/trimming tools. (Loppers on the hedge:  clearcutting.  Trimmers on the hydrangeas:  removed  about 88% of the decades-old plantings, etc.)  But so far, I've maintained control with my carving tools and not chopped away too much of the carving block.  (I used Speedball carving tools and carving blocks.)  I like the three stamps I've made this year:

My 3 hand-carved stamps

It's almost showtime!

Torrie's quilt in ad

Bright and early Sunday morning, Torrie sent me the following link to an article  in Salem's Statesman-Journal about the upcoming Bits & Pieces show.  Near the end, it mentions both of us!

In addition to the Gee's Bend quilts and the quilts juried into the show, there's also an invitational part to the show that we weren't even aware of!  Once again, Jean Wells' name enters the picture -- she was one of the quilt artists invited to be a part of this show.

Torrie, who, unlike me, is always early for everything, reaped the rewards for her promptness.  A close-up shot of  part of her quilt was used in the full-color ad for the Bits & Pieces show (also in Sunday's paper).  Incidently, this detail shot shows some of the surface-designed fabrics from our Fabric Swatch Exchange!)

Wax on . . .

My "new" tjap!

I just love Dharma Trading!  I was on an email "alert" list to be contacted whenever they got in a shipment of copper tjaps (pronounced chops from Indonesia.  Here's what the Dharma website says about them:

These approximately 50 year old collectible tools called Tjaps (or Chops), have been made and used on the island of Java for over a century. They are handmade of copper strips, carefully cut, shaped and soldered into fabulous shapes and patterns. They are used by Batik artists in Java by dipping them into hot wax, shaking off the excess, and then stamping the wax onto the cloth.

Another view (background is a batik fabric made earlier this year)

 I heated up some soy wax this evening and tried out the tjap.  Hmmm . . .LOTS of excess wax and very little design.  I need to work on my technique! 
Stay tuned for photos of this experiment.