Tuesday, September 13, 2011

a flurry of activity this week

Steaming bundles of garden material, silk and cotton wrapped around leaves and flowers...
Sun-dyed over the weekend...you can see dancing skeletons, and the basket-weave pattern of a patio chair...
India Flint's "hapa-zome" technique of pounding leaf and petal prints directly into cotton, with a wooden mallet...this afternoon, using geraniums, tomato leaves, and zinnia...the orange is rust-stain from a previous experiment.
It's my first try. Next time I'll compose a picture, perhaps. Or pound a blouse or one of the antique children's dresses I own.
More sun-dyes...a "diptych" this time...

It's difficult to say just where all this is heading. I'm getting more satisfaction out of the sun-dye prints, though I don't yet know their purpose, or whether they will all wind up part of the same series. I enjoy the "eco-printing" too though, and having finally hit on the techniques that work in my backyard (with the plants available), results are more sure. And rusting fabric is fun! Though it does require some patience, and some scavenging for interesting metal pieces. The pile of rusted, dyed and printed fabrics on my sewing table grows... Not everything is posted here, since I'm still sans camera.

Friday, September 9, 2011

work in progress...

Different from the "Galaxy" piece - Not much left to do besides shoot a better photo.