Dis-Cord

Well, I now feel I have finished this latest piece although it has yet to be mounted. As usual I will leave it to 'rest' for awhile like a good roast, before doing so.

This piece came about after I made the comment that I should now do a companion piece to my previous piece Co-Existing. Little did I know how much of what has happened in New Zealand during the last few months, and my visit to the Chatham Islands, would creep into this piece. None of which were anticipated, but somehow they took over and I have been open to these feelings. Serendipity is my favourite word, when all senses are open to make the most of what occurs, both good and bad. Expressing it in a meaningful and successful way is always a challenge, but then I am up for any challenge (as someone has just pointed out to me recently!).

Detail...

©Diana Parkes, Dis-Cord 2010, 115cm x 160cm; 45" x 63"; dye, textile paint and cloth.

Although the 'broken' house symbol initially made no reference to the Christchurch earthquake in September, it soon became just that. The sometimes ghastly history of the Chatham Islands, between Moriori and Maori, and the many headstones with 'drowned/lost at sea' played on my mind after my visit. Then the 29 entombed miners. There is always to be a human figure(s) in this series of works, and I now see the New Zealand paratrooper killed (supposedly) by friendly fire in Afghanistan last week in this figure. His mother is an associate of mine, and a very well-respected person in the quilting world. We all feel for the family at this time. The white arch symbolizes hope which we must never ignore.

I am aware that expressing emotions and feelings within textile works is not common, but textiles do not always have to be 'nice' and acceptable. They can be a vehicle for all sorts of situations and emotions. I have in the past stepped over 'the line' with my work and probably confused lots of people. The older I get, the more comfortable I am with doing this, I just have to tell a story, otherwise I am wasting my time. It is as simple as that.

And to end on a more cheerful note - my daily strawberries from the garden!

Something different

In amongst other things I do, one of my jobs is to dye silk fabrics for future brides and their bridal parties. I work with a couple of local silk fabric shops; one in particular deals a lot with bridal and special occasion fabrics.

It is a very long time ago since I was a bride, and today's bride-to-be has a huge source of images to choose from in magazines and on the Internet. And often their dreams select a fabric of a certain colour which does not seem to be available anywhere, that is in New Zealand, or further afield.

One skill I have developed very successfully is dyeing yardage to a specific colour, and with a 100% flat colour, just like a 'bought fabric'. There has been quite a few brides and their bridal parties out there with garments made from silk fabrics which I have dyed specifically for them.

Here are my latest pieces - a heavy silk crepe on the left (shiny finish) while on the right is a silk Georgette (dull finish)which is to be made into sashes for the bridesmaids.

I have developed a reliable method of doing these fabrics and for those not familiar with such processes, it all goes by weight ie the dry fabric is weighed and the amount of dyes and chemicals are determined as to the depth of colour, and of course the colour itself which may be achieved with several mixed dye colours. I never bother to measure the length of what I am dyeing, that is not part of the equation. The fabrics above, combined, weighed in at 800 gms dry weight; the silk crepe was very heavy, but the Georgette very light. As I do this all by hand, I do have a limit of one kilogram, dry weight, as when wet this becomes very heavy. If the fabrics go above this weight I need to cut into more manageable pieces, the dressmakers are able to manipulate the garment pieces when cutting. One bridal party got their fabric in five pieces ie five dye batches, and they all matched perfectly!

Adding details

Really concentrating on details this week and bringing everything to the front. It is a matter of quietly working through the various processes. I enjoy this part although it can be scary as sometimes it can go horribly wrong. One of the applications was hastily removed with a hose-down on the driveway as it was just not working! The advantage with working with cloth, dye, textile pigment/paint is that work can be washed - try doing that with a traditional painting!

Here the headstones have been more defined.

The back ground inside the collapsing house has been further worked on. This has turned out well, although it is rather hard to see any difference in the photos.

Another great day out on Wednesday. Back into Wellington to attend functions and exhibitions at Te Papa as well as getting to see the galleries which were closed last Tuesday when I visited. I always come home feeling inspired, and eager to get on with things.

Pulling it all together

I have now added all the elements I think are necessary to this piece and now need to pull it all together. My favourite way is to print out an image of the whole piece, place a sheet of tracing paper on top and start sketching in details. If done in pencil this makes it easy to amend and adjust. From this sketch I can then start applying the ideas, which are bound to change but it does give some direction.

Tracing paper placed over the top of an image, and some details added.

Tracing paper lifted off the image. The details are now up-side-down.

The saddest times...

It is no secret that New Zealand is suffering at the moment. The mine tragedy on the West Coast of the South Island has everyone in a state of national mourning. For those directly involved their worlds have crumbled along with their men and our thoughts and support must be with them. And those that worked so tirelessly towards a positive outcome need our support too, they did their very best in such dreadful circumstances.

It seems unfair that life still goes on and like everyone else I am suffering from time acceleration and am constantly wondering where time has gone. My hairdresser came today for the usual 4 - 5 weekly trim, and I swear blind that she was here just two weeks ago!

On Tuesday I took myself off for a day of gallery crawling, and the movies, in Wellington. I thoroughly enjoy these outings but I must remember that many galleries are closed Tuesdays (and Mondays)! However I still had plenty to see, and a lecture at Te Papa in conjunction with the European Masters exhibition was excellent. Not only did we hear the history of selected pieces but also about the application of paint and techniques. The movie wasn't too grand but I did have the luxury of the 300 seat cinema all to myself!

Some progress on my piece this week. I have added some headstones to the left of the figure. I sourced these from a photo taken in a cemetery on the Chatham Islands. There is no wording left on the stones but one headstone nearby had a date of 1802 and is possibly one of the earliest European graves in New Zealand.

The headstones have yet to be further defined at a later date.

The broken headstones.

Line of fire...

This week I have added some rifles to my latest piece. I searched the Internet for a simple recognisable outline and then made two lino cuts, one for each direction.

The test run on a scrap of fabric. I have re-painted the bottom rifle to get a better definition.

Positioning and masking up the areas to be printed. The right hand prints are my test sample. Lino cuts resting above the areas to be printed.

.... and the final outcome.

Making art...

I actually don't like working on a messy table, but sometimes it just happens!

I have been working on the boat this week. It may get some more attention further down the track but I hestitate to do this too early. It is better to balance things once other details are added.