Another piece completed

I have now finished another of my larger individual WholeCloth Banners. I might point out here that these banners are not exactly mainstream in the world of textile art. By this I mean that they have no additional embellishments (stitching, beading, applique etc) and they are not layered as in quilts. They are simply a single piece of silk fabric which has gone through numerous dye processes to achieve an outcome. They celebrate cloth and dye. Indeed, the title of my exhibition is just that CLOTH AND DYE EXPRESSIONS. For those familiar with embroidery and quilting, this may seem somewhat strange, but I strongly believe nothing has to remain as it always has been. There are just as many ways of not doing things as there are of doing things, if you know what I mean!

Here are the progress images of my latest piece, the first three have already been shown earlier but they help, I think, to keep things logical. At the moment the piece is called NETWORKS.

Dye painted on to big screen, and dried (not sure why everything appears so blue, which it wasn't!).

Clear water splashed on to painted screen, and dried.

Screened on to a silk/linen blend fabric with clear manutex / sodium alginate.

I then traced the design from the fabric on to paper using a lightbox. I separated the white areas, mid-tones and dark tones. Then drew a series of double lines at random across the whole piece. Using surplus dye, the colours being of no consequence, I painted in the mid-tone areas and grid.

The painted paper template was placed underneath the cleaned screen which was raised slightly off the table. I have painted fresh dyes on selected areas, following the template design underneath.

The above screened on to original fabric. This brought about an interesting observation. I never pre-wash my silk fabrics as they are not dressed like other fabrics. But they will shrink when the first dye application is washed. This has never been a problem. However, this time I was working with an established screen size which meant that the second screening extended over the sides of the (now shrunk) original screening. I decided to leave these borders and feel this is just another one of those wonderful serendipitous happenings, which I love....

Next came making a freezer paper template in the form of tree roots. I used a gold pigment in a gutta bottle and painted horizontal and vertical lines in a grid. Once dried, the freezer paper was removed.

At this point I felt the lower portion was somewhat surplus, so it was cut away. I feel this gives a more balanced piece. Final size 69cm x 72cm / 27" x 29".

52 more days to my exhibition.