Some text....

My next application was to add some text which further endorses the content of this piece. It is easy enough these days to select a font and size on the computer and trace these on to freezer paper. I have kept the letter cut-outs as I may use these in the future, if I actually remember that I have them!

Prepared freezer paper ironed in place...

Black pigment/paint rolled over the freezer paper.

Lettering is now done. Still more to happen....

Progressing well.....

Following my previous blog I received three comments about my current piece. I was asked whether it was turning out as planned, whether it was proceeding as I intended and had there been drastic changes; and that I needed to be brave to paint with dye on fabric instead of a canvas.

The short answer is that this is just the way I work. I enjoy the unpredictability and challenge of not quite knowing how things are going to work out. I very quickly get bored if everything is worked out ahead.

The longer answer is that I often start with some content ideas in mind although sometimes these may surface after starting. I like my work to be edgy, to have a purpose, a message, some thoughts on a topic. This keeps the work interesting for me as the artist/maker and eventually, I hope, the viewers. Using dyes on fabric is perhaps an unusual choice of execution but in today's art world all materials are valid. Dyes are a challenge to use artistically but that also is why I use them.

In this particular piece I am using caged birds as a metaphor for lives that become trapped within their environments/circumstances and that freedom to make choices to 'escape', move on, need to be considered at all costs. A difficult recommendation as we know that this is not always possible. This piece is to acknowledge this as well.

Thank you for your comments and I hope I have answered to your satisfaction.

I wanted to break up the flat colour in the top right corner, so discharged with a 'texture'. However, I wasn't too keen on the result so decided to over-dye.....

..... with a purple which I now think works much better. Unexpectedly I have a bird's head and beak appearing here which was not intended and I am not sure how I might be able to take advantage of this.

Full view with the addition of some screen printed skeletal birds which further endorse the intent of this piece.

More progress....

Here I have added a bird cage which is part of the theme for this piece. Colour has been added to the lower half and also to the top left corner. Parts of the top left and bottom right (between the lines) then got discharged to give a contrast.

Then I painted the top right corner a dark brown which makes the central oval more prominent (more about this corner next blog).

After leaving any dye application to cold batch overnight, I always hose the cloth on my driveway (seen here from the deck above, and around, my studio). This hosing releases any surplus dye and avoids back staining particularly when I want areas to stay white. I don't pre-soak the cloth in a soda ash solution as the surplus dye will strike on the white areas. To avoid this I add the soda ash to the thickened dye solution instead. After hosing the cloth still goes through a washing machine cycle. Any one piece may have gone through up to 20 washes before completion.

All washed and ironed. More colour has been added to the top left and bottom right corners as well.
Yet more to do.....

Working Again

After my weekend away and also attending some NZ Festival of the Arts events, I am back to work again on my big piece. It is quietly coming together.

Some patterning on the left side achieved with freezer paper resists. Then a dye wash over the top.

Here I have taken a large oval shape and discharged some colours within this space. The letters form the word 'escape' which is the theme for this piece.

More next blog.....

National Park Weekend

This last weekend was our annual sibling weekend. We try to do something different each year and this time chose a visit to National Park, a small recreational village in our central North Island which caters for skiers and mountain climbers etc during the winter months. As it was still our summer we didn't have to be too concerned about the weather, and it was indeed very nice.

On Saturday we went on a two hour round walk, with picnic lunch, on the lower slopes of Mount Ruapehu, and enjoyed the changes in scenery along the way.

Looking across the plateau to Mt Ngauruhoe.

Heading into a clump of mountain trees.

Dappled pathway.

Looking out to the distant farmlands.

Taranaki Waterfall where we stopped for a picnic lunch (note people on top of the cliff).

New Piece

Recently I made a start on a new piece. I want my next major works to be more edgy so content is paramount. I also want them to be LARGE. My silk/linen mix fabric is 115cm/45" wide and I plan to use this full measurement, either horizontially or vertically - no test swatches allowed in the side margins!

I started with dye painting some units on to my large screen. Their positioning has no relationship to each other.

Not a very good photo as cloth is still on my printing table. Units have now been screened in their intended positions. I have since added another unit, similar to that top left, to the bottom right corner.

Saturday's workshop

Yesterday's workshop went very well and they were an enthusiastic, experienced bunch. Great results for the brief time available.

Here is my example screened on to calico (muslin)....


Lots of concentration here!

Busy, busy....

A small selection of pieces achieved.....