Just a few samples produced during the dyeing day at Busy Bees in Newport yesterday. These were the demonstration samples and all the students produced their own variations of these colours…… and lots more. I’ll be returning there next year to teach another technique. Watch out for their new brochure – this year’s class sold out really quickly.
I teach several different dyeing courses. If you are interested in one for your group just get in touch and we will see if we can arrange something.
I have a private exhibition looming. It’s an unusual event as it won’t be open to the public, just to a specific group of people. The work that they will see is quite a big step away from some of the things that I have previously created. I’m just beginning a new artwork, and I thought you might like to see a part of the process.
The background fabric will be hand dyed cotton. Dull and dingy it will be a dark mustard in colour with splashes of a slightly brighter yellow and dark blue. It doesn’t sound very attractive or interesting, does it? So, how to make it more interesting? It’s too dark to respond to much more over-dyeing, so the answer is paint.
First some experiments:
Blending colour is the first step, I don’t like to use ‘raw’ colour straight from the tube or bottle. This looks promising
Looking better as it is mixed more and more. I’m not using a paintbrush for this process, I have a special blending tool which I’ll tell you about another day. They look good on paper, but will they do on the fabric?
Perfect! Several thin layers of transparent acrylic have been built up. Some of it is printing using an old mouse mat which is a perfect printing surface. The experiments were worth it. Can you guess which colours I used?
Did you guess? I love mixing colours – you never know what you will discover. I have never used these colours in combination before, but I will be using them again. Stitching comes next, but first, some more fabric preparation.
Is it time you tried some new colours? Let me know if you do.
If you follow my other blog you will have read that I didn’t get much sleep last night. I’ve had a busy day today, carrying on with my night time activities! It’s all in preparation for the course I’ll be teaching at Urchfont Manor. The requirements list has gone out, and I’m pretty certain they are all wondering what on earth they have let themselves in for! Well it will be fun, and one of the things I will be emphasising is how much better dyed fabrics are if colour is applied in layers. Here’s one I prepared earlier
A few more layers will be added over the next while and the surface will become more and more complicated.
The course, which is full by the way, is set to run over a few days, but parts can be completed in a single day, so I will also be offering it to Guilds and Groups if anyone is interested. The demise of Urchfont is very sad. We still live in hope, however, in spite of many rumours. The Graduation of the final students was celebrated last weekend, it was a lovely, but sad occasion. There are many photographs, and those, and others, will eventually be added to a tribute site. If you have any memories or pictures that you would like to add please see the details here.
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