Friday, July 22, 2011

More Practice


I'm practicing a lot with the Hot Soy Wax & MX Dye technique that Lisa Kerpoe and Jane Dunnewold describe in their wonderful Vibrant Color dvd.  In the hour of 'play time' that I was able to carve out of my busy yesterday (celebrating birthdays can be busy and exhausting but loads of fun), I created this piece using a brush and a tjanting tool.  It became a bit meditative for me, and I was sorry when the piece of crepe de chine was filled up.  I didn't have time to cover it with a layer of thickened dyes, so I did that this afternoon.  Here's how it's looking now:




I learned a lot by experimenting with this piece, and I'm glad that I took my time and worked on a small practice piece of silk first rather than jumping into something big immediately, as is my normal manner.


This is the very first piece that I waxed yesterday:




I am batching them overnight tonight, and will steam them first thing tomorrow morning.


After waxing the two pieces above yesterday, I had several questions, so this morning I watched that chapter on the dvd again.  After going to the gym, I waxed this small piece in the studio this afternoon:




This one will also be steamed tomorrow morning.  I promise to share my results.  The colors will be totally different, and I'm chomping at the bit to see the finished pieces.  


Do you remember this piece that I showed you the other day




Here is how it looks after steaming:




It's very warm and humid here now.  I'm not complaining: we have air conditioning and have had several rain showers this week.  I had to laugh when I made my way in from my studio this evening.  C had walked up the driveway to get our mail, thinking Barker and Elsie would go along.  No way, Jose:




Those two had found the one little bit of shade along the front walk and driveway, and were trying to stay cool!


wishing you Peace and moderate temperatures wherever you are!

4 comments:

Carol said...

Temperature is a bit too moderate for me but at least it hasn't rained all day. Some, but not all. Lovely photo of Barker and Elsie staying cool, that boy gets more handsome every day. Your dying projects are fascinating, and the results are amazing. Clever girl. xo

Jeannie said...

Barker and Elsie are so cute and smart! Your dye experiments look wonderful and like you had some fun in the studio.

Eva said...

The colors of the dyed silk -- bottom pics -- looks like what I saw on my Scotland trip: Deep greens on the hills and bright chartreuse when the sun came out and let the patches of moss shine golden. What a lovely combination!

Gerrie said...

Scooter hates hot weather! He has been most happy this year.