notes from 207

Uarts Art Education Benefit Workshop

2012-02-06T11:08:00.000-08:00

Good afternoon readers!
You should all know by now that Dianne is very passionate about her silks and surface design, however, you may not know that Dianne is extremely skilled in another department as well. That department being teaching. Dianne is the art teacher you wish you had as a child, teenager, and adult. I say this as someone whom is studying to become an art educator. After an entire career of being an art teacher, Dianne still can't get away from the profession! Yesterday, she led an adult workshop in her studio where she fascinated 5 people of different ages, genders, and professions. Check out the results! These pieces were achieved in one afternoon.

A peak at the process:

The results:

Thanks for stopping in, that's all for today!

Stay posted later within the week to see pictures of her workshop that is taking place this Wednesday!

Francesca van Stolk

Guest Blogger

Scarf Update!

2012-02-06T10:40:00.000-08:00

Hello readers!

So you've received an in depth look at how Dianne designs her silk scarves, but you may now be asking yourself what the last steps of execution are. Lucky for you, she's kind enough to share :)

1. Ripping your precious silks!

2. Dianne carefully chooses a color scheme for her serged edges:

3. Et Voila! The scarf, entitled, "Electric Cool Aid" is now ready for sale!

Nick Cave comes to Philadelphia!

2012-01-28T15:28:00.000-08:00

Hello readers!

I hope that you've all returned with an eager excitement to see updates from our last post, however, today we are going to Nick Cave's show at the Fabric Workshop. You may be thinking, "Well, what is the correlation here?" Quite frankly, there is none--but we must go! "I will kick myself if I don't make it over to Nick Cave's show today," said Dianne earlier. We are calling it an early day in the studio to catch a glimpse of his infamous sound suits. Updated pictures of the finished fabrics and also the serging process will be available to you on Monday afternoon.

Have a lovely weekend and please check back with us on Monday!

Francesca van Stolk
Guest Blogger
Studio Assistant

Well the best laid plans.... we didn't get there in time... the city was awash with Auto Show traffic. Will try again soon ... the show is up til Feb. 12.

Dianne

A Day With Dianne

2012-01-22T14:36:00.000-08:00

    Outside the warming brick walls of Dianne's factory-turned-artist-studio in Philadelphia, lies the remainder of the city's first snow fall of the new year. Slick ice and crunchy snow create a winter blanket under our feet. Inside her studio, one can dismiss the freezing cold weather; walls are adorned with vibrant fiber wall-works measuring taller than both she and I, blooming orchids line the window sill, works of art both contemporary and historical patchwork the walls, and plush colorful chairs adorned in her own fibers invite you to sit in for a moment her world.

     Today will be reminiscent of other productive days for Dianne, but for myself and her fortunate readers, it will be brand new; today, we take each of you along in the intimate moments that create these personal scarves. Today, we share A Day With Dianne.

Preliminary Actions:
Before Dianne can create her scarves, many preliminary steps must be taken.
1. Soda-soak your silk! This is a necessary process which allows the silk to accept dye.
2. Allow your fabric to air dry. Do not rinse out the soda soak!
3. Pin your fabric taughtly as pictured below. It should be tight like a trampoline.

4.Pre-select where divisions will be made for your scarves. Today, we have marked these areas by creating a border.

5. Today, Dianne is using a deconstructed silkscreen. This screen was created at an earlier date for silkscreens often take hours to dry. Print paste has been mixed with her color of choice, and is then used to transfer the screen's image.

6. Pictured Above, Dianne places a straight-edged piece of plastic over her borders to allow herself the freedom to print over them.

7. Because there is now a perfect print of her screen on the plastic, Dianne instinctively flips over the plastic and uses a rubber roller to transfer the image; many actions like this are taken in her studio to avoid wasteful consumption. This particular decision allowed Dianne to receive a hue much lighter than she would have received with direct silkscreen. Over time, decisions like these contribute to her repertoire of how to effectively manipulate her materials.

8. Accent details are applied by hand to merge the color relationships.

9. Very often, new colors are brought in that were not used in the initial border or screen. Here is the first phase of adding color:

10. The second phase:

Check back with us shortly to see the final results post-washing, ironing, and sewing!
Want to know more? Me too! Contact Dianne for workshop availability and/or private appointments at: dhricko27@gmail.com

Until next post,

Francesca van Stolk
Guest Blogger

Poster Child

2012-01-19T13:53:00.000-08:00

Post Card for Art Cloth Network Show

I am so tickled that "Bebop" has been selected to be the Poster Child for the Art Cloth Network show. This show will feature the works of 15 members of the Art Cloth Network and will be part of FiberPhiladelphia.

Any one with in interest in fibers should immediately stop reading this blog and go right to www.fiberphiladelphia.org and get the latest updates on what is happening. Then get yourself to the city of brotherly love and see us getting our fiber on.

New Toys

2012-01-14T13:09:00.000-08:00

I was invited to post to pinterest and so of course had to give it a whirl. Now I am trying to change an image that is on my website, but in a very rectangular format. So am putting it here so I can transfer it there. All part of my steep learning curve. Will report back if I am successful. Well got it this far. So we will see.

After some thrashing about I called my much more computer literate studio assistant and with several clicks it was accomplished. Of course I have not learned how to do it yet, but that may come. So if you have time to spare go visit Pinterest and look for Dianne Koppisch Hricko. Happy New Year!

More Pole Dyeing.

2011-11-26T15:11:00.000-08:00

hand under-pained in blue/ warm yellow and cool yellow
over dyed with red

As we were getting ready for lunch on Saturday, Jan suggested that we freely under-paint a piece of cotton that was not soda soaked. We then had to let it batch over night and we would dye it the next day. These unfixed pieces were forbidden in the work room... they stayed in the hallway until we were ready to dye them again.

I used a foam brush and blended the cool yellow warm yellow and blue throughout the piece.

The next day I folded it randomly in thirds diagonally and pushed it down the pole without strings. It was over-dyed with a strong red. Since the batched dye was not fixed Jan referred to these dye sessions as dirty dyeing as you could pick up stray dye from someone else work. I never noticed it.

folded in half, wrapped diagonally on pole,
twisted and wrapped with string

This piece shows the way the dye gets lighter on the inner layers of the wrapped fabric. The string makes the crisper marks rather than the more organic marks that occur when you just push it down and compress the fabric without wrapping with string.

over dyed string
wrapped with a masking tape mask

Sunday we were encouraged to play and try lots of ways of making resists. Here is one of my favorites. The lighter blue stripes occurred when I put masking tape over a pale teal from Sat. and then dyed it in a rich brown. It was rolled onto the pole horizontally and compressed without string. I wold love to see this in wool... but have NO experience in dyeing wool.

folded in half and stitched to make a sleeve
then pushed down the pole

Jan also brought along an ancient Singer portable machine and showed us how to use it to make sleeves to fit the poles. You could make several sleeves on one width of fabric... but I didn't get to that. I did plan one out on my commute home Sat. night and was pleased that I had actually been fairly accurate in my visualization. I do think this would be great in a raw silk for a man's scarf.

There are many more samples, but this gives you a sense of what happened. It was a terrific class and even more fun was a bit of reunion as three ArtCloth Network folks were there. I wish I had remembered my camera as my class mates did some spectacular work.

Pole Wrapping Workshop with Jan Myers Newbury

2011-11-25T16:50:00.000-08:00

I had the great pleasure of spending last Saturday and Sunday in Newark with Jan Myers Newbury and 12 other students. Jan's two day workshop was terrific. She really got us going right away and her knowledge and organization made this an amazingly productive workshop.


wrapped diagonally and twisted as it was pushed down the pole

We began by learning what I believe she called a down and dirty method of basically wrapping fabric around an pole, putting rubber bands on the bottom to keep it from sliding off and then pushing the fabric down to tightly compress it. No wrapping just pushing. This produces a much softer series of lines than wrapping with string, but is so fast and easy that it was shocking, almost effortless.

Jan had us working in teams and we each were able to dye a minimum of 4 poles during each dyeing session. She has a chart set up for each dye session that breaks down the dyeing time into 15 min. sections so that the washing soda is added at the correct time and all pieces are agitated in a timely fashion. She also provided us with recipes for all the colors we were using.

Rolled on to the pole vertically and pushed straight down.

There are so many possible variations with just this one simple technique that I can barely begin to think about all that is possible.

We were all working with cotton which is not at all usual for me. I really look forward to trying this with a variety of silks. Jan usually uses her fabrics to make quilts and says she really does not like sewing silk. I was curious about her banning of silk for this workshop and her explanation made perfect sense. She wanted us to all have color samples to go along with her recipes and silk does not dye the same colors as the cotton. She also mentioned that the molecules are attracted to silk in a different way than to cotton, but this I am not so clear about.

Next we were encouraged to try incorporating different folds in our pieces. The one below shows a very random fold. I think I may have done it something like folding a paper envelope.
You are only seeing the outer parts of the wrapping as I had folded it in half and over dyed the lighter half of it.

Folded randomly and pushed down pole

Bundles of Joy

2011-11-06T11:50:00.000-08:00

Well the mother of the newest fashionista is being gifted with her first one-of-a-kind lingerie, and with a retro feel beside. I was invited to a baby shower and have had such a good time playing on this tiny scale. Even wrapping the present was fun. The only box I could find was from Victoria's Secret which set the tone for all that follows.

Stone washed Crepe bow

I had scraps of this Stone Washed Crepe that worked well to cover the advertising. Although I think most of the folks at the shower will recognized Victoria's branding.

Naming the garments seemed the next natural step... guess who has been spending time trying to get her ETSY shop in order.

I have gotten ahead of myself... back to the actual making of these tiny textiles.

1-3 month cotton kimono

Of course, as is usually the case, I dove in head first and then realized after I got the first one out of the micro-wave that my learning curve was going to be a little steeper than I anticipated. ( These were being made last night and the shower is today at 4, no time for batching here.)

Cotton dyes differently than silk
Old cold dyes are not as intense
Each color has its own intensity
Tray dyeing really is random

And this one is still a mystery... why did the yellow disappear? But I was pleased none the less and love that they have hand guards... which I refer to as manicure guards. I dyed two of these sweet little numbers ( of course because they came two to a pack.) Since I was working with a deadline it was just full steam ahead. At least I doubt that they will show stains readily.

My first challenge was finding these items... this is my first venture back into shopping for an infant. I headed to Target and was initially dismayed that everything was pre-printed. I found some solid white and Navy long sleeve T's but the smallest size was a 12 month.

12 month cotton

... oh well she'll grow fast. I swear it doesn't look quite so skull like in real life. I called it "Faded Glory" in the index above, but now think of it as remembering "Alexander McQueen". Obviously this is the discharged navy. Interesting to me the Navy got much more purple in the thiox and it discharged a cream/gray.

The other two shirts are much less macabre.

Here is the final line up in the box. There are two tiny kinono long sleeve shirts. 3 long sleeve pullover onesies that I called cotton hot pants. And then the 3 larger sized Long Sleeve T's. You can see the discharged one at the far top.

This has been lots of fun, but now I have to leave the studio and go home and get presentable.

Here's the line-up. It is not a quilt, but then I am not a quilter. My daughter is putting that together.

Exciting Learning Curve

2011-11-02T15:31:00.000-07:00

What a wild ride this past weekend was and it is not over yet! I am the assistant director of FiberPhiladelphia.org and have been working to put together our first juried exhibition Outside/Inside the Box. Midnight Monday Oct. 31 was the deadline for entry. I was notified by e-mail as each entry came in. The call for entries has been open since last May. As you would expect it was very slow and leisurely throughout the summer. It began to heat up in September and moved along at a respectable rate until last week. Then the wild rumpus began, but nothing prepared me for the break neck pace of application that we saw on Monday. I don't think these folks were out trick or treating. We had over 500 artists in all submit from 15 nations. Close to 100 of those came in on Monday.

We will be learning of the results of the jurors choices by mid month. Be sure to visit the link below to stay up to the minute. The website itself will have a face lift when the new one goes live Nov. 15.

A big thank you to all of you who have applied. I can't wait to see the show. Read along for more posts about this exciting event.

FiberPhiladelphia.org

The Agony and The ETSY

2011-10-25T14:09:00.000-07:00

Who knew ETSY would be such a challenge. It seems simple and affordable. But at the moment I feel like the Sorcerer's Apprentice with such a back load to up load.

Here is how it looks in a pile... my cat prefers this arrangement.

Below it is draped on a dummy ... unlooped.

Twisted once

Finally to the right it is twisted twice. Most like the pile the cat likes to sleep on. I printed all the patterns on stonewashed crepe. I bought all the doupioni and sheer and opaque woven silk with my very own money! It is really very handsome in person. And since it is based on a mobius strip it is hands free! The doupioni adds a really elegant shimmer against the flatter crepe and the sheer woven silk. The twisted tendrils of serged thread make it edgier in my opinion. As you can imagine the cat really agrees about the tendrils.

Back to Etsy... I know that one is supposed to dribble the postings on a few at a time... to keep you fresh... with thousand of competitors how fresh can one be? Well I am learning... and writing the text is yet another exercise is shameless self-promotion. My studio assistant is helping with this and knows how to get the little double dots to show up in mobius. Alas she is gone for the day... so I will have to learn that when she returns on Thurs.

Here is her version lifted from etsy lets see if it prints: Well it did

These Möbius styled scarves have been described by a buyer of mine as frivolously elegant. They are hand dyed and hand sewn by me. The Möbius design allows for the scarf to always sit on a new angle so you never stop appreciating them! The patchwork has been achieved through sheer and opaque striped teal silk, and hand painted crepe lined with alternating gold and lime iridescent doupioni. The patchworked pieces has been serged together, creating lovely cascading tendrils. The pictures above depict both sides of the Mobius scarf. This scarf measures at 74x4 inches. ( opps looks like she lost the dots at the end.... she had pulled an all nighter last night. Fortunately not for me... she is still in college ahh youth, I was in bed by ten and still tired now.

Crazy Quilt

2011-09-10T13:20:00.000-07:00

I have an antique Christmas stocking ... (made for me when I was born, so it is definitely antique), that is hand crazy quilted old ties. It has been an inspiration for my interest in fibers and now I realize is what is driving me on my first and perhaps only attempt at real honest to god three layered quilting.

This still unfinished piece began with me embroidering on a piece of hand dyed and wax resist white Doupioni. Here it is prior to embroidery and shows different ideas about fusing on shapes. I was keeping my friend company as she recovered from open heart surgery and brought the piece with me to embroider while we talked. We probably had about 15 or so hours of talking and stitching and I thought it would be called "Conversation. It looked something like this...

Of course it stopped before the magenta edge and was single layer and raw. ( Now I see that I really should be better about documenting as I go). That year I had a piece accepted to a quilt show but mine wasn't quilted... it was layered and stitched and I didn't see anything in the call for entry that mentioned three layers or padding etc. So off it went and it got in and when the actual piece arrived it was Fed Exed back to me so that I could do a nearly invisible running stitch through the layers... SIGH . So I thought I would use the "Conversation" as the basis for my first quilt. Well I added lots and lots til it grew from its APPROX. 18"X18" to its current 60"x55" It is the approximately that has caused this to be an on going adventure.

Now renamed "Looped" it continues to lead me down the paths less traveled by me. My initial discovery was that one does not quilt from the outside in. Many stitched removed and asking folks who actually knew how to do it found my basting from the center etc. etc. It was then that I learned that I had gotten better at it but my initial center was wonky .... so my now very nice and squared boarders were just a little off!

So it has been back to the drawing board, or in this case silk scraps to wrap the hard edge in a more organic frame. Who knows if it will ever be finished. But it is "Looped""

Only in LA

2011-05-19T15:05:00.000-07:00

I was delighted to find that my all time favorite store signage is still in place, talk about one stop shopping! All your personal needs taken care off with just one stop! Was back to Calabassas CA for the graduate school trifecta ( 3 different graduations, one big party!) and had no time for tanning or neutering, but am glad to know that the opportunity still exits.

Molly and Harry in Garden at USC

This is my first spring visit and found it amazing to see the hills decorated with lively yellow flowers and lots of sage green growth. Previous trips have been July in August when the dried wheat color lets you know that they are just about ready to burst into flame.

And always sure to be pleasing all the color and form variation possible in the succulents.

It was lovely to spend time with my family and congratulations to the new graduates.

Spring Madness

2011-04-30T10:44:00.000-07:00

2 layers with drawing

Well with the earth warming up pushing forth wild and rampant growth, this is surely not a time for minimalism. I have just unleashed a most baroque response to spring. My original influences were the acid greens and grape hyacinth in the back yard. I drew on a screen and then printed it when dry. Well that was just the beginning. I was working on close to 4yds. of fabric... making 4 small squares... that you are seeing above and below and 2 shawls.

2nd and 3rd layer diamonds

The shawls will be 28"x72" and were begun with the same deconstructed screen.

sycamore screened over deconstructed screen

You can see that the deconstructed screen did not release as much dye on the left as it did on the right. No matter as they will be two different pieces. I am discovering that I don't much like the white to remain and so let the wild rumpus begin as I build on another two layers of color.

The next layer was a warm rose color both screened and brushed depending on where I was working. The roses will make two small squares... you can see some of the warm color on the left in the form of circles screened over the diamonds.

roses

I also brushed on a pale cool rose violet. Now I am awaiting the results from the washer. I think that each of these will have beautiful isolated passages... but over all it is an abundant wildness. Good thing they will be folded in ever varying ways around the wearers body.

Spring Retail

2011-04-24T14:12:00.000-07:00

Silk Organza Kimono

Well April has been a great month for retail for me. Starting with a 4 day show at the Art Alliance where lots of work including three of my favorite Kimonos found new homes. One to a woman who start to finish completed the transaction and the try on in under 5 minutes. I can only assume she had her car at a ticking parking meter.

Crinkled serged Chiffon with stone washed crepe and dupioni

Mid month was Art Unleashed a fund raiser for the University of the Arts , seven of twelve pieces off to new homes. The piece above was one of them.

But most exciting of all happened through Etsy. Now I have yet to sell anything on Etsy, but the buyer from the gift store of the Phillips Collection in Washington DC found me there and we met last Friday. He purchase a dozen pieces outright and wants more by the end of May! To say I am excited is an understatement. I first visited the Phillips on my honeymoon. I love the collection and this was a wonderful way to return. So when next you are in DC be sure to visit the Phillips and check out the Koppisch's. Here a few that were selected.

Discharged Chiffon


Silk Charmuese Cabbage Rose

the Icebox awaits

2011-04-10T12:58:00.000-07:00

In less than a year it will be our turn to fill the Icebox at the Crane with fabulous art work. Please be sure to be following Outside/Inside the Box.

Last night it was Victory for Tyler 11 ( Tyler alumni works on paper and poster show) and it was a lovely show and a great turn out. I meant to take photos during the opening but as many hundreds turned out for it and I was too busy socializing to take shots. I will post the images I took prior to the opening to give you a sense of the size of the space. The paper bag you see in the images was large enough to allow its 6'+ maker ample room to stand and draw his way out of it.

It really sets my imagination whirling to envision this space hi lighting the best in fiber work.

This show features works on paper from Tyler Alumni, but I am posting so fiber folks can begin to organize their thoughts to apply for Outside/Inside the Box... applications go live May 1 and are open til Oct. It is a wonderful space. The next shot shows the back of this wall and you get a sliver of the large room (the gray area) that adjoins this room.

This will be just one of the many shows occurring during FiberPhiladelphia 2012.

Gone But Not Forgotten

2011-04-05T15:40:00.000-07:00

Navy Doupioni discharged

Saffron Organza Deconstructed and hand drawn

I spent last week having new photos taken of new work just prior to being part of the Philadelphia Art Alliance Art Wear show. The good news is it was a very successful show, the bad news is I didn't even get the shots cleaned up before I sold the work. So will post now at these babies are out in the world on their own! They are gone but not forgotten!

These two beauties went to a fellow craftsman... they looked wonderful on her! In fact the first thing she bought was this scarf... but then came back the next day for the Kimonos I couldn't be happier. She collects and sells beautiful Tribal jewelry and I am delighted that Koppischs are now part of her collection.

Screened, drawn and discharged on silk crepe.

Just as the show was concluding my fabulous assistant Brooke also made a double sale. This time it was two scarves. One will never be repeated as I made the pattern in a rice paste resist class and while I enjoyed the process I doubt that I will ever repeat it.

It had languished in my samples drawer until I dragged it out just before this show. It paired up so beautifully with the purple crepe and gold doupioni that I knew it was going to have to be made. I was particularly excited by how the purple crinkled crepe rippled after the serging.

It also looks great when it is wrapped around your neck and shoulders but I have no shots that show that.

This customer also selected a large square of stone washed crepe that drapes beautifully.

Well that gives you a bit of an idea of what I have been up to. Will hope to post more soon.

Call for Entry

2011-03-28T08:57:00.001-07:00

Here is a great show to enter and become part of FiberPhiladelphia 2012. Just follow the links embedded in this document. I look forward to seeing all your exciting work at the Crane. An amazing building that houses my studio.

Dianne
dkoppisch.com
notes from 207

OUTSIDE/INSIDE THE BOX, Call for entries. www .outsideinsideentry .com. Apply Online May 1 - October 31, 2011. Seeking innovative fiber/textile art that transcends disciplines; combines traditional with cutting edge technology and/or historic concepts with contemporary perspectives. Artists working in any medium with a fiber/textile reference are encouraged to apply. Size, scope, materials and subject matter are open. Submissions may include surface design, 2D and 3D structures, quilts, stitching, body art, etc. Jurors: Elisabeth Agro, Associate Curator of American Modern and Contemporary Crafts and Decorative Arts, Philadelphia Museum of Art; Bruce Hoffman, Independent Curator; Judith Weisman, Designer and Curator, Acquisitions Chair of the Smithsonian’s Renwick Gallery Support Group. Outside/Inside the Box will take place March 2 –April 14, 2012 at the ICE Box Project Space, Crane Arts Building www .cranearts .com which will be the hub of FiberPhiladelphia 2012, www .fiberphiladelphia .org

Stainless Steel Love

2011-03-20T13:44:00.001-07:00

It is truly love... Not only is Big Steel big and beautiful, she is also capable of storing most of my screens and allowing me to wash all of them right here in the studio.

She is such a graceful multi-tasker she came with one set of faucets, but had holes for two more so the plumber devised a great addition and I can spray with wild abandon. This is a real help as the sink I had been using down the hall had no spray, as I am sure you can imagine spraying the glop off the screens is really satisfying.

One does have to use some restraint or send small globs of thickened dye everywhere. But now that I have the washer and dryer I can just grab a handy old towel and mop up the mess. The artfully draped black pipe is the drain for the washer. I am still working on getting the dryer vented out the window, but as I have only used it 2x that has not been such a problem. I am still fiddling with the temperature setting on the hot water heat as I would like to make the water a bit hotter.

You can see the two blue panels they cover the thermostat, so I will have to get at that.

And the final joy is that The Orgasmatron is now on wheels and he can hover near Big Steel and the soon to be dryer vent while steaming and then scoot off to a more convenient spot when not engaged. To say I am thrilled by my new additions does not really express my joy, but it will have to do. Now home to make a yummy Thai curry. Life is good!

Thank You Craig's List

2011-02-05T14:48:00.000-08:00

After several years of half-hearted searching I found the sink of my dreams. She was delivered today and I will have to come up with a name for her... I currently think of her as Big Steel... really almost big steal as she was most affordable. All stainless... 6 feet long.. the basin is 18" deep by 36" x26" will accommodate most of my screens. I am told she began her career at Jefferson Hospital, I bought her from a closing restaurant. She is lovely! Now no more excuses... I will purchase a washer and dryer and a new hot water heater. I did go and price things out at Loews yesterday. No more dragging fabric home to wash and screens down the hall to scrub. How exciting!

Between the bullet steamer affectionately known as the Orgasmatron and my new sink I am in stainless steel dyeing heaven. If you look to behind the steamer you will see the sink that is being replaced, adequate, but certainly not in the same league as Big Steel. Even more pathetic is the tiny hot water heater nestled in between the leg of the sink and my blue plastic kitty litter pan ( good for all kinds of things). By the time the water got out of the faucet I was out of hot water.

I will keep you posted on my plumbing progress.. today I will just look lovingly at the new sink!

Hope springs eternal

2011-02-03T14:55:00.000-08:00

Even with slush a sunny day is beautiful.

Looking East 5pm

Spent the better part of the day visiting my old stomping grounds observing student teachers in Upper Darby. Nice to see old friends and watch student teachers learn how to make art available to young students. Nicer still to leave before the end of the school day and get to the studio in time to do a little work! I am sure there is a way to eliminate the sun glare on the window, but it helps capture that fleeting time when the shadows stretch blue across the pink snow just before the whole field turns blue.

I did get here in time to take a few snap shots of the fruits of my "spring cleaning". I found small pieces of deconstructed and clamp dyed shibori that I could make into pieced scarves. Have not had time to have them professionally shot but will share them hot off the serger.

Clouds, blue sky and bronze

This shibori clamp dyed raw silk had been in my sample drawer for at least a year. It's use hadn't suggested itself to me until last week. I find the combination of colors and textures really exciting. The raw silk is lined with a deep sage colored silk gauze.

		I only had a small piece of this deconstructed stonewashed crepe, but it was enough to form this new piece. The serged lines are really pleasing to me through the sheer pale chiffon.
Seafoam chiffon, doupioni and deconstructed stonewashed crepe

Ice/ Rain

2011-02-01T14:28:00.000-08:00


Looking South 2/1/11

Philadelphia
Winter 2/1/11

It is hard to remain up beat when the weather is so dreary. The orchids help and the realization that some of my favorite pieces come from experiencing this weather. I actually really like grey or gray in my palette, just not in my daily weather.

This piece makes me think of the ice covered puddles when the ice is thin enough that if forms bubbles and you can see down to the weeds trapped underneath. It was made on a balmy summer day, but I remember walking on those puddles and breaking through them. It always gave a satisfying crunch.

I was also experimenting with using mixed colors that involved MX bosenberry which strike on one side of the crepe de chine and not the other. The pinkish area on the right is gray green on the back. A great advantage in a scarf. Two for one.

back and front you can see the top corner is much pinker

The first time I experienced this I was totally mystified, but now I expect it when I use MX mixed with fast striking reds on this twisted stone washed crepe. It is a beautiful draping silk so it makes wonderful scarves.

"New Jersey Turnpike" Bubble chiffon jacket.

This piece is called "New Jersey Turnpike" and is based on my memories of driving up this highway on gray days like today and seeing the red brambles pushing their way through the sometimes equally gray snow.

It was shown at the Textile Center during Inside/Out, but appropriately enough it is now in the collection of a Jersey Girl.

Now off to the grocery store before all the streets freeze up again and become truly treacherous.

One thing leads to another

2011-01-27T12:06:00.000-08:00

Sedum in the snow at the Crane

I have often been asked where I get my ideas from. For me it is almost always a visual cue, but seldom one that I use directly. Last year I experimented with snow dyeing. I photographed the Sedum in the back yard of my studio building prior to the big storms that I did the dyeing in. I love the variety of forms and colors that they have throughout the year and found them particularly fetching when lightly dressed with snow.
About a month later we had a big blizzard and I had been reading about snow dyeing on the web and so had my opportunity to experiment. I experimented with a range of different silks and was quite taken with many of the pieces, but several were disappointing. I know that many quilters use their snow dyed cottons cut up in their quilts... but I am not a quilter. However, as I was applying for membership to THE ARTCLOTH NETWORK and these were the right size for artcloth and so I decided to have a go at it.

Fiber reactive snow dyed 15mm Habotai

I was only mildly interested in the results that I got on the 15mm Habotai. There was not enough contrast to hold my interest, so after washing and drying I soda soaked it again, let it dry and stretched it on my print table. I didn't photograph my steps, but I will show you details from the finished piece that illustrate them.

detail of deconstructed silk screen

I made a deconstructed silk screen using deep red and released it using a pale golden beige color. I love deconstructed printing as you never really know what you will get and it sets my imagination free. Also my work habits are much more intuitive than pre-planned so it suits me.

discharged and painted with MX

The fabric now had a lot more going on in it. While it was still stretched I begin to paint back into it using foam brushes and also drawing on it using the extruder full of thickened dye.

If you look in the lower left hand corner of this detail you can see that I also drew on it with Jaquard discharge paste... from a squeeze bottle.

Sedum 91"x53"

At this point I usually let the piece hang out on the table for a few days while I try to decide if it is finished or not. This one was so riotous and so full of what I think of as the energy of nature ... and if I remember correctly I may have had a deadline for Artcloth Network, that I stopped after these steps. Many times I fuse and stitch back into a piece, but not this one.

So I am not sure if even I see the reference to the original Sedum in the snow image... but that was the thought process. Of course the only snow reference in this artcloth is that it was snow dyed. It is 91"x53" and was part of my successful submission for membership in Artcloth Network.

Snow dyeing

2011-01-27T11:05:00.000-08:00

Well we have enough of it, snow that is, but I was too busy yesterday to work with it. So I will post the results from last years experiments.

I worked on a variety of fabrics all silk. They were all soda soaked and taken outside wet in containers that they were squashed down into. I believe they froze as the snow fell on them, I left them outside for several hours.

snow dyed with MX and fiber reactive sitting on a silk screen

3 small bubble silk chiffon snowed dyed in the same container

Next I brought the in to the studio and squirted them with premixed mx and some liquid reactive dyes.
I did several smaller pieces in the same container. They will become scarves that I call silk boas. I will post some finished ones below.

15MM habotai draining on a silk screen over the sink

I let them drain over the sink sitting on a silk screen

I just left them sit like that over night and the next day I packed each lump of silk in a large zip lock bag leaving the last inch of it unzipped so steam could escape and nuked them soaking wet for 2 min. in the studio microwave.

Heavy weight organza

Each of the silks took the dye in their own ways. I was most pleased with a heavy weight silk organza that is still hanging just as it came out after being washed and dried. I am not sure if I will ever work back into it, so it is pinned to the curtain that hangs in front of my bookcase. Waiting for me to have a vision of how to finish it.

Here are the snow dyed boas.

You can see that these were done on a crinkled silk chiffon. I really enjoy choosing the color to serge the edges with.

Ways to finish

2011-01-24T12:24:00.001-08:00

Screening with thickened dye on top of deconstructed first layer

rolling a third layer of dye using a foam roller

I frequently use a photo silk screened image to layer on top of the deconstructed marks. Then I might use a foam roller to add another layer of color.

Bullet or vertical steamer

MX and Liguid Reactive dyes

Because I switch back and forth between powdered MX dyes and Liquid Reactive I use the bullet steamer to set the dyes. If I am doing a really small piece I will steam them while still wet in the microwave. Other wise I let them dry over night on the the table and then roll both the drop cloth and the silk around a card board tube and steam for about 30min.

Once they are done steaming they get washed in the washer and dried in the dryer.

working on the Baby Lock serger

organza Faux Kimono with serged edges

The final step is serging... I love having the option of the color choice for the rolled edge.

Still making a scarf

2011-01-24T11:41:00.002-08:00

Continuing on a scarf.

Typically I would have gotten about as far as I did in yesterdays post in one work day in the studio, depending on how long it took for the dyes to dry between layers. I will over print if they are still damp, but not wet, so that they don't smear.

I use lots of things to draw with... the image on the far left was dip dyed blue, them stretch and brushed with brown and now I am using a squeeze bottle to draw with.
The image in the center shows fabric that hangs off the edge of the table so I am using an extruder to draw over the foam brushed edge.

The image on the right shows the extruders. I get mine from my vet as they are used to give animals liquid medicines. I pay about $1.00 for them and they are great to draw with.

2011-01-22T15:49:00.001-08:00

Making a Scarf

I almost always start by stretching the fabric on a large padded table that I have in the studio.

Typically I have made a deconstructed silk screen using thickened and dried reactive dyes and I transfer this to the stretched silk with more thickened dye.

Kerr Grabowski taught me this method and I love the marks that it leaves on the silk. I print the screen the length and width of the pinned fabric and each time I print it the image changes as it is essentially a monoprint process and the dried dye is dissolving with each transfer.

Once the first layer is down I decide how I want to work back into it. I can draw directly, screen another layer, roll on dye... there are lots of ways to attack this surface and I have no set pattern.

Happy 4th

2009-07-04T11:11:00.000-07:00

It is a gorgeous breezy day here in the studio.. something to truly celebrate in what can be hot and humid Philadelphia. Working on organza for another kimono ... while trying to ignore the tantalizing smell of barbecued chicken wafting in the open windows. I increased the amount of dry dye powder in the paste to make the deconstructed screen, using SH for the thickner and released it with F. Worked much better than recent attempts and held the dye for 6 full screenings.

Stamped the circles and then added a black outline.... Used F to thicken the release and the drawn lines. Seemed to work well.

this was a deep blue heavy chiffon discharged using Jaquard Paste... I guess because it was stretched to pin it down it has a sense of being an Ikat. Also it discharged unevenly leaving a purple residue which transferred to the drop cloth? Next time I think I will try rolling it the length rather than the width to see if I can get vertical rather than horizontal stripes .

seaweed

2009-06-29T12:43:00.000-07:00

Mixed up a nice bronze/green and screened back into the discharged piece using the same circle screen. Followed that with a deeper blue using the tree bark screen. Will finish by drawing darker circles.

soda ash surprise

2009-06-29T09:17:00.000-07:00

My first day as a blogger. I forgot a piece of discharged chiffon that I was soaking in soda ash. It stayed in the soak overnight and this morning it had a warm pale coral that hadn't been there prior to the soak. This piece was was discharged 2x, first with Jaquard paste... then steamed but not enough discharged. Next I printed it again this time with Thiox paste and steamed while the paste was still quite wet... and I lost almost everything. I feel a bit like Goldilocks. Now I am going to dye it again using the same screen I used to discharge it.