Sunday, September 16, 2012

Blog Hop!

Well I am jumping the puddle and am part of this international blog hop! Please visit the sites listed at the end of the post and see what is happening with pattern all around the world. 

"Bebop" 24"x72" wax resist , mx dyed, silk Habotai.

When you visit the sites you will see that while I work very differently than many of these designers our passion for patten connects us. I am busy with all sorts of patterns in this neck of the woods, but most of mine are one of a kind and created directly on or in the fabric.
Please be sure to visit
Claire Smillie who set this all up  - http://www.clairesmillie.wordpress.com
or just double click

PASSION FOR PATTERN BLOGHOP 2!

Be sure to check out my blogger neighbors.


Be sure to scroll to the end and find the entire list of artists participating in this blog hop. Enjoy and please leave a comment for those that you visit. Happy Hopping.

Here are some of the most recent scarves.

These are both small triangles.The one on the left is discharged and over dyed with black acid dye. 

The one below was navy blue basket weave silk to begin  it was tightly wrapped and thiox discharged. Next it was with knotted and wrapped and then vat dyed apple green. Vat dying is so magical as the color comes out and is replaced all in one step. That is how the pale salmon occurred.

This is the same scarf draped two different ways. It was black viscose rayon to begin with, arashi pole wrapped and discharged then over dyed blue.  

My newest adventure is learning to dye wool. I have only made a few, but am ready to go with a whole lot more. 


But my main studio effort at the moment is preparing for a show this Oct. 19th. I will have a large gallery 20' x26' with 18' ceiling in which to install "Into the Woods". I am  busy making lots of new panels... this time it will be the original habotai  silk that you see below as well as a series of new silk organza panels.





So here is where you would find me if you were to stop by the studio today.


Let’s get this party started & don’t forget to leave a little love at the blogs you visit by leaving us comments, each little one makes us smile!

Jacqueline Auvigne - http://www.jacquelineauvigne.com
Maraya Rodostianos - http://www.printpapercloth.com
Rozynna Fielding - http://www.patternsapart.com
Dianne Koppisch Hricko- http://notesfrom207.blogspot.com
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Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Pinterest/ Pattern Prints Journal





Happy 4th of July. I had a lovely greeting this morning on gmail. I had been blogged about on an Italian pattern blog. http://www.patternprintsjournal.com I believe that Barbara Mazzoleni (aka Birbaluna) must have first found me on Pinterest. I am not sure how she decided that I lived in NY but maybe from Italy Philadelphia is close enough to be NY.  At any rate, it is fun to realize that I have somehow jumped the puddle without ever leaving my kitchen. Here is the link to what she posted about me... if you follow this blog you will recognize much of it... but not the part about my NY residency. http://www.patternprintsjournal.com/2012/07/patterns-with-silk-translucent-effects.html


On another note, getting ready to head off to Quilting By the Lake to take a workshop with Judy Langille. I will be bringing along my ever expanding inventory in hopes of finding new homes for much of it. Last summer the ladies took home lots of Koppisch's. Here are a two of the new items. 

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Saturday, May 26, 2012

Turning a New Leaf


Tight twisted silk seersucker clamp dyed and edged in violet.
I had a delightful 5 days at the Crow Timber Barn taking Elin Noble's Additions and Subtractions and one of the resolutions that I have from that experience is that I want to do a better job of recording what I am doing.  This was a piece of silk that I immersion dyed in red acid dye while there.

Once I got back home I resolved to follow the pattern that we had in class. All pieces were tagged with tyvek and then notes recorded on the tag. This piece is about to dyed in a strong yellow MX immersion bath... again something I seldom do as most of my dyes are directly applied.
It was about this point that my good intentions dissolved. What is not shown is the squirting on of old MX dyes that were going to be tossed. It was a deep navy, long stale so not as intense as it once was. It was in a squeeze bottle so I just squeezed color along the exposed edges.

Viola... what is missing is the decision to cut the original square in 1/2 to make this triangle. Since these are smallish squares to begin with the only way to wear then is to fold them corner to corner to make the triangle, but who needs the extra layer of fabric?  It has gotten hot and humid in Philadelphia and these puppies will be called "Tropical Triangles" and may actually allow me to continue to wear scarves from June-Aug. something I have not managed in past. Plus I get two from each original square. That decision doubled the inventory. Of course serging across the bias of this very sheer silk is a bit problematic... oh well there never has been a free lunch.

Another surprise about this is the color scheme... one of my very first weavings had these colors... I have been listening to Zombie Radio on Pandora and I must be channeling my inner late 1960's.




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Saturday, April 14, 2012

What Goes Up

Originally I was going to title this "deforestation", but that seemed so harsh.The whole process of creating this installation "Into the Woods" with Joan Dreyer has been magical and it is more than a little sad to see it come to an end. So let me walk you through this one last time.


The original "Winter Foliage" was an outgrowth of a drawing exercise I had in a workshop with Dorothy Caldwell. Dorothy had us draw with brushes taped to very flexible dowels using India ink and paper. I couldn't wait to try it with dye on silk... but then thought better of the clean up and decided to do it vertically rather than on the floor.

Habotai silk with MX dyes... European drying rack  



Joan and I worked through a whole series of concepts for our installation but once I took the orginal "Winter Foliage" down to test out how it could hold the space of the hallway my end of it was cemented. My studio assistant stepped back with me to check out the piece in the space and exclaimed "The woods are lovely dark and deep" and "Into the Woods" was born.



Joan had been working with dental x-rays and so the daisy and hydrangea sculptures continued the theme creating fabulous shadows and a similar palette.

The silk panels hid these from view until you entered the forest.

It was fun to see peoples feet exposed beneath the panels as they stopped to examined the sculpture. Kids of course had a good time running through it and making the trees drift in their breeze.







But the seasons change and so do installations and so it was time to pack it up. At least there were no leaves to rake up. I could stack all 5 panels roll them up and now they are resting under my print table.








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Tuesday, April 10, 2012

More Orange

The last thing I did before SAQA/SDA arrived was lay out more of the tightly twisted silk seersucker and paint it with a blended yellow dye. I screened half of the length with a red mx and let it dry. Today more got done and here are the results. Soon this joined pieces will be separated and serged. Will post again then.
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Saturday, March 17, 2012

Wearing of the Green

 Where do ideas come from?  I was exploring this question when I made this most recent pieced scarf.
"Irish Fantasy
tightly wrapped "Irish Fantasy"


Spring Garden at the Crane


Despite my lack of Irish heritage I have discovered that I am compelled to work in green and orange this time of year. Last year was the first time I noticed this... I was working on a series of scarves that I wanted to screen some gold paisley on to using a thermofax. I was not at all pleased with the screened gold fabric paint. Then I noticed the greens and oranges and labeled that series in my mind as "The Troubles."  The largest of those pieces found a new home with a visitor from the United Kingdom who I met at Quilting By the Lake. All but two of the small squares are also out in the real world.


These pieces began as deconstructed screens and are on my favorite stonewashed silk crepe.

"The Troubles" small square
"The Troubles" large square





We have been having lovely weather of late and spring is early because we really had almost no winter. And once again I was surprised to watch myself  heading back into Green and Orange. So today in honor of St. Patrick's Day I will share this years versions. You have already seen "Irish Fantasy" above. I have just loved playing with the variety of textures and colors.
Discharged deep green silk gauze, sand colored crinkle silk chiffon, orange and chartreuse doupioni both woven with a red warp, soy wax resist habotai (china) silk ... and all of it edged with brilliant red orange serged lines acting like piping. Now this is my idea of an yummy combination.







Another exciting recent discovery is a new silk that I am working with. It is a tightly wrapped silk seersucker that has a subtle shimmer I suspect because of the tight wrap. It drapes beautifully takes dye perfectly, has a slight texture and weighs nothing and doesn't wrinkle. What more could one ask?
Close up "Sea Currents" Organic Geometry


"Sea Currents" draped as
shawl.



"Sea Currents" wrapped snuggly.



And I forgot to mention it is nearly 60" wide. It called out to make huge squares scarves that could be packed up to fit in any suitcase.



Here is one fully open and then wrapped.


Fully open "Red Cross"
Organic Geometry Series
"Red Cross" wrapped as Sarong.


It is beach weather somewhere in the world.

But here in Philadelphia it is a gorgeous St. Patrick's day and a wonderful time to be wearing the green.
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Sunday, March 4, 2012

Full House

Gasali Adeyemo
The festival of FiberPhiladelphia is in full swing and at this very moment a group of fiber devotes are taking an Indigo dyeing workshop in my studio. It is a lovely thing to see this space being used and enjoyed by so many... while I can idle away at the computer.  Indigo Arts Gallery has brought in the Nigerian Indigo artist Gasali Adeyemo to teach this workshop. Here he is busy leading his students through different tying techniques.




I think there are about 25 folks chatting and working away.




I don't think I have done justice to the crowd, but I hope it gives you a sense of the space and the number of folks. It once again confirms for me just how lucky I am to have this at my disposal!
I hope all of you will plan a visit during fiberphiladelphia. See  all the amazing shows downstairs in the Icebox, the Grey Area, Space 102, the Great Hallway and of course in Indigo Arts Gallery and then come visit my studio! All of this in the Crane, 1400 North American, 19122.

Once you are here don't miss the fabulous Art Cloth Network Show "Lines and Numbers" at the White Space in the Crane Old School 1425 North Second Street... and "Bound and Found" at Bahdeebadu 1522 North American Street.


And this is just scratching the surface of all that is taking place in Philadelphia this month!
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Thursday, March 1, 2012

Making, not Hanging

Well I think I am sure now that while I really like to make art, installing it is quite another matter. I greatly admire a well installed show and have never been naive about how much skill this art form takes. That said I was up to my elbows in installation today and am glad that tomorrow is another day... and I don't think I will be doing that particular task again.

Here are two shots showing the beginnings of "Lines and Numbers" Art Cloth Networks show at the White Space and the Crane Old School
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Sunday, February 26, 2012

Excitement at The Crane !!!!


Fiber Philadelphia is quickly approaching and we could not be any more excited.  Volunteers have been at The Crane day in and day out, unwrapping works of art from all of the world, assigning inventory, and executing the show under curator Bruce Hoffman




Just outside of Space 102 , one can see Dianne's & Joan Dreyer's show entitled, "Into the Woods."  In between Dianne's 13 foot silk paintings, one can see Joan's sculptures , however, you will have to come see for yourself; we can't give it all away! 




Lastly, Dianne believes that this is the largest scarf inventory she has ever had to date.  Though the high numbers won't remain, we are awaiting a scarf frenzy.  Above are the 9 scarves we finished this week.  Dianne's studio will be open to the public on March 3 and 31st.  Come and view her scarves and studio during this wonderful celebration of Fiber Philadelphia. 

Hope to see you then !!

Francesca van Stolk
Studio Assistant
Guest Blogger
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Monday, February 6, 2012

Uarts Art Education Benefit Workshop

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

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