So Many Ways to Dye

Part of my project is adding color to my rust work with natural dyes. I have tried many, loved some and not others. Mixing it with rust always darkens the color.

One of my favorite dye is Tea, this is done with white Tea which gives lovely mysterious grays.

cabbage stripes

Cabbages is one of the dyes I decided to eliminate....too pastel for the work I am doing.

bleach pen

I will most probably use a bleach pen or some decolorant for highlights! Yes!

This piece was done with beetroot....where every you see white was where the beetroot juice was...it worked as a resist ...so cool. I wish I had endless time to experiment and do more, but I have a deadline so I have to pick and choose what to work with. Decisions, decisions, oh my!

Paper Making at MCBA

I took sometime to take a paper making class at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts! Loved every minute! Because my mind is in a pattern thinking mode working on the Jerome Textile project I decide to make grids in the paper with rusted string.

 Paper making is very similar to working with fabric, it is very tactile . The tactile adventure starts from the beginning, dunking your frame into the vat of floating cloud of cotton.  Lifting the delicate sheet off the felt to dry, is another tactile experience. And  the finished piece a crispy, feather light, thin sheet, what a delight, I love it!

 I have made my own paper before on a small scale with recycled paper. It was a treat for me to do it with natural fiber, cotton, linen and shredded DEMIN! The MCBA studio is incredible and such a joy to work in...definitely have to do it again.