Painting, Warp Speed! a.k.a " It IS a good day to dye"

I had a great chat this afternoon at the Arts Council with Debbie Moore, Director of the Fine Art Festival Association that included a lot of sidepaths. We also acknowledged that it is not unusual for artists to have these kinds of conversations, several levels, a variety of topics that carry on a thread to the next story then coming around to the subject you initially began to discuss.

So when I share that I am working on two warps that address a lot of ways to add color to the fabric as it is woven, that idea will resonate much clearer with the less-myopic folks. Not to judge... I truly admire the person that can accomplish one entire task from the beginning to the end without any distraction. I may never know that actual way of working... so I have two warps I am working with for a while.

One warp, a bright turquoise, not too long, about 14 yards, has a varied setting of yarn weights. It is on, ready to start becoming the string of five wraps with about five different wefts of varied thicknesses, a bright silk single-ply slub the first adventure. It gets all my attention during drying time for the second warp.



initial color field sketch
 

I love ikat, space warps, ties, clamps and all sorts of warp dyeing techniques. the one that is easiest to control the patterning for me is a painted warp. Often I use diluted textile pigments, this time I've mordanted the warp and am painting with Procion MX series dyes (there are lots of recipes online and through the dye companies so I won't waste space here.. it is time well-spent to check them out!). So I decided on color fields for this one. I wound on the warp carefully without much combing or shaking (used a nice mercerized, some tencel and a bit of rayon so it is a pretty slick warp) and pulled off about a yard to paint on a large piece of foam core. As soon  as it is dry I'll start to weave it with the two-block pattern I have threaded on this loom.


color pencils help with color selection

Pulling out short distances of warp and painting them on the board, letting the threads air dry, winding them back on the back beam and weaving the threaded warp lets the weaver create color fields and pictures without the disruption of threads stretching, twisting and getting out of place. Weaving starts in a couple of days... I'm excited!

Make room! Make room!

.......and Scene!
Yep. It is totally time to wind up some of these projects!

Mostly because I have to make room for the new stuff!

The late summer is time for workshops and music and fun. So, here we go!

First up are some drawing workshops with kids for Second Harvest Food Bank and this can only be fun. Kids are a great way to check your reality... how can they not! Fearless, creative, full of color and images and it is for a great cause.. holiday cards for Second Harvest and all of Northwest North Carolina.

Next up are several workshops in marbling. Marbling paper, fabric and who knows what else! Marbling has such a zen-ness to it. When laying in the colors for composition, pattern and visual textures it is so very important to have the whole bath calm and receptive. Having to create that calm is great for the marbling and for the composer!

After that are several dying and weaving workshops. All of the above will be a great break from marketing, filing reports and grant-writing. I hope you can join me in having some summertime fun!

Thin as Paper

The idea that thin-ness can be functional in any media is a bit trippy. To maintain a certain amount of strength required to hold stuff together, to produce energy, to be recognized and still allow a certain amount of light and translucence to be a quality is a real sneaker upper.

Weaving fabric loosely allows light and a special fragility that is unique to fibers. Non-directional fibers can accomplish this with fusion and adhesives. Capturing threads in a "sandwich" of structure creates the solid that defines "it".

My theme for the next few days.. produce a textile that is thin as paper. And maybe even use paper. And thread.

Yep. this should be fun. It's a test! This may be more line and texture than color. Like suminigashi with thread and stitches. 

New projects! PetMats

Sometimes I think I really shouldn't take on one-more-thing. And then when I do, it turns out to be fun fun fun.
Working in textiles, the path is more for fine craft and non-representational art. Shape and form without any direct link to a face, tree, whatever familiar objects. Threads in motion, color play and texture and, well...I'd forgotten how much I like painting.

So I bought some canvas, gessoed it up into rectangles and plopped some sketches on there.
I've always liked watercolor and dye, something that directly relates to my textile work. I use  Procion MX Dyes and ProChem Textile Pigments and transfer images with Bubble Jet Set. Sometimes I marble and batik.. all great fun.

MoonDoggies - my neighbor has a beagle and he sounds the alarm every time the breeze moves. It is what beagles do and I never worry about any creepy people coming to my house with this kind of safety! However, deer and groundhogs are not worthy of the alarm and overnight they clean out my garden! Not finished yet and still really fantasy and folky.

 We have always had fish, fish ponds, lakes and creeks nearby. I've always loved watching fish--tho these are totally fantasy fish. This one is not finished yet, either.

Minnie Evans artwork reminds me of things to draw and paint without hearing the voices of "proper" and "art school". Not that I am against art school but as a kid with pencils, dirt or whatever and some paper, I never worried about how my drawing would be received. Just put down line and color and somehow it worked out. THis reminds me of her work (she is much more accomplished!) and that freedom.

I am using acrylic and a few mediums to work on the gessoed canvas. Here are my starts for pet mats.. they have been fun. And I've spent much more time on them than I planned but i really didn't want cute with thick color so it takes as much time as it takes! I'll be glad to hear your thoughts on pricing.. but you know I'll come up with something. Maybe this will be my big Etsy motivator! And, maybe I'll take images and then have them reprinted.. something cost effective, like an edition of blockprints.

Does This Slide Make Me Look Fat?

CALL FOR ENTRY

Images for Call for Entries usually have specific stuff... for many online entries the image has a specific size, and the canvas size (o yeah, gotta learn that one too!) and a certain number of images. 

Well, as I work on stepping up my game on exhibits, shows and record keeping (another reason my smart phone is an investment in my business) collection of images becomes more and more important.

Things to consider:

Body of Work

You may be a very talented person, have a reasonable list of techniques, media, skills and yet.. a call for entry is not that. Choose images for a body of your work that applies to the specific exhibit/show.  Check out continuity.. and i realize i am pushing that one here. The first image is not connected to the other three.. it should not be part of the display. Remember, the jurors may not know you or any part of your work. so your best presentation is one where you can represent within 3-5 images a work that is relevant, connected and shows your best work.

 The colors, graphics and presentation of the last three images are more relevant to a body of work than adding the first, even tho i did this work and i do kinda like it!

I recently entered a few competitions (crossing my fingers!!!) that is not a weaving show, not a craft exhibit but a competition that will require strong graphic imagery and skills. The Mixed Media work i've been working on is a good fit, i think. I hope!
After sitting on a few juries, I have learned to accept rejection better (never my strong point! Afterall, I am a Capricorn!) Not all jurors have good insight, not all jurors are too critical. It is just the one moment for the one exhibit. There will be more opportunities, more artwork and other people that view my work.

Consider the show you are entering.

If the show is known for a particular style (beach folks often like beach themes... not exclusively but often) or you have juried in with a specific image, consider focusing on that image. 

entering a show in the Appalachian Mountains, I like to have scarves, wraps and such. The works above are not that.. below are my regular sale items...

Wraps, shawls and scarves seem to be a good choice for craft shows. and all of these weavings give me the chance to share color, composition and structure. These warps usually have the story of how they came to become fabric and it is a great experience to share those stories! 

If at all possible, get feedback on the show or shop. Go as a visitor and have a good time at the show. Join some craft groups- many are online now. Some of my best shows are outside, though i have sworn to never do outside shows almost every year. (yep, jurying again this year!). Weather is tricky, though when the weather is the "right kind" then it makes all the difference in sales and building a good customer base. Here's to a good spring, summer and fall!

T

Great Nuts

Scaly Bark Nut and glass beads

Yep. It's been pretty nutty lately. Been working on the stickiest warp ever (i think i shared that s and z twist scenario-- makes great cloth and always, without exception, raddle that sucker on!)
Grantville has become a bit overwhelming so at night, when i am listening to music and having purry time with the cats, it's time to drag out the stuff that i find when i am out walking.

Collecting rocks, stones and anything that is in my path has been an ongoing thing -- back from the days my Dad and I used to hang out in the Mojave Desert. We were pretty good rock hounds and were always picking up something that would fit in our pockets. And when I worked in WinstonSalem, there were several old buildings coming down that ejected some nice treasures out onto the sidewalk- especially that typewriter place! Got some nice letters there!

coconut and copper with glass beads

I have walnut trees, scaly bark trees, chinqua penn chestnut trees and have a collection of coconut chips. The occasional piece of rusty or melted metal and glass adds a nice weight and texture so it often gets in the mix

Walnut with glass beads, bronze beads
and semiprecious stone chips

I have some papers that i have treated with acrylic gel to add, too. These will be part of the mixed media found object jewelry workshop I'll be offering in April. Should be lots of fun and I expect some new sparkly and shiny things to sell and to wear!

MMM! More Mixed Media

Our next session begins on Monday, March 4! We are meeting for 8-weeks this time y'all! And our schedule of projects include (but are not limited to..)

Papermaking
We've been working toward this for a while. We are going to work with at least two pulps- recycled papers and either linen or abaca pulp- something that is strong and we can manipulate well. We will pull single sheets, layered sheets and try some other techniques to get used to how the pulp and pulling work. Then, we are going to try some casting.

After we get our papers, we will start manipulating them, adding materials, color perhaps some threads (gotta have threads!) and work on our composition.


Textile Composition 
Not the snappiest project title-- but I've been working on some pieces that are part of a path of pieces.... and I've been using several techniques that I like to combine to make fiber compositions (and I have a show coming up!!!)
Painting and printing with Textile Pigments on muslin
Image Transfer
Stitching as line
Wrapping and Weaving

And, if we have time, Found Object Jewelry.
I'm always collecting nuts, seeds, stones, bits of metal, shells, beads, beads, threads, beads, glass, papers and usually some beads.  I'm working on some prototypes over the week and will post them soon.

Hope you can make this class- So far it has been great fun with wonderful students (a treat to meet!). Please email Karen at Art Alliance of Greensboro, call 336.373.2725 and feel free to email me at kathryngauldin@gmail.com if you have questions or suggestions!