Contextural ACAD residency 2

Another area of textiles that I am working in during this three-month summer residency at ACAD is using Acid Dyes on wool with the Japanese Itajime technique, in my case called resist-clamp Shibori.

I started by dyeing pieces of wool different shades of yellow.

Then I use various tools to layer with different resists (plexiglass shapes, washers) and clamps to then add to the dye pot.

Now there are two layers of colour.

Repeat the process and more colours are added. Here are some of the final pieces.

 

Summer dyeing fun!

I have been in town for only 3 days this whole month of August, with most of my time spent at our cabin in a coulee on the Albertan Prairies. But out there I have been doing a lot of dyeing of silk scarves!

Even though it was 30c out, I sacrificed and stood over a pot of boiling water watching magic happen...

When I got home I laid them all out on the back deck in their colourways... in each pot I had from 2 to 4 different scarves (silk velvet or silk rayon or solid silk). Look carefully at the piles and see if you can identify which is which.

But my favourite part of all this was that I had a new dye - black - that I used for the backgrounds and got some great colour combinations to go with it. I was very happy with all of my results!

Summer Dyeing continues

The last dyeing I posted was at the beginning of August, opening the lovely jars of 'eco' surprises... I then had the opportunity to go out to our summer cabin alone for a week and do some 'regular' dyeing.

Using my favourite "Alter Ego" dyes on silk and rayon devore scarves, I got some lovely results. All in preparation for fall Art Sales selling silk scarves.

Laying out and sorting the blank white scarves:

Bubbling pots of luscious colour. The left will be green and purple, the right will be golden yellow and lemon yellow:

Some results drying gently in the shade:

Then I was throwing everything into the pots: wool blankets, silk and cotton threads, doilies, linen napkins...

 

 

The final scarf results:

 

 

 

And my helpers out there...
Bluejay -->

Goldfinch -->

and the Hairy Woodpecker-->

Summer 2011 - Fields

Because our cabin is located east of Calgary, we are in the middle of the wheat growing Prairies. Watching the crops progressing through their summer growth is something worth keeping your eye on...

Canola (or when I was growing up, it was called Rapeseed) are the brilliant yellow fields of the Prairies - and it really seemed to be the crop of choice this year - it was everywhere!

The first hint of colour was on July 1st:

one week later:

the next day, further east, driving down country roads:

and July 17th on the west side:

and July 18th, further east. The yellow flowers fade away and the top becomes a fuzzy green. Here is a close up of the pods that are growing beneath the flowers, these are full of the tiny black canola seeds - the seeds are what are pressed to make the oil that you use in cooking.

But there are other crops out there too...
Wheat is getting taller, but not golden until the fall.

and the haying is a steady occurrence in one field or another...

BUT, what stopped my heart, was on our way home this week, we discovered a field of flax. I haven't seen it growing for about 8 years on this stretch of the TransCanada Highway - and it takes my breath away every time!

From the stalk, the fabric linen is made. But the flowers create an ocean of blue over the green Prairies - I love it! They just burst into bloom this week because there was no sign of what was in store for us before this trip.