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.

 

Contextural Residency 8

Three months of playing in the Fibre Art Department of ACAD over the summer produced a lot of silk scarves and fabrics. The scarves I will be selling at the CALYX Distinctive Art Sale on October 24th, and also at the CONTEXTURAL sale on November 21st.

The fabrics I will be working on over the winter adding stitch and continuing to develop the themes they were created about.

Here is the start of the dyeing process, first layer with low immersion fibre reactive dyes (they are round because the picture is taken at the bottom of a plastic pail!)

 

 Rinsing out the dye...

A sampling of my supplies...

 

 The great hanging racks with one of very many batches being dried...

Contextural Residency 6

During the three month residency this summer I alternated between:
     (1) felting
     (2) dyeing with a fibre reactive dye (Procion)
     (3) dyeing with plant material called "eco-dyeing"
     (4) printing with thickened dyes.

Some photos from the different plant dyeing sessions...

Laying out hollyhock blossoms and rose petals on a silk scarf

 

the bundles of plant materials

some were put into jars to keep on my deck all summer

 

  some went into the dyeing studio

 

 simmering bundles wrapped around Plexiglas forms

some of the opened bundles

 

 and last week I opened the last package and laid out all the eco-dyed scaves I have done over the summer, there are about 30

one of my favourite - caragana leaves - so delicate!

Contextural Residency 4

Thought I would show some photos of the facility I am working in at the Alberta College of Art and Design in the Fibre Department.

 

the room with extra large print tables...

the kitchen for mixing dyes and washing materials used...

the paper making studio where I have been doing my felting (as the tables are slightly higher.) Love all the drying racks up by the ceiling...

and the print on the stools...

 

the working selfie!

and the walking path from my house to the College...

Contextural Residency 3

So I felted for the first two weeks and finally got all 30 samples done. This will be a valuable resource for whenever I want to do a felted piece, I can "feel" my way through the samples and deicide which weight of item I want to make and back-calculate the starting size to get the finished size. It is all very mathematical and I love the process!

Photos from along the way...

 

The final production...

Each colour-coded pile done with a different weight of wool rovings shrunk from 15% through 90%. Method based upon Lisa Klakulak's felting techniques.

Don't you just want to touch them!

Contextural Residency 2

On the second day I was joined with my Articulation Textile Group partner Wendy Klotz and we continued with the wet felting.

We are creating a library of samples worked in different weights of rovings done to six different percentages of shrinkage. There will be 36 samples in total. After 6 hours of felting, we finished the first 6 samples.

Roll, roll, roll... My shoulders and arms were so tired!!

Contextural Residency

and now for the fun!

I have been accepted into the three month Contextural Summer Residency where I am able to use the Fibre Department facilities at the Alberta College of Art and Design (right next door to where I live in Calgary).




So it is off to "school". Monday the 25th was my first day so here I am loaded down with supplies as I embark on my lovely 10 minute walk through parkland to get to the facility. (Note the closed-toed shoes, and there is a backpack with more supplies.)

We have our own desks in a "dry" work room where I unloaded my bags,

then off to the "wet" working space - just one of many available. I decided to start with wet felting so here is a piece I started in a class last fall finally felted together.