Parting Glass: Fabulous Fibre

Finally got around to photographing some of the stuff I produced during the short course I took at Cap U. Before I do the show-and-tell thing, I would like to say a few things about how the course altered the way I view textiles in general (more "shake me up, Judy stuff"). Remember, I haven't altered much cloth before so seemed to have a number of "ah ha" moments as things went along. Am sure some of my fibre friends will understand what I mean.

When I first learned to weave back in the days before the Earth cooled, I would find myself deconstructing the weave structure of the jacket worn by the man in front of me in the post office queue or the colour sequence of the fabric on the chairs in a restaurant. Now every shape is morphing into negative as well as positive form. Every textile is imagined in another context - as a stamp, screened image, or rubbing on cloth. I wonder about the dye recipe required to reproduce a colour that draws my attention. And I try to imagine the interplay of various patterns, textures and colours in new ways. In other words, I'm trying to push my creative side beyond its comfort zone. Perhaps that's why little of what I've created in the class really appeals. Have yet to produce much that inspires me to reproduce it as yardage let alone a garment or other finished item. That said, I've had a lot of fun throwing dye and paint around while exploring some new-to-me techniques.

Since the course ended, it seems my mind has been working overtime. Have plans to try working with various medical images (using my own CT scans, bone scans, etc) as well as general cancer-related stuff. But NOT that stupid it's-all-about-business-and-not-about-raising-money-for-research-or-otherwise-helping-those-who-need-help ubiquitous ribbon!!!! (So, Janet, tell me how you honestly feel about the Pink Ribbon Campaign.) Have some technical difficulties to overcome, but that might also push me to explore less obvious means of producing what my brain seems bent on creating. Stay tuned for further developments.

In the meantime, here are images of some of the cloth produced while at Cap U:

Above are some of the sample swatches made using stamps I made. The bottom ones were produced by gluing thin cork sheeting to blocks of wood. The basic stamp design is best seen at bottom right. I wasn't very keen on the larger block, especially when I rotated it as at bottom left - looks too much like an ethnic print from a culture that is not my own. Much prefer the smaller block at the bottom of each of the two lower swatches. Of all the blocks I made, I was happiest with the one used for the two upper swatches. Due to the fact that the lines weren't drawn to produce a bulls-eye, the resulting images often incorporated intersecting and overlapping lines that could be used as water, rain, maze, or labyrinth motifs, among other things. However, given the stamp (which was carved from a rubber-based block that is essentially an oversized eraser - much easier to carve than lino) is only two inches by three inches and about half an inch deep, it was awkward to hold and print without adding fingerprints to the design. And would take more time than I was willing to put into the effort to produce yardage.

My solution to the two latter issues was to make a larger version of the lined stamp. Unfortunately, I didn't draw the lines exactly as in the smaller version and the effect wasn't quite as nice. I did, however, enjoy playing with various fruit and veg as stamps.

This sample was a tad difficult to photograph. It's the result of mopping up G&S's pigment system process blue, yellow and magenta medium that I splattered on the plastic sheet that protected the work table. Like the interplay of colours as well as the range of colour shifts where more than one process colour hits the cloth.

This cloth started with a more saturated application of the G&S colours. Unlike the previous samples, this one is done on 100% linen. LOVE how the texture of the fabric works with the colour and the white pigment that was subsequently stamped over the colourful base. This stamp was produced by wrapping very hairy string around a block of styrofoam. The almost-square bits are where the styrofoam occasionally touched the cloth. What I like most about this piece is how the hairs on the string add to the randomness of the pattern.

Next up, screen printing. Years ago I did a bit of screen printing on paper and really enjoyed the process. Not sure why I didn't keep at it. In any case, here the screen was used to produce stand-alone images as well as layered images on some of the cloth that was previously printed and/or dyed. This is the image I used just after I drew it on the silk prior to adding the emulsion. The 8x10 inch screen didn't leave a lot of room for the squeegee, so I ended up using a wide plastic putty knife. This proved a bit of a problem re getting even pressure when pulling the ink over the image. Having so many little and fine lines didn't help. A good learning experience all 'round. (FYI, the decision to draw a crab came from the fact that the background cloth I was going to print on reminded me of water. It has absolutely not a reference to my medical condition. Confess I didn't even think about that until the instructor got teary-eyed after seeing what I drew. That said, I may use it as a cancer reference sometime in the future.)

I used this sample to create a montage of the various images and techniques I was experimenting with throughout the course. The background was made using that larger rubber stamped with curved lines, while the smaller cork stamp was used to make the "seaweed" near the crabs. The crabs were silk screened. I was disappointed with the result of stippling pigment directly onto the cloth using the tip of a stencil brush (lower right corner) but think a bit of machine embroidery will help it look more like coral than it does at present. The fish was created by painting freehand directly onto the cloth using several colours. The thought was to free-motion machine embroider over that area, highlighting the painted lines. Here are some detail shots of the cloth:

Really liked the way the background colour and stamp looked on that saturated piece of linen above, so wanted to trying messing about with a larger piece using the silk screen technique. Started off with a remnant of cloth that I bought at IKEA to use as the reverse side of my duvet cover. The fabric came in a pre-cut length. The background was a lovely natural grey-brown and the white spots were printed/painted on at the manufacturer's. The irregular edge of the irregular-sized white spots seemed to call out for use in a fibre project of some sort. The spots reminded me somewhat of the moon, so here's what I did:

No doubt it sounds a bit odd, given what I said above re the crab image and the fact that I'm a Pisces to boot, but actually gave this cloth a name (the only cloth given a name of any sort): Cancer Rising. As in the constellation Cancer - remember what I said about the spots reminding me of the moon? Plan to hand embroider the constellation over the piece. Here's a close-up of the printing (yes it's blurry and the cloth needs ironing):

That's all I've done so far. Hope whatever drug the study throws my way doesn't upset my hands too much so I can do some more work on these as well as other pieces that are currently taking up so much brain space.

On another fibre note, I whipped up a couple of knitted garlic bulbs for Jon to take to the Garlic Festival in Pender Harbour tomorrow. Just something fun to add to all that edible stuff.