Repetition

I rummaged through my fabrics to find ones I had previously dyed and chose a light orange, yellow and green shibori. The markings were too subtle to show much, after a dip into indigo, but the fabric is a now pleasing green with good value contrast. Then I overdyed a turquoise and white cotton in the indigo and am pleased with the markings, although I find the colour of this one less appealing.

And I thought this black and white fabric might be interesting to dip - but the moon hardly shows.

I also did a turquoise and fushia to see how indigo looks over something fairly bright and dark - and got a fushia moon in blue that has limited value differences. Two of my vats weren't giving colour, so I had to do some adjusting. Each new skill takes alot of experimenting and experience to get to a point where I can get the results I am after - which makes me especially grateful for any gifts from the dye Goddess!

Taking it Further

I am continuing to experiment with overdyeing in the indigo vats and I love this moon over the water: And this night sky reflection:

I suspect nothing is going to be safe from the vats, soon! Here is a previously bark dyed honeycomb where the indigo turns green.

And this swiss dot reminds me of snow falling from the clouds:

No snow today - but we have been having such strong winds, and I saw branches everywhere and several downed trees when I was outside:

Break time is over and I'm going back to the vats...

Dyeing, Displays and Demos

I spent some of the morning dyeing this silk velvet. I still haven't left any of my Arashi Shibori crinkled because curiosity has me peeking between the folds!

In the afternoon I was back at the Victoria College of Art to talk to visitors at our exhibition. I met textile artist and instructor Elaine Duncan, who gave me a demonstration of tapestry weaving on a copper loom. She had a display of her beautiful natural dyed yarns, books and some of her lovely pieces - and - some indigo shibori! Elaine will be teaching a tapestry weaving course and one on natural dyeing at the college soon.

Lesley Turner, who taught the Mark Making With Machine class I just took, was showing how to make a pattern using various stamps and paint. She is offering a course on pattern design this summer that is sure to be comprehensive.

I also have stitched a few more hearts:

Floating Heart

Can you guess what I used to make this pattern? I added Spanish onion and camellias from my garden to the dye pot, hoping to get a more pinkish beige.

Instead, I have a wave of neutrals that I made using - rickrack! The idea popped into mind because I wanted to change the Shibori's line spacing and thought a thicker kind of tie would also be interesting .

And I am participating in Jude Hill's Whispering Hearts series - not a class per se, but a match to what is very dear to my heart and how I work - noticing process and following it. Jude is sharing her process in real time - which is also my preference, as it is energized and alive, not after the fact. I had started this piece a few months ago and decided some of the flowers could become hearts - maybe flying hearts.

Handstitching is uplifting and I like allowing the breeze to draw me to where I'm going next.

Tonight is the opening of our Mark Making With Machine class exhibition at the Victoria College of Art and if it's like the previous one I was part of, it will be packed!

Food Fun

Today I tried natural dye stuff with Arashi Shibori - some rose petals, raspberry tea and onion skins. I kept seeing food in the results, too - ripple potato chips:and the icing swirls on top of a vanilla slice - must have been time for a snack!

Here's the whole, which was a light beige to begin with.

And I did a little Sekka Shibori using the Colourhue dyes.

More Shibori

Swimming in Shibori...

Arashi Shibori has such glorious texture - but I was too eager to see what pattern I'd made to let it dry this way. Maybe next time - maybe :)

This is the Maki Nui Shibori pictured in the top photo collage, now dyed and with stitching removed. A spotty, rather disappointing look. I have had very limited success with the stitched shibori, overall.

These dye painting and dipping experiments are samples to see what's possible.