Ahhh retirement - no set schedule to adhere to, but I have been busy. I have a fun dye studio outside and when it's too hot to be out there, I'm in my studio playing and experimenting.
There is so much to post to keep track of the past months. First of all I had been working on a wall hanging for a special friend that I finally finished - she was really pleased with how it turned out and that made me happy! It is quite large and it is named 'As above, so below' and if you look closely there is a little school of beaded fish following another wee school of smaller fish! There is a beaded/sequined sky with the moon and a swirly ocean.
Besides felting, my new passion is ice dyeing, and what fun it is! You never know what you will get when you open it up - it all depends on how you fold the fabric and that is the trick - there are so many options. It is very much like botanical printing with each project being a surprise! After the initial trial, I decided I loved the serendipity and wanted more! I set out to learn about different folds and their results. I'm interested in dyeing mainly scarves at this point and folding and ironing a long and wide wrap takes quite a bit of time but so far the results have been worth it. Out of the many I've dyed, there is only one that I can truly say isn't quite up to par so guess what? It was a learning experience and will be a do-over with color remover which is quite effective.
As you can see, they are all quite different depending on how they are folded or tied before dyeing. The one on the left was one of the first that got my interest tweaked and one of the easiest to fold. For the center one I used rubber bands and the dye traveled differently to each side creating two different patterns for the same wrap.
It is a perfect process when it is too hot to work outside in the summer heat as I do most of the work indoors before soaking in the soda ash and then placing it on the screen used and then I add the ice. The colors I plan to use have been determined ahead of time so then it just takes a few minutes for this step and then the piece is left until the next day before it is rinsed and washed.
