Feeling the Indigo Blues?

Posted on March 30, 2014 by Mama Cormier

….only if it’s a feeling of joy and accomplishment

Yesterday I attended a 6 hour workshop on dyeing fabric with indigo at Articulations in the Junction. It was a Christmas gift from my youngest daughter. It was a small class with 8 students ranging in age from their 20s to 60s. We even had one man in the class who came with his partner.

Our instructor, Jane Jacobs, was truly inspirational. She had a multitude of samples for us to look at and an infinite number of objects to experiment with. Everyone brought their own fabric and articles of clothing to play with. There were also white silk scarves and infinity scarves that you could buy for the purpose of dyeing.

I experimented with a technique that involved stitching designs and pulling them tightly. I wish I had more time to make more of these but I think I may try more of these at home. The technique is called shibori and comes from Japan. The secret is to pull the thread really tightly. It will work with any kind of dye. I loved the indigo but it has a few more steps and requires more time to get it to the stage where it’s ready to use. Here is a website that demonstrates how to stitch on the fabric. Shibori from Japan.

The dyeing techniques also included folding and clamping the fabric. I wrapped string around small stones that were buried into the fabric and I pulled fabric from the middle and put elastic bands around it. This created a real retro 60s look that was reminiscent of tie dye. I also clamped buttons and metal squares between folds of fabric. Some of the students wrapped their fabric around large plastic cylinders, then wrapped string around the fabric and kept pushing the wrapped fabric up the cylinder. That was hard work but the finished product was beautiful. If I go back for another class I will try that technique with silk.

I brought a variety of fabrics to play with. I had two 100% cotton samples, one in white and one in taupe. I had a piece of linen and rayon that was also a taupe but with a tinge of green in it and my last piece that I played with was a white 100% cotton knit.

We weren’t sure how the coloured fabrics would take the dye but another student brought a grey fabric and all of them turned out well. The contrast wasn’t as dramatic as the white but the patterns showed up nicely against the blue.

Now I have to decide what I’m going to do with my pieces of fabric. I’ve already decided to make one into a pillow, one will be a table runner and the third I will sew into an infinity scarf. I’m not sure about the fourth piece but I’m sure I’ll think of something.

The following photos are my creations after they dried.

Built Up Enough Courage to Try it Again

Posted on March 28, 2014 by Mama Cormier

….working with oil paints, that is

After my mini disaster with oil paints the first time around I was putting off trying it again. My teacher, Karine Swenson encouraged me to keep trying and continue experimenting with the medium. I was going to wait until the weekend but for some reason at 11:00 last night I was moved to paint. I got out a new 18 x 18 inch canvas and started painting squares. Two and a half hours later I was finished (well at least for now). I posted my piece on the on-line class’s Facebook page and went to bed.

This time I laid my piece flat so when I woke up in the morning there were no drips or runs of paint down the painting. This piece is quite different from the first but I think I am now ready to tackle lesson 5 which involves working really big. I have to go out and buy a canvas about 48 x 48 inches.

In the meantime though I have to get ready for another class that I am taking tomorrow which involves fabric and indigo dyes. I thought that everything I needed would be provided at the class but after reading the course description I think I need to go out and do a little shopping for cotton or linen fabric. I’m taking the class at Articulations in the Junction. Here’s a small description of the class.

Mokuhanga

Posted on October 21, 2012 by Mama Cormier

…. I learned about Japanese wood block printing

In Japanese ‘moka’ means wood and ‘hanga’ means print. Mokahanga is literally the art of making prints from carved wood blocks. Today I took a workshop on this art. Elizabeth Forrest is the artist who taught the class and it was held at Articulations in the Junction.

Elizabeth Forrest

We learned about the history of mokuhanga and then were shown how to carve the wood to make our blocks.

Carving the wood block.

Students hard at work. Everyone was so focused on the task that you could hear a pin drop.

Half way into the three hour workshop we were instructed on how to apply the ink and create our prints on specially made rice paper. Elizabeth has her own paper maker in Japan who makes these special papers. Articulations has signed on to become a distributor for her papers.

Here are a few examples of the finished projects.