Module 6 Chapter 3 (Raiding the Kitchen Cupboard)

Chapter 3 is all about adding colour to the materials gathered in chapter 2 and using available substances.
First, I dyed pieces of fabric and threads, including the old clothes. I did three batches using teabags, onion skins and potassium permanganate, boiling them up in big pans and feeling a bit like a character from Macbeth.  Photo 1 shows work in progress, on the right the onion dyed pieces and on the left soaked fabrics waiting to go in.

Photo 1

Photo 2 Three batches completed and ironed.  From left to right onion, tea, potassium permanganate.  I was pleased with the range of browns/neutrals that came out.  I didn’t use a mordant with the onion which gave colours from brown to pale yellow (making the blue skirt green), tea with vinegar was pinker tones and potassium permanganate toffee to chesnut brown.   The darkest shades were achieved by dyeing first in tea and then overdyeing in potassium permanganate. The most vibrant colours are on the little skeins of wool and scraps of silk dupion.  The little squares on top of the piles are offcuts from a stitched sample used for making edges in an earlier module.

Photo 2

Photo 3 A second batch of potassium permanganate, this time with fabrics folded and stitched to produce patterns similar to animal skins.  The two larger pieces are the bamboo cleaning cloths which took the dye beautifully and have a lovely sheen. I particularly like the rich dark brown on the left (this one was not tied as tightly as the one on the right so has picked up more colour). The surface seems to be quite delicate, however, and rubs into holes. The other pieces are calico and cottons, some already tea-dyed.  I also added some of the used wet wipes which you will see in a picture further down.

Photo 3

Photo 4 Next I picked out some foodstuffs to try mixing with egg yolk for similar colours to paint on paper and fabric prepared with gesso.  The sample sheet is a page from the outdated microwave book, which seemed appropriate.  From the top nutmeg, cinnamon, curry powder, coffee essence.

Photo 4

Photo 5 Using these on prepared fabric and textured wallpapers, 2p piece for scale.  Best results are from the coffee (which is a bit unfortunate as I can’t abide the smell of coffee but love the spices).

Photo 5

Photo 6 Using the egg to mix  Brusho powders.  Clockwise from top left a) shows the colours I used and the effect of overlaying them so the colours combine.  The other samples combine the Brusho with the other ingredients b) mixing colours on textured wallpaper c) Printed paper with gesso, painted with Brusho and crumpled when dry to produce cracks, then brushed over with coffee/spices and finally acrylic wax.  This has a very leathery look and feel, and some of the text shows through d) One of the dyed pieces sprinkled with coffee then painted with Brusho for a textured surface.

Photo 6

Photo 7 More leathery surfaces.  Top left – the  momigami brown envelope from chapter 2 sponged over with spices and acrylic wax for strength. Right – dyed calico with layers of colour; acrylic paint added with a dry brush, then egg tempera colours and wax.  Bottom left – using up the leftover colours on a crumpled brown envelope and topping with acrylic wax.

Photo 7

Photo 8 Aiming for skin-like textures.  Clockwise from top left a) potassium permanganate dyed cotton discharged with lemon juice brushed across b) the dyed wet wipes sewn together c) brown envelope with monorpinted texture.  I sometimes use an old glass fridge shelf for printing so this time I used the rough side to roll out the paint d) dyed bamboo cloth discharged with lemon juice on a sponge.

Photo 8

Photo 9 Monoprinted patterns on dyed fabrics, inspired by feathers/quills.

Photo 9

Module 6 Chapter 1

Research decorative textiles from another culture.  I decided to look at Native American Indian textiles.  Firstly, I looked at quillwork and decoration and construction of women’s robes.

Photo 1 and 2 notes on quillwork.  Photo 2 includes a small trial of quillwork using lines of stitching.  In the spirit of recycling/using what is to hand, I used drinking straws on a used envelope.

Photo 3 drawing of a design from a quillwork box.

Photo 4 Notes and images on methods of constructing robes from hides.

At this point, I was feeling a bit unfocussed; I seemed to have lots of snippets of information about a vast area of study.  I followed a friend’s advice and went into the Rainmaker Gallery in Bristol which specialises in Native American Indian art (website address in the list of references).  They currently have an exhibition of serigraphs in the North West Coast style, and the very helpful curator suggested I looked into Chilkat blankets which come from the same area.  I also went to a lecture at the RWA connected to the exhibition.  Although not directly related to the textiles, it was a really good insight into the meaning and use of the formline style that is characteristic of this area.  The following photos show my notes on the Chilkat blankets.  I haven’t yet typed up my notes on the general style, but I will add them later (otherwise I will never get onto chapter 2!).

Photos 5 and 6 Notes and images of Chilkat blankets.

References

Needlework in America, Virginia Churchill Bath, pub. Mills and Boon ISBN 0 263 06416 6

Identity by Design, Smithsonian Institution, pub. Collins ISBN 978 0 06 115369 3

http://www.rainmakerart.co.uk/  Website for Rainmaker Gallery, Bristol.  Specialising in Native American Indian art and jewellery.

http://www.americanindian.si.edu/searchcollections/ Website for the National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution, USA.

http://www.indianmuseum.org/ Website for the Mt Kearsarge Indian Museum, USA

http://www.sheldonmuseum.org/chilkatblanket.htm Website for the Sheldon Museum, article on Chilkat blankets.

http://www.textilemuseum.org/ Website for the Textile Museum, Washington DC, USA

http://www.britishmuseum.org British Museum – images of Chilkat blankets.

http://www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/en/ McCord Museum, Montreal.

http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/northwest-coast-native-art  Article on NWC art.

http://crafthaus.ning.com/photo/chilkat-robe-in-progress Work by Courtney Denise Lipson, including pictures of Chilkat blanket in progress.

“North West Coast Indian Arts: Exploring Traditions in the 21^st Century” Lecture by Dr Max Carocci, RWA, Bristol, November 2012.

For more information on North West Coast Arts and Contemporary Artists

http://www.robertdavidson.ca Website of contemporary NWC artist Robert Davidson.

http://www.prestonsingletary.com/ Website of contemporary NWC artist Preston Singletary.

http://www.ravenpublishing.com/designs.htm Lesson on drawing a wolf head in NWC style.

http://www.nativeonline.com/twodimensionalart.htm Fuller description of formline style used in NMW arts.

Module 6 Chapter 2

Gathering materials for chapter 2, I am aiming to re-use items already lurking in the dark corners of my house and at the back of drawers.

Photo 1 Papers – used envelopes, the user guide for my last-but-one microwave, instructions for assembling bicycle gears in half a dozen languages (but not English).

Photo 2 Fabric – old clothes that I kept in the scrap bag because I like the fabric or because they were used for kids’ dressing up.  Washed so many times they have faded and worn thin. One linen dress and the rest cotton. I will add offcuts of calico etc as needed.

Photo 3 Other bits and pieces – a pile of wet wipes that were used for cleaning up during monoprinting sessions; bamboo household clothes from the pound store; a calico bag that had nuts in; assorted used Tyvek envelopes.

Photo 4 Dead grass gathered from the garden and dried, temporarily supported on soluble fabric then machine stitched together.

Photo 5 momigami technique applied to magazine page,brown envelope, patterned paper bag and bike instructions, then coloured with Brusho (2p coin for scale).

Photo 6 Strips of crumpled papers sewn together – left in original colours as they blend well.

Photo 7 two samples with painted and heated Tyvek envelopes.  On the left, the Tyvek was pierced with a sewing machine before heating; on the right I crumpled before heating to see if this changed the way it distorted.  Heating from both sides gives a more interesting texture.

Busy collecting onion skins for colouring in chapter 3 – I feel a batch of onion soup coming on.

End of Module 5–Admin

The final chapter for this module was the artist study, which has already been completed following my visit to Lost in Lace last year.

Costings for Module 5

	Material		Tools
Promarkers			£4.49
A3 Coursebook (portfolio)			£6.49
A3 black pad			£7.59
silk organza about 1/2 m	4.00
clear PVC small piece	0.50
Devore paste	3.23
zeelon - scraps	0.20
silk screen			£14.00
Devore fabrics - about 1/2 m total	9.00
Allowance for threads and odd pieces of fabric, beads	4.00
Glue, paper,card - small amounts of each	2.00
Totals	£22.93		£32.57

Authenticity - a picture of me working on one of the resolved samples.



Health and Safety – the new feature in this module was the use of devore paste.  Guidelines for using this are to work in a well-ventilated area, particularly when using a hot iron to activate the process, wear a dust mask, goggles and gloves, protect clothing from the paste.  Store out of reach of children.

Module 5 Chapter 10 Resolved Samples

3 resolved samples using silk paper, handmade paper and soluble methods.  For this chapter, I interpreted the cling film designs from chapter 9 and also added features from earlier work in this module, all relating back to the needlelace from the historical study.  I used the Meccano frames for dipping pieces of stitching in paper pulp, but in the end decided that as I wasn’t wrapping around the frames, I would cut the samples off and keep them as flat pieces, adding more layers.  My idea for 3d forms will keep for another day.  

Photo 1 size guide - the three samples on an A3 sheet.



Photo 2 and photo 3 (detail). This first sample is made from 3 layers.  The background is a very thin piece of silk paper that was crumpled while still wet.  Next, I dribbled glue from a hot gun into water to suggest a pattern of distorted buttonhole filling and rubbed on blue acrylic paint. There were several small pieces which I piled on top of each other.  Finally, it is held together with layers of loose hand stitching.  This is my favourite sample of the three, I find building up the uneven surface very satisfying and I like the combination and depth of  the shiny glue with the threads.



Photo 4 Lines of buttonhole stitching stretched on a frame and dipped into paper pulp.  The motifs were machine stitched onto soluble fabric with loose threads scattered over it and applied to the background while still damp – there is enough glue left to adhere to the paper without further stitching. The orange and blue colours came from the chapter 9 images that had been altered in Paint Shop Pro.



Photo 5 Another piece of buttonhole filling dipped in paper pulp, but this time it was embedded between silk fibres that were then made into silk paper.  I drew the motif outline onto pieces of soluble fabric and stitched french knots through it onto the silk paper, then carefully dissolved it without damaging the layers underneath.  The french knots refer back to the samples made with punched holes in an earlier chapter. I think this gives an interesting soft/faded effect in contrast to the strong lines of the second sample.
 

Time taken for resolved samples 10 1/2 hours.