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.

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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.

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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  The sample sheet is a page from the outdated microwave book, which seemed appropriate.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.

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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).

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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.

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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.

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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.

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

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