i can do plastics-the end

 while waiting for the colors to develop plastics is  finally  finished.it has developed into quite a baroque piece, but i like the contrast between the glittery plastic, the organza and the ribbon. all different degrees of sheerness and gleam.

took a walk this morning while waiting for the alginate to thicken and the jacarandas are lovely. just had my cell phone but tried some photos.will have to upload the photos to my photo blog if they are acceptable.
the alginate is part of the experiment for  painting fabric with natural dyes.

 over the weekend  tried this  sans the men helpers and the huge mallets. had romantic ideas about making my own mochi from scratch. HA! going the prepared flour route  instead.


neki desu

anticlimactic

pun intended on various levels. the scarf above started last spring  went on dyeing through spring and summer went on into winter with mokume shibori and kakishibu. i really wanted to try kakishibu on wool because i had heard it was not very successful. and it's true, not even after aging and exposing it to uv rays it blooms. so now i have a wool scarf in the middle of spring. take climate and climax!

although this really can go on because i'm thinking of shifting the color a bit. either overdyeing it in some of that gorgeous brazilwood or a weakened walnut hull dye.

as murakami says in 1Q89: sony and cher, the beat goes on.

neki desu

colorful season

cotton loom controlled shibori yardage in the brazilwood pot day 3.this time i did not forget to use  bottled water and the difference in color is amazing.it's almost fluorescent!! i am taking all the precautions and doing solar dyeing because i don't want to wreck this great color.  and heat is hard to control and ends up destroying the reds, turning them brownish.
it will take however long it takes, but i'm taking care of this baby. it is some sort of an elliptical resource  which started a few days before reading this post,( thank you Cally for the great discussion you've been holding) and this other one, a presentation at ISEND on the paradoxes of marketing natural dyes.

i understand the points raised, in the looking into a standard , but my thinking is that you can't control everything. and the variables or aspects that are not controllable is what gives natural dyes their character. they are living things dependent on water soil quality, sunshine and weather. just like wine.

i think that a lot of responsibility lies in  dyers for educating people. why is it acceptable for a store bought garment, no matter what price range, to fade and it is unacceptable for handmade garments? a fact that coincidentally ties in with the first link dealing with the throw away culture.

 dyers are also responsible for carrying on good mordanting and dyeing practices  away from fashions and trends.  cool aid dyeing??? well it can be fun, but do not expect returning happy customers.

there are cloths some  hundred, a thousand, two thousand years old and the colors albeit muted are still going strong. note the operative word muted not faded, which carries in  it no small difference.

 when i dye i always think of sensei, my dyeing super ego. how would she do it? would she approve of a shortcut here? or would she wrinkle her nose and say it's not the japanese way ? i can question experiment, learn,and all of that will make me understand the craft more and learn to respect it. and hopefully become better at it.

it is fun, but it is hard work.

                              lichens on linen

neki desu