Monday, August 2, 2010

Its all about value...

I'm spending more time at the studio than at the basement workshop.  Primarily due to my focus of laminating and printing and dyeing which has a better set-up for it than the basement does.  The basement has morphed into the area for sewing with an area for painting cloth and silk dyeing with the microwave.  With the help of Ade I spent some time re-arranging the studio so that I could print from both sides of the table.  Last week I started printing on a piece of jacquard cotton and today this is where I left it-


DSCN1368 There are 4 different greens, 2 blues, and 2 reds used here.  Each colour dried before adding the next layer and then the fabric was heat set.  I'm at a happy point of being stuck so I lifted it off the table and hung in in the window of the studio.  I'm going to study it and do a self driven q & a with it before I decide what will happen next.  The immediate discovery was liking the backside-


DSCN1372 From the backside, the lighter colours do the talking and just the opposite on the front.  But right now I'm leaning toward this being a piece that will be cut.  If it stays whole there will be a laminated sheer layered over the top. 


Using a black and white filter to check for value, I could see that value is working but it's colour that dances---when I'm working I spend more time thinking about value than I do colour. 




DSCN1369




I have 2 new neighbors at Mellwood, Janet, a recently retired art teacher.  We seem to be vibing quite well and in sync.  I keep feeling like I know her from some place else.  The other new neighbor is a young man, Emmett, who is a mixed media artist, and who struck me as having "good home training" as my mother would say.  I appreciated how he carried himself and am looking forward to seeing what he creates.  I'll be saving cardboard for him. 
 
 
 



6 comments:

  1. That whole piece is quite exciting. I could have some fun playing with that!!

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  2. Every time I read your blog I think I should do a painting blog. I admire the way you keep this up. I'm not a quilter so I can't really understand half the things you are talking about (techniques) but it's exciting to read the about the process.

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  3. How interesting. I am playing with value too. I am taking advantage of the sweltering heat and dyeing fabrics. Right now I am on neutrals. I have dyed 12 yards so far. I am trying to step down ten times with each color I dye to see what I get. I think playing with this wider range of gradations should do something interesting to my work. Also, you are going to make me try this laminating thing. I bought the book from Dharma. . . .

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  4. all i can say is that i just it. can not wait to see what you do with it.

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  5. i love it is what i was trying to say.

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  6. Love the red, green, yellow, and blue piece which are colors I use a lot. The dying is beautiful, but I have told myself "self, you are doing too many things and dying is out of the question". Think I'll stick to painting. LOL

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