Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Bead Embroidery + Thread Embroidery + Eco-dyed Fabrics




Passing through the slump of divorce and moving, I'm finally starting on a new beaded pathway. Also, I've been taking a bunch of workshops, a pleasure I've postponed while busy with my own teaching career. These workshop experiences will be the subject of a later post, after I get the pictures out of my camera and ready to post. In the meantime, here's a little glimpse of my new work.


Back tracking over a year ago, a group of eco-dyers on Lopez Island blessed me with the opportunity to join them in wrapping plant materials and assorted metal objects into bundles of re-purposed silk, cotton and/or linen. After popping the bundles into a plant-material dye bath for a while, then waiting for days to unwrap them, we garnered for ourselves a supply of eco-dyed fabrics. Since the above two sentences are a gross over-simplification of the process, you might want to turn to other sources, such as India Flint or Sweetpea's Path, for more information about eco-dying.


At first my own bundles and resulting fabrics, seen above, reminded me of old paint rags or end-of-the-world costume fabrics for a tacky movie. Probably with a lot of experience and patience, one begins to get desired and almost predictable results. I love and respect the idea of eco-dying, the connection it builds between earth and human, the lovely plant memories captured and prolonged in the fabrics, which are also natural materials. But for me, although I'm always intrigued by dyeing and printing with dye, having previously been smitten with Ann Johnston's process and workshops, and a felt-dying workshop by Chad Alice Hagen, I never follow through with preparation of my own dye baths. Finding that I'd rather bead or stitch, dyeing is not quite compelling enough to keep me going.

However, I had this pile of eco-dyed fabrics, a pile I almost consigned to rags or took to the thrift store during the move. I also had an idea percolating in the back of my mind, an idea about making fabric collage with thread and bead embroidery, layering the fabrics and embellishing them, framing the results in a narrow, vertical frame.


So one day, examining the details in my pile of eco-dyed "rags," I noticed there were small parts of them that appealed to me, such as the prints made by inserting rusty washers in the bundles, visible on the left in the above picture. This piece of linen, taken as a whole was dark, and muddy or dirty looking. But if I were to cut out just the marks made by the washers, I might have something useable.

That thought was the beginning of this:


And this:



And this:

This is the final piece (you can click to enlarge), titled Trust:


The same wonderful eco-dyers on Lopez later invited me to join them for a day of dying with indigo and lac (red/rose/burgundy dye from an insect, some of which made the narrow pinkish stripes in Trust). My results that day, combined with some remnants of Kantha stitching on cotton fabrics, provided the materials for my second layered fabric collage.

Here's a detail:


Here's another detail:


Here is the final piece, titled Northern Lights:


Since making these two pieces, two more are in progress, one with layered kimono and obi silks and one with my indigo and lac pieces. I'm excited about this new pathway and hopeful about using more of my hand-dyed/hand-painted fabrics.

It's feels really good to have recovered a little of my former beading mo-jo. I look forward to the peace and quiet of winter, when traditionally I spend more time beading!

25 comments:

  1. Beautiful! I especially love the piece you named Trust. It's just so lovely with the soft colours and the balance between beads and textile. And how the embroidery transforms the cloth compared to what they look like unadorned!

    Dyeing (and shibori) is one of those things I'd love to try, especially with veg. or mushroom dyes, but never have as it feels like too much to try and set up on your own (not to mention learning how to set dye and find the right colours that won't fade right away) and I can't afford classes/workshops even if they were to be found where we live. So right now I'll just enjoy others' hand-dyed fabrics -- and what they can do with them, like with your embroideries.

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    1. Thanks for your comment, Maneki. Here's a list of books about dyeing by India Flint (and a few others she recommends): http://www.indiaflint.com/page4.htm

      Maybe you could request one or more of them from your local library. If they don't have one in their collection, you could get it through the inter-library loan system. Books and experimenting are how most people learn. Also there are tutorials on line. I encourage you to go ahead and play with dyeing with veggies and mushrooms.

      I'm glad you like my new work! Thanks!

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  2. These are lovely!

    I had to really think about my reaction to your new work. It was immediate and twofold. First, was regret that I might not get to see your "old" style work, with was so wonderful, rich, strong and colorful.

    But then I thought about Why I liked these new ones. I do, only for different reasons. Words came to mind like: light, depth, delicate. And their sense of strength is so different now, it's like a subtle strength that is now quiet. You have to pay attention to realize it's still there. And the layering speaks to me, since that is how I perceive our lives to be... full of layers that are not always seen, understood, or fully realized yet.

    I like the combination of the beading and the interesting fabrics... like our lives which are made up of interesting combinations, sometimes unlikely pairings that surprise and delight us!

    Yep... I like it. Especially the delicately Strong one titled "Trust".

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    1. I'm honored, Retta, that you took the time to think about these pieces and give me your reaction. I'm so pleased that you like them. I'll probably still keep doing my other style of bead embroidery too. I especially pleased with your take on the layering... it speaks to me for the same reason!

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  3. I love both these pieces, Robin. You make great use of the vertical format.

    I love how your artful eye has transformed 'paint rags'. Trust is at the same time filled with tenderness and an enduring sense of strength. There's a great deal of depth in your new direction.

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    1. Yes, Vicki, the vertical format is dynamite, isn't it?! I named the first piece "Trust" because it took a lot of trust to cut up the rags and spend the time trying to transform them into art. I love it that you see both tenderness and strength in this piece! Thanks for commenting!

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  4. These are so engaging and beautiful. Creativity and the natural world always raise my spirits. The northern lights really shine out.

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    1. Thanks, Evanna! I like that one too ;>)

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  5. Hi Robin. I am glad that your beading mojo is returning. I've missed your blogs and your amazing art. I really like this new direction. I like both pieces, they look like landscapes. 'Trust' is really earthy, yet has a delicacy about it. 'Northern Lights' crackles with the sharp cold of a velvety dark winters night. Wonderful!

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    1. Hi Carol. Thanks for your encouraging remarks. I especially like your description of "Northern Lights." My next piece REALLY looks like a landscape, a rather dreamy one though. I'll post it soon.

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  6. It is so good to see a post with your beautiful creativity once again. I really love the piece 'Trust' and the 'Northern Lights' really do shine right out of your other lovely piece.

    You are an inspiration.

    FlowerLady

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    1. Hi Lorraine, Nice to "see" you here! The internet is such a great tool of inspiration! Thanks!

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  7. Lovely work Robin! I've always loved fibre collage and I see that you're working them with such delicacy. The addition of beads is a lovely touch and so appropriate for your work. I hope to see many more of these in the future.

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  8. Oh AM... I have missed our connection through the BJP. Your work is always an inspiration to me... probably influencing this new work in some ways. Thank you!

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  9. Hey Robin! I've missed you too! Did you see that I actually have a late entry to the BJP for this year? I'm not working anymore (not my choice, of course), so decided that there was no excuse not to at least last three months. I'm having fun!

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    1. Delighted to see your "late entry" Anne Marie! We're both back!!!

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  10. Trust and Northern Lights are gorgeous. You've done magic combining the Eco dyeing and beads.

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    1. Thanks, Maya. I'm glad you like it... I love the word "magic!"

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  11. So good to have you back. I missed you. The new pieces are beautiful. Did you finish the quilt?

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    1. Hi Autumn... it's good to BE back... at least on my way back! Nope, hand quilting is taking a looooooooong time, and my fingers and wrist suffer if I work for too many hours at a time. That's why it's a good thing to be back, part time at least, to beading and other types of handwork.

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  12. An adventurous new path with interesting, artistic results! And welcome back to the blogging world, Robin! Do you have any idea of how colourfast these eco-dyes are?

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  13. Hi Sabine.... I'm happy you like the new work! I really don't know for sure that these fabrics/dyes are colorfast. But then, most fabrics aren't, some less than others. There are certain things we can do in the dying process to enhance colorfastness, such as allow to "cure" in the bundles for an extended time (weeks) and rinse in sea water after removing from the bundles. Although that's how I dyed the fabrics in these pieces, it's still impossible to know for sure how long the color will last. Good question ;>) Thanks!

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  14. Time will show about the colourfastness. I was just being curious as I have absolutely no experience with natural or any other dyes. Actually, I am not too concerned about the permanence of colours, as long as they will hold their own for a reasonable length of time, say some years, or even decades.
    I forgot to ask a second question: Do you do the framing yourself? It looks so professional!

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    1. Another good question! These two are framed (temporarily) in cheap frames from Michael's (a chain craft supply store). I did have a professional on the island cut the mats, but they're actually not very good. After making these two and starting three more, I decided to invest in quality mats and frames from www.matshop.com. I received my order of 7 frames (hope I'm not being overly optimistic) a couple of days ago, and the quality is fantastic. They will look nearly the same as the cheap ones, but will last longer and, under scrutiny, look better. Thanks for another good question, Sabine!

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  15. It was wondering if I could use this write-up on my other website, I will link it back to your website though.Great Thanks.
    hand painted fabrics

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Thanks you for joining the discussion on this post today!