Another layer of Setacolor paints on fabric

One of the things I am not, is patient. Yet, much of the art I do requires patience. Whether it is dyeing fabric, or waiting for paint or gel medium to dry on my mixed media pieces, I just want to see the results and do the next step. I am not good at waiting. I am usually working on multiple things at the same time so something is always ready for me and the next step. I also think this is why things never get finished and end up in the UFO pile. I start working on something that is more interesting and I forget all about the whatzit project drying in the corner.

I decided Sunday to do another round of Setacolor fabric painting outside. I started in the afternoon when it was in the 50's, but by evening my fabrics still weren't dry. Sigh. No harm in leaving them out. I checked the weather and it said it would be in the 40's the next day, precipitation in the mountains but not in town. I check my fabric at 9am the next day. Sigh. Still damp.

At 10am, I go to see if the book I ordered, by Cas Holmes and Anne Kelly, Connected Cloth, had been delivered yet and open the door to a misty sprinkle. I had to quickly move all my fabrics from the yard, that were damp but now are wet, to covered places that won't be ruined by wet painted fabrics. At least the fabrics were now safe from the rain, but I had to wait another day before they were dry enough to bring inside.

But the results are so often worth all the ants in my pants.  I did a piece of shibori with the Setacolors and it is pretty darn cool. I am going to try more of this on the next warmish day we have, which should be within the next week. I expected the colors to bleed and blend more, but that is not the case.  I just used rubber bands at the ends (I did not wrap the fabric and pipe with twine when I compressed the fabric).

I bought a Halloween costume at a thrift store this week, for the fabric. I probably stood in that store for 10 minutes before committing. I have so much fabric already.  It was a 60's gold lame with sheer leaf shapes in it. This ended up being a pretty good amount of fabric so I am glad I bought it. It was hand made and was a whole piece of fabric (no side or back seams) once I took the front zipper and shoulder seams out.  I painted a part of it with the Setacolors and really like the way it turned out.

I've been using a ton of polyester organza, from a roll I got super cheap, which works pretty well with the Setacolors. When I did this session of painting, I cut off a 12" wide piece of organza from another piece that was painted last year (the 12" section at the end was unpainted). (Have I told you that no white fabric in my house is safe when I am painting or dyeing?). This organza is so much nicer than the one I have been using. It just is more sheer, and has a yummier appearance. I put leaves on top and they created black outlines. (I think this is because they didn't get a lot of direct sun and it wasn't very warm).

I did another layer of Setacolor on the painted fabrics from the other day that didn't turn out well (that had a base color, then a layer of white on top). Definitely an improvement on this piece, though some of the others are still in the "bad" pile. This polyester organza has a multi-colored first layer, a layer of white, then another multi-colored layer.

When wiping up my painting surface, I usually use a paper towel or cloth rag. This time I thought I'd use some paper to "wipe up" the extra paint. This paper is textured as it has some inclusions in it, like a heavier rice paper. I laid my paper down flat on the paint and swiped it around until it was covered, then set it aside to dry. I though I'd try to get a sun print on the papers so I put stencils over most of them. I didn't get a sun print, but did get dark lines from the stencils. I think they look pretty cool.  I let them dry completely before removing the stencil and they were difficult to remove, you can see some places where the paper tore. The tiny paper towards the bottom was iridescent and this one actually sun printed unlike the others. It looks really great.

On a totally separate note, I really love Cas Holmes' artwork and when I read on her blog that she will be in the States next year teaching some classes I decided I needed to go.  So I am signed up for her workshop in Scottsdale in April and am super excited. I had her previous book, the Found Object in Textile Art, which I re-read this weekend, and ordered her and Anne's new book. I glanced through the new one when it arrived and the pictures are lovely.  The Found Object in Textile Art is what I consider a reference book, she gives you separate techniques that you can incorporate into textile art, which I like. I find it is a slow read, but I think that is because there is so much information in it. I definitely found things I want to try, and things that inspired me to come up with my own ideas. I think that treating fabric more like I treat paper, collaging it with some type of adhesive, really speaks to me and I am looking forward to giving it a try. With some gold lame fabric...