March 15, 2009

Experiments with Thickened Dye

I had a really fun play day in Arroyo Grande with Andi and Rene. I love playing with friends as much now as I did when I was five! Playing . . . that's the perfect frame of mind, no expectations and lots of surprises. I finished five pieces of fabric, all but one are a fat half-yard; I'll share three of them with you today.This colorful piece uses a thermofax screen made from one of my photos, one of Rene's screens that have three squares, a screen of a splat, a BBQ pan with holes, and extruder drawn circles.I put a bath mat behind the silk screen and pulled yellow dye across the surface and let the screen dry. Once dry, I used clear paste for the first couple prints, then added turquoise dye.

I used a piece of construction fence behind the screen for this print. I wasn't happy with the way it was printing, the texture was very blotchy, probably because it was printed on canvas. Andi thought it looked like graffiti and suggested that I add writing. I put thickened dye into an extruder and added a layer of handwriting. I still don't like it much; it may need more layers.

Deconstructed screen printing is what Kerr Grabowski calls this technique. She has a DVD that explains all the steps. Both Rayna Gillman and Jane Dunnewold have instructions in their books.

I would love to hear from you if you've ever tried this. It's definitely a technique that is full of surprises. I really enjoy dyeing fabric a lot more than I ever expected. I think I'm going to have to buy some of my own.

4 comments :

Rayna said...

Uh oh, Judy - sounds like another addiction in the making! I have nothing to add - but I would love to see what you do with those fabrics.
Really, I would.

Sandy said...

The pieces turned out so well.

Karoda said...

I love the piece in the middle...and yes, I've tried the techniques and love breakdown printing but it takes patience and writing on cloth with thickened dyes is also something else that rocks my boat!

imquilternity said...

All three of these pieces are wonderful! Can't wait to see what you do with them.