Catch up Blogs - New designers and London first

New Designers - Awash with digital print and a serious lack of weave constructed or stitched textiles, when will they learn the importance of traditional skills to make their work stand out from the crowd. Very disappointing but some interesting jewellery and I did find two students using sustainable awareness in their work.
Laura Brainwood is a weaver using naturally dyed wool to create some interesting 3 dimensional textures which I want to explore as they have the feel of waves. She uses indigo and weld mainly and studied at Heriot Watt University. I spoke to one of the tutors who is researching into waste products relevant to the textile industry. I discussed the position of sustainability in their coursework with Dr Sara Keith the tutor and it reminded me that I was going to find out about the waste products which could generate natural dyes such as walnut husks.

 Aleksandra Bujak studied at Wolverhanpton and uses upcycled denin in her work. It gave me ideas to think about the ways I could use the woad dye to create textiles which patch together and construct them to form 3D shapes - even clothing!

Trip to Berwick Street was good as I could feel the fabrics and think about the weight I will need to create the layers of fringe - idea from the 30's dress in the V&A!
My tutorial was so useful. Les is challenging but gets you to really clarify your direction etc. The idea of a 'language of water' has enabled me to explore the whole sound, movement etc of water and I have been aware of the ways people describe water. I am pleased with the photographic images I have collected but really need to get the paper and paints etc out and start flowing!! It needs a day of no holds bound where I just let the images push me without being constrained by the dye/resist methods I will use. But I would like to see David about pleating and trying to achieve movement within the pleated lines.
Now I must collect this months batch of nettle leaves (1 day late) and as it is over 30 degrees it will be interesting to see how the colour compares to the fresh leaves from last month. Then I will cut the nettle patch down so that the new growth can produce more leaves. Also want to see if the flower produces colour.

Nettles from far and wide

The nettle search has begun. I have already collected from my garden and have 4 different samples to compare. They are already showing a range of colour and I am thinking that I need to compare the colour differences from plant parts. Does the whole plant cause darker colours? Leaves create a stronger dye vat? Leaves in different seasons? A visit to a Nature Reserve and a chat with their biologist revealed that there are different species of nettle - the nettle plot thickens! Does it matter anyway? Is what I am doing valid or even useful?
Friends from across the country ie Devon Gloucester Kent Hampshire and Dorset arrived at the weekend carrying their bags of nettle and a soil sample!! They want to know what kind of colour their nettle produces and if their colour is different to the rest of the group.
Now I need to plan my time and get on with the idea that nettles are a good source for a reliable yellow/green dye giving a range of colour tones!

Nettle tops collected in May waiting for a bath of boiling water!

As the label says - nettle leaves dried from the same patch last Autumn in their bath of boiling water.

It is also essential for me to get back into a sketch habit. There are so many ideas I want to try to explore the shapes of reflections ripples etc and I have some good images to work from and I want to get to know the shapes of fish that I have been gathering from books directly from the Nat History Museum and photos.

 Such interesting shapes and I
love the detail of the face and gills

Just need to get on exploring ways of representing them on paper and fabric.

So much to do - just need to get organised!!

Natural History museum

I must remember to check when half term falls and not plan to go to the Natural History Museum! But managed to see the fish exhibits and the amazing shapes and features. The resist fish I did with a madder dye were successful so I want to extend my reserve of drawings and images and combine fish into the water designs.

The problem at the Museumwas that I didn't spend a lot of time drawing from the displays but the time I did spend enabled me to study the features of the faces and the fin structure. The lines of the bones and scales can relate well to wax resist and I can make tools to give the impression of scales.

I loved the colours of some of the specimens and the exaggerated features. Think they could be a design source in their own right not only combined with my ripple and reflection ideas!

But I have started gathering nettles for my research into the range of colours/tones that can be extracted from nettles.
The Botanist in the Research Centre in the Nat. Hist Museum was really helpful and answered my questions regarding the taxonomy and homogeneity of nettles. He said he would be interested in the outcomes of my research!!

Interpreting design with natural Dyes

When I started this process I knew that I would need an extensive palette of shades and tones within a colour. I am still learning how to achieve this objective but the knowledge and understanding gained from Ian and Isabella's workshops have led to an application of this goal using indigo. There is still scope to increase the range available to me but this will improve as the number of dye vats increase allowing me to use the 'tired vats' for pale colours and increasing the number of times I dip the fabric  resulting in very dark blues.
My sketches of reflections in water were the source of my design and I plan to develop this source and its interpretations as the main aspect of practice in my research.

The top image from the National Museum was one of the first paintings which attracted me to reflections. Then I was in Paddington by the wharf and the reflections of the buildings made interesting patterns and colour combinations.

I chose to use indigo and madder for my first attempt. The shape of the palette knife was just right to make the wax resist marks. The image above shows the first stage and this was dipped in a 'tired vat' of indigo for the pale blue areas. Some of these areas were also waxed with the palette knife and the fabric dipped into a strong indigo vat. After the wax was boiled out I re waxed the central area leaving the shape of the reflection unwaxed between the two waxed areas. The fabric was folded lightly and just the unwaxed area dipped into the madder vat. It was left overnight. Then the wax was boiled out again!!
I will photo the end result when I have been assessed on my work and collected it from Uni!

Design

An interesting critique session with fellow students from different disciplines really helps to focus on  your research/ practice and allows you to stand back to observe as a non specialist.
I am always being asked what am I making with my dyed textiles which has made me consider the market for naturally dyed textiles. There are as many limitations ie consistency, fastness, size as there are possibilities ie uniqueness, sustainability, historical and traditional evidence. In my learning agreement I have mentioned this aspect of my practice and have been interested in the ways contemporary practitioners market their work. Ian supplies silk scarves to Jarrolds who want scarves which will have an individuality and uniqueness. Helen works within the Fine Art field and Isabella relies on her teaching and is publishing a book on her research into lichens. I have made scarves and dust covers for books during the past weeks but have found that it has detracted from my design ideas.
So the critique has led to re visiting my water resources and planning ways to interpret them.

Maggie Hamblings work that I saw at Kings College and the sketches I have done of a weir near my home have movement and strength. I am just using indigo to dye the water and use the wax resist to keep the crest of the wave white. I have used a stipple brush for the wax which needed to be considered in relation to keeping the wax hot when it is brushed onto the fabric.

I need to re visit the research from Japan to understand the care/type of brushes they use and methods 

When I saw the examples of reflections in water in Monet's painting at the National Gallery it related to photographs I had taken at the Wharf

I have used the spatula with wax to represent the areas of colour and started by waxing the areas which will remain white and those which will be dipped into Madder for the rust colour of the reflection.

The Shibori workshop with Isabella Whitworth really helped me to understand how to get a range of blues from Indigo. It all comes down to understanding the nature of indigo ie it lays onto the fibre therefore covers what is there unless it is resisted in some way. So the times the fabric is dipped, the more layers and the darker the colour. By keeping exhausted or well used vats where the percentage of indican is low the outcome will be a paler blue.
I still enjoy mark making but find this next step ie interpreting design challenging and invigorating - just hope that after tomorrows dyeing session some of my ideas will be realised!!

Failure and Success

I do forget how much I enjoy a day of dyeing! But when exploring new techniques it is important to anticipate failure and hope for success.
The weld and madder vats were refreshed by boiling the used weld tops and madder roots in separate pans to extract more colour. Then I added dye from the cold vats which I keep in rectangular storage boxes. These boxes have been a brilliant solution to larger fabric sizes and they are just large enough for the fabric to lay flat when not being stirred. I decided to put the wetted fabric into the warm pans which were heated just under simmer for about 40 mins. Then the fabric was left in the vat to cool and taken out when I was happy with the colour. Some of the weld was overnight some of the madder was 3+ hours. Some were overdyed some were first time. I was pleased with the colour.

Madder on cotton madder on wool, both with Alum mordant; indigo over weld, indigo dipped for 5mins then dipped for 2.

The indigo vat needed 5 teaspoons of soda and 3 of Hydros, but I was really pleased that I was  understanding the chemistry of the vat and could work out what was needed to re juvenate it again.
One waxed design had already been in a weak madder vat; the wax had been boiled out. I wanted to use the indigo to highlight the design. Indigo lays onto the fibre whereas madder dyes into the fibre so when I put the fabric into the indigo vat it laid on top of the madder and I ended up with a blue piece of material and no design! Another learning curve!

I had some successes

Interpreting the sea using indigo and weld. I dipped the top an extra time for 2 minutes to contrast the sea.

 

And I had some failures

De waxing is still a long process by boiling in a pan adding cold water keeping the fabric under the surface then skimming the wax off the top when cool. So I decided to try ironing out as much as possible using paper to absorb the wax then using the washing machine at 50 to wash the rest out. As you can see I hadn't fixed the dye and the washing machine has wax pearls all around the drum!!
So it's back to boiling in my 'wax only' pan and adding a little washing soda as recommended when I researched how other people de-wax!

Shibori Indigo

My practice and research has centred on wax resist techniques but in my research for contemporary designers I decided to enrol for a shibori workshop with Isabella Whitworth who lives in Devon. After a 6a.m. start and a 3+ hour journey I arrived at the Ardington Art Centre near Oxford.
Isabella Whitworth:

 'Over the years my working priorities have changed and developed, as have teaching venues and the technology to write and publish online. These days I still work with wax-resist on silk but I also produce natural-dyed silk and wool scarves, and research methods of using natural dyes with wax resist. For several years I have been researching historical dyes in a more academic form, which can involve intense and concentrated writing, working with colleagues in the fields of botany, chemistry, conservation or textiles, and the presentation of papers at conferences. In 2011 I curated  Fleece First,  an exhibition at the Devon Guild of Craftsmen which brought together makers, sheepbreeders, manufacturers and innovators using South West fleece.'
She currently works as a voluntary editor for the Journal for Weavers, Spinners and Dyers, with the responsibility for articles on dyeing. The Journal is a unique publication produced by a committed team of like-minded people drawn from several UK Guilds.

 Isabella explained the indigo process, she showed us examples of shibori (a posh name for tie and dye!) - stitched tied and clamped,which we would be trying.
Could shibori be an interesting way to provide a grid or background for wax resist?
I was interested in her methods for the indigo vats which were heated to a temperature of 50 as we would be working with silk.
She makes a stock solution of indigo - 20 gm of indigo and 250 ml of water. The indigo is added to the hot water in a jar ( a marble or small stone keeps the liquid from settling) and put into a bain marie of hot water with the lid loose to allow steam to escape. The Stock Solution is left in the Bain Marie overnight.
50ml of SS is mixed with water and the Ph measured. She uses washing soda to adjust the alkaline level to 9. To de oxygenate the solution she adds a teaspoonful of Hydros and emphasised the dangers of inhaling Hydros . Also the importance of keeping it dry.
The vat is rested for an hour.
Fabrics are wetted first to avoid adding oxygen to the vat. They are dipped for the same amount of time that they are hung in the air to oxygenise and re dipped if necessary.

 Instead of doing silk scarves I tried various methods of Japanese folding techniques.

Think there may be potential in shibori Japanese folding techniques but I need to try cotton and the wool delaine fabrics. The white areas left by the blocks could be used for wax resist but the blue would need to be waxed out or perhaps use with weld/madder.
There were some interesting scarves

This scarf has been folded into triangular shapes and each corner bound with dental thread which is waxed and strong.

                                                                       
 This is the scarf being untied.

                                                                                                                                            








 More experimenting I think - there are always new pathways to explore - but I want to finish the plan to develop designs which I interpret with the methods I have already tried ie use the tools with wax.
It has been useful to see how Isabella has developed her career and how teaching forms a large part of her income. She has been researching lichens in dyeing which has taken a lot of research, collaborations and practical experimentation - she will be publishing a book soon. So I'm not sure how much making is part of her business but her website is very user friendly and informative.
Website - is another consideration for me!