This is something I have been wanting to try for a long time and then I found an online workshop by Lynda Heines which gave me all the information I could possibly need. The principle requirement is to use mainly non-pure colours, because the whole idea of ice dyeing is to make the colours split in order to produce the wonderful pattern variations this method produces.
Experimental drawing for mono print
Last month I attend the above 5 day workshop with Caroline Wendling at West Dean. Caroline is very keen on allowing chance to play its part, so we started off by picking blind a one inch square cut from a larger image. We had to choose 5 mark making tools one of which had to be a rubber. A dice was thrown to choose which tool to use, another to give us what kind of mark to make. Great fun and we all produced totally different images. Each morning we went out drawing, focussing in turn on tonal values, line, colour, texture, using the dice and also maps to superimpose on where we were to guide us along paths suggested by the map. We then went on to try different methods of printing inspired by our drawings.
Eco-printed hangings
These were done in the months following the workshop with India. Different bits of fabric were sewn together on to a backing fabric and then put into the aluminium dye pot, having been wrapped around plant material.
Dyeing for quilt making
A catch-up exercise, having found lots of work I haven’t kept a record of on this blog. Last year I did an online course with Elizabeth Barton on various aspects of dyeing cloth for quilt-making. I didn’t get round to actually making any quilts, but I was particularly interested in Elizabeth’s methods for arashi dyeing (wrapping fabric around a pole, scrunching up tightly and then dyed.
Indigo dyeing
Ann and I finally got together mid June to set up our indigo vat. I had spent ages tying, binding, folding pieces of fabric.