This winter has felt especially long, I think because we are getting to know a new city, so we're not yet aware of all the inside activities that are available, nor do we have many friends (to visit). So, we've been spending a lot of time inside our apartment. At the end of one especially stormy week (we must have spent 3 full days inside) I was determined to get out of the house, and I thought it might be fun to entertain Sam with fabric in the wind. I think I had more fun playing with the silk than he did watching me.
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Here are some shots of the fabric I've been working into this month. There will be a lot more added to this falling sweater, including some subtle leaf prints and maybe even some goldleaf. The falling sweater was printed with brazilwood and logwood and the full falling series is 5 vertical prints on 136 inches of silk This finished piece will be shown at Eastern Bloc starting March 30th, 2012 photos by Riley Sparks Update March 23rd: Shortly after this post I accidentally ruined this fabric in a contaminated pot. I was pretty sad at first, but the more I look at the photos the more I think the piece had already been resolved at this point. So now I'm just glad I have these great photos. For the show on the 30th I'll be showing the second part of this series which will be a lot different and feature a sound element.
My most recent eco-colour adventure included an epic bike ride with the hubby. Epic, since it resulted in us getting lost in Montreal...or off Montreal rather. We thought we were in Verdun, and when we asked for directions for the city centre of Verdun (for eats) we were given directions off the island--Nuns Island. We were pretty amazed that we ended up on another island without knowing it. It was a long ride to say the least.
On this island was a large patch of dark red leafy plants which I decided would be included in my next cold-bundle, along with some yellow onion skins we have been collecting during meal making. I wrapped the two in dry mordanted silk, wet it and then sat it in a shallow pool of brazilwood dye-stock-solution for a week. This morning I unwrapped it and VOILA! Happy day. Happy Janna Some lovely ladies in my life have recently inspired me to revisit natural dyeing. While visiting the great white north my friend Sasha gave me one her wonderful indigo dyed silk scarves (which I wore all summer and decided I needed more in various colours) and I finally got to see Marja's eco-printed silk garments in person. She has been keeping me inspired all year with photos of her new adventures in eco-printing, a technique which master-dyer India Flint has recently published a book about, Eco Colour (a really great book!).
So when I returned to Vancouver for my long awaited month long vacation I began experimenting with this new technique. Oh what fun it is! Seriously, of all the techniques I've experimented with recently eco-printing has made me the most excited. The process is simple and yet varied so you can get really creative, and the results are always unpredictable and exquisite. Each scarf has little details which change in different light sources (a characteristic of naturally dyed fabrics), so sadly it's really hard to capture these intricacies in photos. Above are a small selection of ones whose beauty were captured half-decently. Click on the photos for individual stories. xo Janna |
About me:
I'm a west coast Canadian gal who after completing a BFA in Fibres at Concordia University in Montreal moved to the New York metropolitan area where I am pursuing my art practice while learning the ropes of motherhood.
June 2021
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