Vivian Challenge comes to an End

On our recent road trip, we found a few great windows that lent themselves for our Vivian challenge.

 

more vivian

outside on a sunny day.  My grandson thought it was the shadow of a Christmas tree.

Happy Birthday Vivian Maier

I just realised that Feb, 1 is Vivian Maier's Birthday. She would have been 90 years old.  A very auspicious start to our challenge -don't you think???

Several years ago, I took an SLR photography class at Niagara College. That was back in the day when I was clinging to film photography. What a fool!!

 I am not ever the first on the bandwagon when it comes to new technology. I wait a long time before changing or embracing. In fact I still have a flip phone and I was reluctant to get that until my family insisted.(and that was because I was driving perpendicularly to a tornado with my young grandson in the car--completely oblivious to all of the weather turmoil that was surrounding our lovely sunshiny drive and also completely unavailable and unreachable --but that's another story). My reticence  has recently become a problem since I am trying to join instagram. We went to the Bell store last night to see if I could change my SD card in the flip phone to Mike's old cell phone so that I could join instagram. Well--it turns out that my flip phone doesn't even have an SD card-does not work!! So that means that if I want to do some instagram photography I need to get another phone contract-more money. Or use My husband's phone. Might not happen.

Anyway, after the photography course, I spent the summer taking a lot of photographs. I remembered this photo when we started our Vivian Maier Challenge.

Detail

These pics were taken at Morningstar Mill in Thorold, Ontario. The mill is built beside Decew Falls, which is well worth the visit. It is a flour mill that is being restored. My father had spent many years as a volunteer at Morningstar mill. He was a carpenter and he helped to build and repair many of the buildings at the mill. He always loved to build stairs and he rebuilt the stairs at the mill. This doorway leads into the staircase.  Dad had been in school only to the fifth grade but the geometry of stair building was one that he understood and loved. Any staircase that he built were mathematically absolutely correct!!

After my father's death I felt very comfortable at the mill and I have several photographs that I took there.

The photos above were taken at the mill at the doorway to the staircase. That's me--neatly framed in the window pane and surrounded by the white building!! I don't know if I still have the negative. I just took a shot of the print on my digital camera.  I remember that I was disappointed with the hex flashes in the top corner. They don't bother me anymore-in fact I kind of like them now. And that was in the Red hair day!! You can have any colour you want!!

So this is the first pic that I am going to enter in our Vivian Maier Challenge. I think I am off to a good start!!

Thanks for stopping by. Please feel free to join our challenge and share with us.

Karen

snow day

We were scheduled to meet yesterday at Jo's house for a fabrigo day but a little bit of a snow storm stopped us in our tracks. We cancelled and rescheduled for next week. So what do you think about when you have a snow day--Why snow dying fabric of course. We have had a milder than  usual winter this year-its really our first snowfall and we are mid January-all the way closer to spring my sweetie!


So today I have decided that I will do some snow dying. I have done quite a bit of other kinds of dying but never the snow kind.


Right now my fabric is soaking in soda ash water--getting prepped to soak up all that amazing colour from the procion dyes that I will use.

 I have a few pieces of muslin that I will dye.  I have one piece of bleached muslin, one unbleached and one that I dyed that last summer that I think needs some more work. It has big splotches of orange on a white ground. I think it needs more blended colour. I am considering red overdying. And I have a piece of unknown fabric - probably a synthetic that has a nice shimmering look. I have used this fabric in other dye projects so I know that it will take the dye.




Now to prepare the containers. I am going to use three different containers; one is the tub that the fabrics are soaking in now, one is another plastic container from the basement and one is a coffee can that was emptied this morning. The fabric should be elevated from the bottom of the dye pot so that it is not sitting in the dye for a long time. (at least that is what I read.) so in order to elevate the fabric I have a few jars and pop cans that I have placed in the bottom of my containers.

I am hoping that these cans will provide enough elevation to keep the fabric  out of direct dyes.  I think that the action of the snow melting slowly is what gives this method such an interesting result. That's a shot of the pop cans inside of the coffee can. Good shot!!  I like the effect of the background. The can has a silver lining.  think I will use that idea again in some of my photography. My camera was just on an auto setting.


So, my fabric has been in the presoak long enough.
Since I have three containers, I have decided to cut each of the fabrics into three sections. Then I can dye each container different colour but have each fabric dyed with each colour.


I crumple each fabric and place it in the containers, take the containers outside, cover each batch with snow, pour dyes over each pile of snow and wait for the magic to happen.
I will continue this post tomorrow.