The unveiling- Eco dye Day

The Unveiling Eco Dye Day

So I have soaked my fabrics, wrapped them with leaves and wild flowers and boiled them.
Today I will open them up and have a look.

This is cotton. I am not sure if I like it-maybe a little bland. I think maybe the wrapping could have been tighter. There is quite a lot of blank space. There are two small spots that look good-I think its the geranium leaves. Quite a nice purple.

This is the second piece of cotton. I am very happy with it. It has been coloured a bit more.

The velvet is good. I like the way it turned out. it has taken the marks of the leaves as well as the colour. I will let them dry a little bit. They were still damp. My photographer, Tenpin, asked what that smell was! I will wash them this afternoon and take them to our meeting tomorrow for show and tell. Then have to decide what to do with them.

 

Eco Dying Part Two

Eco Dying Part Two
I took the soaked fabrics and laid them out flat on the table. They are still wet from the long soak.

I laid out leaves and flowers that I had gathered. Then rolled the fabric around the tree limb and tied it off with string. I used oak leaves, geranium leaves and some native wild flowers.

The three bundles were placed in my large cooking pot( I don't use it for cooking food)

The pot boiled vigorously for two hours. Come back tomorrow for the grand unveiling!!

Eco Dying Part One

Hi , Karen here

This summer I have tried my hand at some eco dye projects. The results are at least interesting!!

I soaked three pieces of fabric, two cottons and the last piece of white velvet that I had saved for this occasion. I soaked them in rusty water that I had saved from our fire pit -so there is a little bit of charcoal in it too. I left the bucket outside and it stewed for more than a week. I was busy with other things!!

On the morning of Dye Day, our community lost a precious 300 year old white oak tree. I managed to salvage some leaves from the tree to use in my project.

My technical director chopped some limbs (from the tree, not the assistant) They are just the right size to wrap my fabric and then put into the pot for boiling! More tomorrow!!!

puttering

Karen here


Plans for today were cancelled at the last minute so now I am just puttering away. I am going to visit Jo at her cottage next week so I am starting to put together what I am going to take along. Not food, not clothing but a gathering of art projects and supplies for whatever the inspiration.
I have supplies for encaustics that haven't even been opened for a year so I think that this will be a good time to take them and use them.
I think I will take my oil paints too.
and of course my knitting bag will be in the car.
Oh and maybe Jo can help me with my photo editing project. I do need to send her the photo that I want to alter for a screen printing project.
and my daily block will have to be there I think I will need to cut a few more squares before I go
So maybe I should get to work on doing some of that instead of sitting here on blogger!!

Karen Sirianni

Karen has introduced herself here on this blog.

But I thought I would add a few things that I have come to learn about her.

Karen is a diverse artist. One look at her home and you see where her passion lies. Art covers her home. Pictures she has painted. Fabric art. Even artistic vignettes in her bathroom. Can you say cage wire shoes?

Robynne and I met Karen at a SAQA Central meeting. If I remember correctly - and I may have it wrong - Karen was stitching on a project that day. I sat beside her and we chatted away. And agreed to meet to see if we would get along for a fiber art group in Niagara. The rest is history.

Karen is retired from her day job but boy does she work. If you visit her blog nearthefivecorners you will see where she is recording the work she has been doing. I think Karen must create every day.

She is a loving grandma - very proud of her grandchildren. She is fun and we enjoy laughing. She is a free spirit diving into a project even pirate costumes for plays.

Karen has had pieces in Fibre Content and has a piece in the Niagara Regional Headquarters as well.

Add caption

niagararegion.ca

Road trips are a favourite to go on to see exhibits of fiber art but of art in general. We actually have to be careful that we don't laugh to much when we go on a trip and miss the exit we are looking for.

Karen sews and quilts on her regular sewing machine. She uses her basement as her studio and has a different style than Robynne and my storage systems.

She also graciously made a piece of art from a picture printed on Lutradur. I love this ship and what she has done with it.

Karen took a picture printed on Lutradur and with stitching and melting turned it into this great piece.

Introduction to Al Cote....

In answer to my "call" Al responded with the following. All of Al's words are in italics and I have added some information to let you know Al as I have come to know him.

"Journey to Fabrigos"

Al Cote 

"With a desire to meet other fellow Fiber artists I answered a call from Jo, asking for local Fiber artists who were interested in getting together to share their works and ideas and act as supporters of the Fiber arts.  Believe it or not, only three other people answered her call.  These three people joined Jo and we became the Fabrigos!- Jo Vandermey, Karen Sirianni, Robynne Cole and myself Albert Cote."

We are all members of SAQA Central Canada but live in the Niagara Region. We wanted to have a small group and make it easy to travel to get together. Al and Karen are from Niagara Falls and Robynne and I are from West Niagara.... about a half hour towards Hamilton, Ontario - Jo's comment.

"Although we are all Fiber artists, we are very different in our approach and technique.

I myself like curved piecing, raw edge appliqué, painting on fabric and collage using found objects.  I love working with silks, wools, velvets, and upholstery fabrics as well as cotton.  I do not like high realism pieces. I like the mystery and the spontaneity of a little whimsy and crudeness to a piece.

I really would like to explore incorporating plaster, glass and metal with my fabric pieces.
I come up with an idea from things such as books, old adages, traditional folk lore tales, and childhood memories.

I don't like to depict suffering, war, poverty, hunger or the unhappy conditions of people in societies.  I don' t feel the need to vent my inner anger. "

Al - as I have come to know him is a funny, kind,enthusiastic and spontaneous artist! His history in the arts in painting and fabric brings a lot to the table in a group. We can attest to Al's spontaneity and spark! My daughter brought the idea of bouncing ping pong balls to our thinking. Karen is probably the quietest of the group but thoughtful comments can help us to re think an idea.-  Jo's Comment

"I love to research a subject from many angles.  I do some sketching, take notes and think about the subject for days and sometimes weeks.  I keep a journal of my thoughts. I write little scenarios, poems and constantly alter them in my head .  I like to think of all the possible ways that I could achieve my piece such as colours, size, balance, techniques to use before I even select the actual fabric. I work out all the problems that might occur, and envision the piece completed.

Al auditioning colours on a piece of hand dyed fabric of Jo's done on one of our group days.

I love the pressure of a deadline!  It may look like I am stalling, or procrastinating because I have nothing to show sometimes just days before the deadline, but when I actually put fabric to sewing machine it goes quite quickly with no mistakes only minor adjustments to be made.  All the "mistakes" have been worked out in my head the preceding days or weeks."

Al is very good at this! Fabric and techniques are his palette these days. Having been a businessman running his own Hair Salon, and his Fabric Store with wife Deb he knows what it is to learn new things and convey this to others. He has been at Quilt Markets, has displayed both his paintings- in the past and Fiber Art in the present. His travels and teaching make him a wealth of information. But for all this Al is very receptive to learning from others. He is like a sponge of artistic information and techniques. In fact he helped me by playing with Lutradur with the group last year and made some pieces so I could include them in my guest blog post at andthenwesetitonfire last year on Lutradur.

The picture on the pillow was a photograph printed on to lutradur. Al incorporated this image in to a small pillow and gifted it to me. - Jo 

"In 2012, The Niagara Peninsula was named Culture Capital of Canada and I was privileged to be selected as one of 14 Fiber artist to produce 9 very large pieces that would depict the Niagara area.  Five artist produced one piece each and three artists worked on three different triptychs.  These pieces now hang permanently in the Regional Offices in St. Catharines, Ontario. I worked on a triptych with Irma Bull and Suzi Dwor."



This piece was beautiful. It is well worth the visit if you are in St. Catharines, Ontario. It hangs permanently in the Niagara Regional Headquarters. niagararegion.ca  - Jo comment

"I was also one of the teachers at Quilt Canada in 2014 held in St. Catharines, Ontario
I have many large commissioned pieces in private homes as well as public buildings throughout the Niagara area."

Al has completed many pieces for the Hospice in St. Catharines. - Jo comment

"I enjoy presenting my "trunk show" and teaching my workshops all across Ontario and Western New York.""

This is an understatement. Al's trunk shows are like a mini class. He freely gives tips and explanations on how he has completed or worked a project. His enthusiasm abounds in both trunk shows and workshops. If you want to just try to inject some creativity into your work either traditional or experimental you will benefit from seeing him speak.

Al gives workshops, trunk-shows and offers retreats. Al and Deb offer retreats for traditional and fiber artists. He can be reached through this blog. - Jo comment

This is just a snap shot of Al. Hope you enjoyed hearing about our friend and fellow artist. 


Jo

Any mistakes in this can be attributed to me. lol

Al Cote

Al Cote is a very inspirational artist and a joy to be around.

I thought though I would help Al out in the technical end. Since we started our blog I/we haven't had time for the blog posting lesson we said we would have....

So here in all its glory and home in Italy is Al's piece.

Enjoy!

Jo Posting for Al