Weekly Textile Construction #27

About a year ago I attempted to make a resist using mashed potato flakes. It turned out to be so effective that after it dried I attempted to crackle the surface, applied dye, washed the fabric the next day only to find a mostly white piece of fabric. The resist has resisted too well. It was just too much trouble to try again at the time and I moved on.

I have been think a great deal about surface for the past 6 months so this week I decided to attempt this process again but substituted flour for the potato flakes and had a much better experience.

Click here for formulas.

I applied this paste (all of it) to a dry unwashed piece of PFD fabric. The fabric was about 20" x 20" and had been pinned to a ridgid board I use for surface design. The full batch of paste barely covered the surface. The fabric soaked up the moisture from the paste so I had to work fast and not much time to move the paste around once it was spread. Once I had moved it around as much as I could I used the end of a plastic spoon and drew into the still wet paste.


Full view of design drawn into the paste. Notice the thin spots at the bottom.


Detain of the paste with the design applied.

It was warm that day so this dried quickly. Once dry, I mixed a concentrated dye solution of about 5 TBsp of Black dye powder with 1/2 cup water (more or less). Then I put 3 Tbsp of this mixture into 1/2 cup of print paste. Click here for these formulas.

This dye mixture was brushed onto the face of the fabric and left overnight to dry.

Looks like an awlful mess but the next day I sat it out in the sun to dry.

Here it is on it's board sitting on the hood of my car.

Within a few hours it was nice and dry. I folded it up and put it on a baking sheet and heated it in the over for 5 minutes at 200 degrees. You should never eat this thought. Would give you a bad tummy ache.

From the oven it went into a bucket of water to soak for about 15 minutes. I then used a plastic scraper and scraped as much of the dried paste off the surface as possible then gave it a really good hand washing before throwing it into the washing machine.

Amazing! What a super resist. I am really happy with the results. You can see where the thin spots of paste were but I think that gives it character.


Detail of washed surface.


I have been thinking about new ways to treat my work so I decided to sew this directly to a piece of black canvas which I did. I used a sort of pink/beige thread.

I'm not finished stitching but wanted to share with you as it is now. I plan to throw it into the washing machine when I finish stitching to see how that impacts the look of the piece.



Detail of top edge.

Now this is something I can explore.

COMPOSITIONAL CONVERSATION: Stage 11 - Valerie Goodwin

Compositional Conversation is now in Stage 11! We should figure up how many miles this work has logged. I'll have to work on that.

This week our artist is Valerie S. Goodwin. Known for her unique and beautiful work inspired by landscapes and cities, Valerie shares with us her equally unique process and approach to this project. Here are her comments.


Tuesday (10.27.09)

The package arrives from Paula ! After work, I opened the box and rolled it out on the dining room table and fell in love with what I saw. My initial thought? This piece is complete, there's nothing more to be done! Darn it....I got the composition at the tail end:)!

That night I had a strange dream. I was at my studio and all the other artists were with me. We were all discussing the quilt. Suddenly I look around and my studio space has miraculously gotten larger...it's south wall opened up and on the other side was a group of contractors -- all wanting to put in their 2 cents worth! They clearly just didn't "get it"......they wanted to know whose bed would it fit on! We started laughing and then I woke up for my nightly run to the bathroom;)

I know the dream makes no sense...but I thought I'd share it anyway!


Thursday (10.29.09)


I finally get some free time and retreat to my studio with our little project in hand. As I stare at it on the wall.....I'm still thinking "This composition is telling me to leave it alone". Good thing I had printed out a copy of it onto a sheet of 81/2" x 11" paper. My next step was to evaluate it at a smaller scale....for me this always helps.



Then I laid down a piece of trace paper and made a few sketches.

As I sketched a few goals surfaced:

1. Give the composition more movement so it wasn't so static.
2. Explore how the elements can interact with each other.
3. Add a subtle sense of depth to the piece.
4. Reconsider the green "line" that sub-divides the composition into 2 zones.
   

I moved the fabric pieces around for part of the afternoon.

At the end I hope I was able to deal with my four (4) goals by:

1. Movement: I added a green shape on the left side so the eye could move back and forth more from one green circular element to another. In addition I shifted the axis of the key vertical elements so that they move back and forth with respect to one another.
2. Interaction: I tried to give the illusion that the shape on the far left wrapped around and ended behind the red one.
3. The green line in the center of our composition was given a hole. This gives the impression that the black element interacts with and penetrates the big green line.
4. By breaking up the green line I tried to break that impression that the composition was not composed of 2 isolated areas. I think I could have done more of this.

So -- are we now having a conversation that is winding down? I guess that was my approach. I treated it like I was adding my take where the punctuation marks should be. I am not in any way saying that our subsequent artists need to take the same approach...this is just what I was hearing from our piece.


It was hard to let go of "Mary" (she told me her name;) Even now she's whispering to me. She is saying "I need tweaking here and I demand tweaking there!" I'll be curious to know what Mary tells Kathy next week.

My best to all, especially Terry........:)



A big 'thank you' to Valerie for a most interesting commentary. It appears that every stage of this project has it's special challenges. And now the work has a name. Will Mary speak to Kathy, Leslie, Marina or me....stay tuned as to "Compositional Conversations".



MORE ABOUT VALERIE S. GOODWIN

Valerie in the studio.


Valerie S. Goodwin is a mixed media fiber artist whose background as an architect plays a fundamental role. She began designing and making quilts in 1998. Her interest began as part of her involvement in teaching architectural design classes at Florida A&M University's School of Architecture. Her students investigated parallels between architecture and quilting as an introduction to ideas about composition, ordering systems, color and pattern.


City Grid II


Overall her art has moved through various stages from traditional quilting to an interest in abstract expressionism and, more recently, work inspired by real and imaginary landscapes and cities. In some cases her work shows an architectural sense of space with an archeological perspective. In others, the network of the city and its built form is more prominent. Her compositions work on a number of levels, from close up and far away as if you were looking at it from above.


City Grid IV

Goodwin's work is noted for its use of color, emphasis on line and density. Her quilts are part of a continuing investigation of ideas that focus on geometrical relationships, patterns and ordering principles found in architecture. Her work conveys these ideas abstractly, through the use of collage, layering, transparency, density and improvisation.

She earned a Masters degree in architecture from Washington University in St. Louis after receiving her undergraduate degree from Yale University. Her work has been widely published and exhibited. She has also lectured and given workshops across the country.

To see more of Valerie's work: http://quiltsbyvalerie.com

The participating artists are: Rebecca Howdeshell, Beth Carney, Shelley Baird, Gayle Vickery Pritchard , Judi Hurwitt, Leslie Bixel, Fulvia Luciano, Marcia DeCamp, Marina Kamenskaya, Paula Swett, Valerie Goodwin, Kathy Loomis, Leslie Riley, and Terry Jarrard-Dimond.