Category: Fiber Art

Posted on

PP and Me

I am one with the PowerPoint. Ohmmmmmmmmm………..

It actually wasn’t too bad. Got a bit of advice from my love and started adding pictures. I really didn’t have any text in the presentation, just a ton of pics and lots of KBs. After I was all done, he told me that I could probably have made the presentation in Google’s Picasa (that I use as a freebie download photo filing system from Google) which most likely would have handled the multitude of pics better. Oh, well.

The folks who came thought it was fine, so that is all that counts. And the pics that I worried about – too fuzzy or too dark or too light – all turned out fine. The color went a bit weird as the projector didn’t necessarily give the same colors on the screen as the laptop showed (e.g. some reds showed brown) – good thing I work mostly in natural tones!

This presentation, entitled “Out of the Ordinary”, was on my artwork. Got another one in a couple weeks to do on the techniques and processes of mudcloth. Better check out Picasa’s slide show potential before then.

Posted on

R. R. O.s

Some Recent Random Observations:

– Humidity in the depths of a cold, dry winter is a good thing. If the winter in question is in your artwork, try humility… and some creativity exercises.

– Blacktop under snow and ice is nice, especially when the sun shines.

– Ninety degrees with several layers of clothing on is waaaaay too hot, but just right without the clothes.

– The average business attire is more than a little drab.

– Your own work looks better through the eyes of another.

– Anything seems more attractive than taking care of taxes.

Posted on

Mali Mud!

The real intent of the trip to Mali was to learn more about bogolanfini – the traditional cloth dyed with mud. We didn’t see every possible maker of bogolanfini, but we sure did take in a lot. And experienced some other wonderful textiles, cloth, fibers and mud.

I tell a lot of the story with the pictures. What I don’t tell with the pictures is how much fabric the group wound up bringing home with us. Between the finished bogolanfinis, the plain woven cottons, the splendid African prints and the lovely batiks….

The bogolanfini process as I observed it is not quite what I’ve read about. Actually making a piece of bogolanfini was magical – the bonding of color that was almost instantaneous on the tannin dyed cotton. Wow! My modified method takes forever….. and I had understood that the Mali method took time, too. Apparently the time is not in the bonding but in the actual painting on of the mud. Of course, everyone does everything differently and we only talked with and observed a small sampling of bogolan artists….

The overall trick seems to be in having a very iron rich mud and a dye that is high in tannin.

The artistry now is in how they use over-dyes and bleachings to create colors that are not normally associated with bogolanfini. Quite spectacular!

I’m on a hunt now to find anything similar to the dyes/tannins here in the US. Looking suspiciously at the walnut juice on my shelf…

Posted on

…GO! and GONE!!!

Whew! The last big thing to do before leaving – getting flights in place for when I teach for FTWG in March – has been accomplished.

The bags are packed. The appointment with the tax guy has been set. The emails notes have been sent. The autoresponder is almost in place.

Need a quick trip to the bank (again!) and maybe a quick look over in JoAnn’s for #7 circular non-metal needles (the project I want to work on during the flights needs that size and I only have one metal circular #7), a shower, a bit of lunch (cottage cheese and my anti-malarial pill along with it), and…. I think that does it!

I will most likely forget something, but at this point, it can’t possibly be important.

Someone recently commented about the 1,000 stories I will have to tell from this experience. I hope the getting ready counts as part of the stories. 🙂 Only 999 more to go!

I’m off! (Friends have been saying that for years.) Catch me back here, hopefully in a couple days, to find out what Mali and the trip is like!

Posted on

Promises kept

In the midst of this week’s craziness, I decided that I needed to follow up on some promises I made earlier:

The audio book I just finished is Winter Prey by John Sandford. A murder mystery with below zero temps; kept me listening.

The cuff-to-cuff sleeves I am working on:cuff-to-cuff sleeves

…and the yarns I’m using:yarns for cuff-to-cuff Adding other yarns as I work is always a possibility.

Hmmmm…. there was probably more, but that’s it for now.