Finished commission work

I picked up a commission for some dyed and printed yardage a while back and was worried that I would never be able to fit it into my schedule. I'm happy to say that I did fit it in and am delighted with the results. Let's just hope the client shares my enthusiasm.

Both pieces are viscose rayon challis. I've sourced this cloth from Test Fabrics and Dharma and they are different. The Dharma cloth is the same that they use in their rayon garment blanks. It's got a nice hand and the sort of drape that you expect from rayon. The Test stuff seems a bit courser. Both are nice but the Dharma seems better suited to garments, which is the ultimate use for these commission pieces.

So, here's the first piece. I used a mixture of low water and full immersion, plus some direct dye application. The client requested deep purple with highlights of blue and other jewel tones. I think I hit the mark. I have to give credit here to the color mixing techniques that I learned from Carol Soderlund. I picked the purple I wanted and I got it. I have to admit that I'm going to be sorry to see this go away. I could make some cool stuff out of this.

The second piece is printed. The request was fantastic. It's what all artists dream of--something to the effect of, "I love your work and I love strong color...go for it." For this one I've got in-progress shots.

First, some energetic black lines and broad painterly marks to create a strong foundation and establish the beginning of a color palette.

This cloth is going to become a shirt, so I had to rein in my desire for large-scale pattern. In the next shot you can see the 3rd, 4th, and 5th dye applications. the brown squares (ProChem Kahki) were screened with screen that I "damaged" earlier this year by leaving water soluable glue resist in it for too long. Now whenever I print with it I get these ghost patterns. It's one of the most productive mistakes I made in a while. The circles came next to expand the palette and pull the counter balance out the angles of the squares with some curves. The 5th layer was a screening of blue dots over the entire surface (seen in the background).

I might have been able to stop with that, but I was concerned about the strong contrast of the white background. A blue background was the perfect solution. The only problem is that I couldn't do that as a dye bath without altering many or all of the other colors already layed down. So...I spent a day hand painting the whole thing. It was the right thing to do, but very time consuming.

The washed version of the cloth is pretty much the same. Of course I had some dye loss, but generally got very good strike--gotta love that rayon.

Because these two pieces will be made into shirts, and because the dyerslist e-mails this week have been full of good reminders about the need for high-temperature washout for reactive dyes, AND because I didn't want to dye my client and his partner shades of purple--I soaked both of these pieces in 180 degree water. I was surprised by how much residual dye came out, but even after a final long wash cycle they both look bright and strong. I don't generally do REALLY hot washouts, but might need to reconsider that in the future.

A stay of execution

I got excellent news from the cardiologist today. The nuclear stress test showed all healthy heart tissue and vessels, and normal ventricles. That's good news. While there's still no explanation for my recent "event", the next step is watchful waiting rather than surgery. More good news. He told me to go back to the gym (with a couple of restrictions) for some mild exercise and to schedule follow-up in 2 months.

On one hand this all sounds rather tentative, but on the other hand waiting is not all bad. The longer things work OK and remain intact the better off I'll be. All told, it's an excellent early Christmas present.

Open studio this Sunday, 1-4 PM

Colorful thoughts

I'm back from the cardiologist safe, sound, and radioactive. I'm not sure how long I'm going to be emitting gamma rays, but I was warned not to go near any airports without a note of explanation from my doctor. Apparently I will set off all sorts of alarms for the next 24 hours! Come to think of it, I'm glad I decided not to stop at the mall on the way home. I'm sure the store security systems would have loved me. The test seemed to go well. The treadmill part was comparable to previous tests (10 minutes, no instability, good recovery). I won't know the results of the nuclear imaging until next week, but the doctor seems confident that it will show good muscle and good vascular flow. What that adds up to is very little quantitative evidence that now is the time for surgery; just qualitative evidence. His last word were, "We'll talk next week." And so we will.

OK. As promised...pictures of recent work. I think I've mentioned that I'm working on cloth for two shows: "Quake" and "My Island". The island thing is really tripping me up. My responses have been very literal--I mean like drawing islands. I can meditate my way through all of the meanings of island: isolation, paradise, connection to other islands, even the shaky economy of many islands. I still end up with literal things coming out. Last week I gave in and printed a "pretty" sort of island-inspired piece of rayon and I really like it. It makes me think of trips to the Caribbean. Simple-minded, but nice. Its the piece in the middle with the orange flowers. Click the image to see more detail.

I liked the way that it looked. The basic sketch was done with black dye in a dental syringe. I could draw this way for hours. (I really need to do a monochromatic piece with just gesture drawing). The orange petals, brown centers, and leaves are all done as polychromatic screen prints. I do my polychromatic printing wet, not dried and deconstructed--paint it and pull it. In this case I was using a small scraper and pulling small areas at various angles. Anyway, it all seemed to come together with a nice sort of Matisse feel except for the violet color in the background. It was dead. Ergo, the title of this post, "Colorful thoughts".

The next time I went into the studio I painted a brighter blue into the background and it all came together. I think it's sort of a split complement thing. The violet was not a true complement to the orange. Adding the blue pushed the background and foreground a little further apart on the color wheel. What you see below on the floor had not been washed out yet. The color stood up very well and washing opened up the resist lines that are in the flower petals for a little more detail. I promise a "proper" photo of the finished piece soon.

OK. That has to be all for now. I've got scarves to sew.

Gentle guilt

My friend Rayna sent me an e-mail today notifying me and 4 other friends that she had nominated all of us for the Kreativ Blogger Award. It's a mutual encouragement sort of thing--I was hoping for a big cash prize. So, I go to Rayna site and I find these insightful descriptions of the 5 blogs she has nominated--including mine. Only thing is, here's what she wrote:

[I nominate Russ Little because he needs a kick in the butt so he'll post more often. I love reading his posts and looking at his art cloth in process, but cheesh, it's too long a wait between posts! So get with it, Russ! Your life is too interesting not to share it with us.

I'm laughing as I write this (and I need a laugh right now) because I can hear her voice and I know she means every word of it. OK. Fine. Consider my butt kicked.

I haven't been writing for a couple of reasons. First, I've been busy. Second, I've been trying to figure out how to write about what I ought to write about--if I'm going to be honest and all that. Before I tell an abridged version of my tale of woe, remember that I'm writing this, so I'm OK. Alright, that said, let me start by saying that I've now had my first ride in an ambulance. It was OK, but I could have done without the drama.

Let's start at the beginning--the very beginning. I was born with a bicuspid aortic valve in my heart. A normal aortic valve has 3 leaflets. In my case I have only 2 of those leaflets. The valve closes but not very well. The condition is called aortic insufficiency. My parents learned about this when I was 5. It's not the best thing to know growing up, but it's given me a good sense of "things could be worse." Over time I've also developed stenosis in this valve (a thickening of the leaflets), which makes it even leakier. For years I've heard, "Someday we'll need to replace that." Someday only stays someday for so long. The last few years my doctors have been saying "Someday" then launching into discussions of different surgical techniques. Personally, I think there should be a bar in the lobby of every medical building.

Is anyone grossed out yet? Feel free to bail. I promise that's about all of the anatomy lesson. Although if you want more I think that the Society of Thoracic Surgeons has some of the best illustrations and descriptions that I found. Some people want to know these things. Don't feel bad if you're not one of them.

So...back to the ambulance. In a nutshell, Friday before last I went to the gym at lunch, did a few weight machines and didn't feel great. I did a little time on the stairmaster and felt worse. I showered, dressed, and started to get worried because I could tell that my heart rate was elevated for no good reason. I walked back to work and thought a bite to eat my help. By the time I got to my desk I was short of breath, having mild pain in my chest and knew that my BP and heart rate were both climbing. I am so blessed to work for a company that has an onsite nursing facility. We send people all over the world and it makes sense to be able to deal with the prep (and aftermath) and I think it must help with our insurance rates. Anyway a co-worker walked me to Medical. The nurse agreed that this was not a good situation and called my primary who said essentially, "Hospital, and step on it!" Parametics, dramatic exit from my place of business on a gurney with people staring, ER, blah-blah-blah---2 nights in the Howard University Hospital. Bottom line. I did not have a heart attack. This "event" is unexplained, but everyone believes that it's related to the valve. The best idea so far is that the workout intensity (it was NOT intense) cause my heart rate and BP to go up, increasing the volume of regurgetation (leaking). More exercise before recovery made it worse. Somehow things got REALLY out of hand, and as one of the attending docs put it, "Perhaps you had a little bit of failure." Excuse me? Failure? Don't say that word in front of the P-A-T-I-E-N-T.

Oy. It's been a journey. I'm going to my cardiologist's office tomorrow morning at 7:15 for a nuclear stress test. I get to run on a treadmill while they pump me full of something that gives off gamma rays so they can image the heart. I'm told it's painless--running uphill with an IV in your arm. Sure, no problem.

Sorry y'all. Probably not the news you were expecting. I wasn't expecting it either. I don't know what happens after tomorrow. We'll see how the test goes.

The shining moment in all of this was Dan, who arrived in the ER calm and reassuring, helped me manage the communication with all of my docs, kept me company, and loved me. I'm so blessed.

I promise that the next post will concern art and will include at least one picture!

Catching up and getting ready

Doesn't it feel like the holiday onslaught is just around the corner. I guess that's because it is. November has been really busy. That's part of the reason for the light activity on the blog. That, and I just don't force myself to write. Sometimes I need to write and sometimes I don't.

So, let's see. The second open studio was great. I had lots of visitors and got good feedback on my recent silk scarves and on my experimental wool scarves. A couple of them have come home for re-engineering. I like them now, but I 'm going to keep fiddling with them until I'm absolutely in love or they're destroyed, whichever comes first.

I gave my first art lecture last Friday. It was part of the Explorations Unlimited speakers series at the Community Center where I have my studio. It's primarily a seniors event. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I got a nice turnout of very supportive folks who asked insightful questions. My follow-up surveys were also very positive, so I think it was a general success. Now that I've got this 1-hour presentation in the bag I wondering about looking for additional venues. Perhaps I can do a little art cloth evangelism.

What else...Oh, yes the little dinner for 80. That was fun. Dan volunteered us to coordinate and prepare a parish dinner for about 100 people at our church. It was great fun but it took days for us to recover. We expected 100; I planned for 120 (I couldn't stand the thought of running short; 80 showed up; lots of left overs in the freezer. Of course we had help. In the kitchen someone else baked the bread, saw to the appetizer course, and baked apple crisp for dessert. I and 2 others did the main dish and salad. I decided I'd like to try my over-the-top lasagna recipe for a large crowd. I figured that I could feed a dozen people from one tray so I just needed 10 times everything. I spend all day Friday (with help) making sauces and doing prep. In case you're interested. It took 10 lbs of grilled sausage, 3 gallons of bechamel, about 5 gallons of red sauce, 15 boxes of frozen chopped spinach, 10 lbs grated carrots...you get the idea. It was all done by hand, from scratch, in huge quantities. It was a big hit and lots of fun, but I won't be signing up for another one of these events in the near future and I'm sure not cut out to be caterer.

I've got lots of stuff brewing in the studio. I'm working on possible submissions for two shows: "My Island" and "Quake". Here's a photo of something that might be a Quake candidate. I've posted photos of earlier states of this piece. I think it might be done. My only concern is that it's a little big smaller than the required 2 yard length for the Quake show, which is for art cloth. I didn't count on the amount of shrinkage I'd get in the cloth...and I think that I eyeballed the measurement. So is that a new rule: measure twice dye once?

Let the congregation say...

AMEN!

Open studio this weekend

...and that means there's lots to do. I just did the e-mail blast. Now I've got a small mountain of stuff that needs to be ironed and labeled.

Surely I must have said this before--but just in case--I share these words of wisdom. Given a choice between pursuing and a call to an art form that involves laundry & ironing and one that does not, think long and hard before you say yes to the laundry & ironing option. Just a little reflection.

Busy in the studio

I've been busy at the studio, busy at my "real" job, busy at home--just plain busy. Everybody's got the same story. It's good to be busy. It takes my mind off of the fact that I lost more money in my 401K this year than I made in my entire first year out of school.

I've been pushing myself to work on some larger pieces of art cloth--around 2 yards. There are lots of advantages to working big: large composition space, room to move, etc. The downside is that if you make a technical mistake the you make it in a big way. I'm working to finish a piece that I started out loving but has since become a bit of a problem child. This is what it looked like in it's first state, still wet (I posted this picture a couple weeks ago). I wish I could have just frozen it that way.

Several layers of dye resulted in some really subtle colors that don't show up here, but are (or were) nice. So the problem is that I had a little discharging mishap. I used Sunlight Dishwasher Gel, which is really great stuff. It takes color out very well. The new version (sorry no pic yet) has a better value range (light to dark). Unfortunately, I now realize that I only hand washed the cloth between dying sessions and did not neutralize the bleach. That probably left residual bleach in the cloth. When I steamed and washed today I lost lots of red and blue.

So you see, big cloth means big success or big failure. Right now I'm doing a little pouting.

My first Open Studio

Last Sunday was my first open studio. What fun, but what a lot of work. All of the Artists in Residence at the Community Center participate in an open studio on the first Sunday of every month. I missed last month because I was away. I hung up a few things and sold one scarf (my very first sale!!!).

This month, because I was actually going to be there, I decided to put in a bit more effort. I sent out e-mail announcements as shown below.

I went in on Saturday and spruce things up a little. In this shot you can see the series of scarves that I've been working on for fun.

I was really delighted by how well they were received. I ended up with a steady stream of visitors, many of whom got a jump on their holiday gift purchasing How very nice for them and for me! It was a real pleasure to watch people enjoy looking, trying, and selecting. Making these scarves was great fun for me. On some level I thought that was it. I wasn't entirely prepared for the added pleasure of sending them out into the world to be a part of other people's lives.

And finally, here are a few shots of individual scarves just to give you and idea of what I'm up to.

If I remember correctly, this was soy wax on white cloth, low water immersion, overdye, discharge, and black extruded dye.

One of my first rust prints. The photo does not do justice to the golden glow this produced on the 8mm habotai fabric. My old wrenches are almost re-rusted and ready for another batch!

One of a number of really great results from the "scrunch and pour" method that I learned from Carol Soderlund. To the left you can see part of another batik piece.