New Tutorial!

I have been wanting for some time to create a tutorial on soy wax batik, a technique I have enjoyed using for several years now.  I have posted a number of times on various projects where I have used soy wax... even created a class hand-out demonstrating a couple of techniques I use.  Recently, I saw a post on Carol Eaton's blog describing a project where she used soy wax, and I commented on the post.  We e-mailed back and forth about some difficulty she had removing the wax, and the end result was an invitation from her to be a guest blogger so I could share the techniques I use for applying and removing the wax.  So, thanks to Carol, I have finally added a tutorial to my blog! Just click on the Tutorial tab above and scroll down to the link.  It's not a video like some of my others, but it has lots of process pictures and written guides to help you along.  So if you've been wanting to try soy wax batik, I hope this will encourage you to give it a try!  Here are a few examples of projects where I have used it:

Stamped with found objects, then dye painted 

Stamped with found objects, dye painted, mounted on painted canvas

Autumn leaves stamped on with sponge stamps over a pre-dyed shirt, then over-dyed with browns

Honing my skills, Holiday wishes

Now that my shows are done for the year, I promised myself I would work to learn some new skills, in this case, learning how to make bowls in different shapes.  I have been doing round bowls with sloped walls for over a year now, and wanted to branch out and try some new shapes.  Yesterday, I put the finishing touches on an oval bowl:

 The 3 shots above were taken before I added a small embellishment, shown below.  But they give a good idea of the color and fabric patterns.

The bowl measures 10 1/4" long, 7 3/4" wide and is 4 1/8" high.  I am sure I will be making more of these in different sizes.

I also finished a crocheted shawl in homespun yarn:

This yarn is a soft homespun in a variegated Seafoam green that is just yummy!

And finally, I got around to dyeing a tank top I started sometime last summer - I painted a heart shape on with soy wax to resist the dye, and ended up using Burgundy and Maroon in a scrunch dye:

Little by little I am finishing up projects and trying new techniques, in preparation for next year's shows.  I hope to spend a little time in the next week or so, planning what I hope to tackle and accomplish in 2014, as well as reviewing what all I have done this year.  That's what I hope to post about next.  Meanwhile, I hope you all have a Happy Winter Solstice, Merry Christmas, Happy Boxing Day or Kwanzaa season, and a very Happy New Year! 

Comparing resist mediums

On my 'to-do' list for awhile has been an idea that I wanted to compare different resists to see what their characteristics were, and what kind of results I would get using them side by side.  Yesterday and today, I finally got a few moments, and did this experiment:

From top to bottom, the resists used were: Batik-EZ, Jacquard water-based resist, and soy wax.  Once I applied the resisits and let them dry completely, I brushed a little water over the fabric and immediately followed with dye-na-flow, using a foam brush to apply.  Then I misted a little with water, and allowed the piece to air dry completely.  Once it was dry, I rinsed to remove the Batik-EZ and water-based resist, then dried again.  And finally, I used a hot iron and newspaper to remove the soy wax, then heat set the dy-na-flow.  

Comments about each resist - Batik-Ez was fairly sticky to apply.  I used a stencil and stencil brush, then washed all in hot soapy water.  When the brush was dry, it felt stiff, so I washed again after soaking in water.  

                                               Jacquard water-based resist separates and needed to be stirred a good deal to get it mixed well before I applied it.  The resist felt like it was greasy to the touch, and I had to wash off the brush and stencil quite a bit to remove the residue.  

                                               Soy wax - I am used to using this as a resist, but noticed that the shapes I got were less sharp than with the other 2 resists.  And of course, there was the issue of having to iron it out in order to avoid washing away some of the dy-na-flow.  My main purpose for this test was to see if i could achieve comparable results with Batik-EZ and/or Jacquard water-based resist to what I am used to getting with soy wax, and I am happy to announce that the results were good from all 3.  Ranking by ease of use, I think Batik-EZ was slightly easier to use than the Jacquard, and more convenient than the soy wax.  But in a pinch, I think any of the 3 would get the job done.  A bonus of the first 2 is that they are easier to remove than the soy wax.

I plan to do more testing using different application methods, and will post results as I get them.       

Lots of things in the works

Quite often, I tend to work on one project at a time... seems like it's more efficient and allows me to crank out things at a faster pace.  However, once I have done my last show for the year, with no shows coming up until the middle of next year, I like to spend time experimenting with new techniques, or trying new twists on old favorites.  So here are some shots of a few things I'm working on right now:

This is a lousy photo, but the best I could get... I have traced leaf shapes onto muslin in preparation for batiking them, then I will overdye with background colors.  After I batch the piece, I will wash out and hand paint the leaf shapes with dyes.  This is a variation on the normal method I use, and I decided it would be fun to see how it turns out this way.  I'll post more as I progress with this piece.

This is a 1/2 yard piece of muslin that I decided to try dyeing a little differently than I usually do.  I would normally pre-soda soak the fabric, scrunch it up and pour the dyes over, letting it batch for an hour before the rinse/launder step.  Today, I wanted to see what would happen if I put ice cubes over the scrunched and dyed piece, thinking that the ice cubes would serve to dilute the dyes as they slowly melted.  I see a little difference between this and regular scrunch dyeing, but not a whole lot.  No fear... I have several other ideas in mind that I plan to try over the coming months.  And in February, I plan to publish them on a blog where I am a Resident Artist... keep a look out!   

Here, I have created a basket weave on a dyed scarf using soy wax, and when my order comes, I plan to use Dy-Na-Flo to overdye the unwaxed area.  I have discovered that multiple dye baths don't work on silk like they do on cotton, so I am playing with fabric paints to see if I can get a good result without leaving the fabric stiff... more on this soon!

As you may have seen in recent posts, I'm also doing a lot of stamping with fabric paints and rubber stamps, and plan to do a lot more of that as soon as the Dy-Na-Flo arrives.  I'm probably going to need to order a lot more of that... poor planning on my part, but I didn't realize that the fabric paints available in today's market are far superior to any I tried 15-20 years ago!  Progress... anyway, I'll keep you posted on my progress!

Final product

Just a followup to the previous post about the batik poncho.  My original plan was to do some more stamping with wax over some of the dyed areas, but I decided instead to paint wax on with a foam brush, to preserve more of the dye colors I previously painted on.  The final step was to add black dye using Low Water immersion... less dye than a traditional dye bath, and it left some areas undyed.
The big challenge was using hot water to melt the wax without damaging the rayon fibers!  I ran it through a gentle cycle in the washing machine with two rinses, but when I pulled it out, there was still a lot of wax adhering to the fabric, and I had gobs of wax in the bottom of the washer!  I tried hand rinsing with hot water in a bucket, and it removed some of the wax, but I ended up running it through another full wash with hot water... then the wax was finally gone.  Here's the finished piece:

Although the fuchsia dye faded, the other colors remained strong and clear!  I'm very pleased with my first experiment with wax on rayon... hope it's only the first of many!

More batik

I've made progress on my batik line... one thing I discovered is that if I have a design with easy to see markings, I can slip it under the shirt when I have stretched the shirt over a foam board and secured, and I see the design well enough through the shirt so I can trace it onto the shirt, rather than having to cut a stencil and trace thru the stencil onto the shirt. A time-saver for sure!

So here are a couple of rompers I finished yesterday:

I didn't have great light when I took these shots... the dyes are actually brighter in person.

I also want to see if I can have a couple of thermofax screens made up of some of the batik designs I have been making, so I can make a printed variation, although I really do love the crackled effect I get with the soy wax.

I just put another shirt into a dye bath that has a batik lotus blossom... I really like the design, and hope to make more of them if this comes out well.

Meanwhile, I'm off in the morning to Scottsdale for an overnight stay with a friend... so amy more batik will have to wait until Sunday... have a great weekend!

Autumn Leaves at Sunset

I love fall foliage... never grow tired of the brilliant colors. For the past couple of years, I have done 'Autumn Leaves' designs on shirts using soy wax batik and low water immersion dyeing. This year, I decided to create a landscape quilt using the same techniques, and I'm convinced it won't be the last one I do. I just finished binding it, and here is it's debut photo:

I needed one more piece for my exhibit in November at a local restaurant, and thought Autumn Leaves would be a timely piece to add... someday, I really need to try another design to batik, but for now, I'm hooked on leaves!

Update on the dye test

Well, I got interested in the design of the piece I posted below where I was testing dyes, and decided to play around a little. I used soy wax batik to create barriers to block the red and brown dyes I used on the next step. I don't think I'm done with this piece yet, but here's where it's at now:

I'm still seeing trees on a lake, but now I have a fiery sunset in the background and foliage in the foreground. Next step will be to wax off the sky and lake, and overdye the trees with green. Fun!

New project

I have been a busy bee lately, and haven't really had anything to show for it here, but today I finally got started on a commission quilt I have been designing for awhile. I am dye-painting it, and wanted to test the dyes first, so I used a piece of muslin previously soaked in soda ash solution and dried. I wanted to see how the colors would look together, so I brushed on the blues and used a sea-sponge to dab on the sand color. Now I'm hooked!


The next picture is of the actual quilt in progress. I used soy wax to create waves in the water, outline the clouds and palm fronds, and wax-outlined the area where I will be putting the figure of a child... didn't want the water to show through. I will be fusing the child, her bucket and a sand castle after dyeing the rest of the background.

I have a couple of areas I need to clean up where the dye got into the beach area, but I don't think that will be too much of a problem. This is the first time I have tried regular batik, and I love the way the dyes travel along the areas that aren't waxed! Actually, I really love the way the dyes travelled on the un-waxed piece as well, and can't wait to do some more experimenting with both methods... life as a 'retiree' is good so far!

Autumn Leaves

I have always loved the colors of autumn. Recently I did an experiment using dyes I had in my dye refridgerator for almost a year. I used golden yellow and light orange and a little scarlet and dyed 3 shirts using low water immersion technique, just to see how the dyes would react after all this time. The result was better than I had expected: The yellow and orange had not lost any of their strength, and while the scarlet turned out lighter than I had hoped, it still looked okay. I decided to use soy wax to create some autumn leaves, then overdye with browns for a fall foliage motif. Here are the results:

I'm soooo jazzed with the results, that now I need to do bunches more!

Where does inspiration come from?

September 17, 2007 - I recently joined a Surface Design group here in Flagstaff. Most of the members were in the class I took this summer, and we are just getting started. Last month, our facilitator, Melly, gave us a challenge to create a screen using soy wax and house paint. Well.... as the time flew by, and the next meeting (tonight!) drew closer, I realized that I had not come up with a design to use for this challenge. I am not one to doodle a lot, so I really had to work at trying to develop a design. Finally, out of sheer frustration, I sent off an e-mail to Melly crying about how I couldn't come up with a design.... poor me! Well, not two hours later, I picked up a pencil and in less than 15 minutes, I had my design! No idea where it came from, it just came! And here is the result:

The design makes me think of yoga for some reason, so I will probably be using it on my yoga sets and for a shirt design as well. I like it because looking at it from one direction, I see a figure in repose; from another direction, it seems the figure is doing the backstroke in the water... it also reminds me of a sleeping figure. In all cases, it is very soothing and serene. I dyed a yard of fabric using Low Water immersion technique, then screened on dishwasher gel with bleach to discharge the dye. What is really nice is that the design from the LWI is still visible within the figures, just lighter. So, tonight I will share my experiment with the other members of our Surface Design group, then see what 'challenge' Melly has in store for next month..... great fun!

It's never too late...

August 23, 2007 - Awhile back, I took a week-long art course at our local community college. Among other things, the teacher introduced us to basic screen-printing, mono-printing, creating and using stamps, discharge dyeing and using soy wax as a resist. I posted some pictures at the end of the class to show a little about what I learned. Meanwhile, I got busy at home and started experimenting with what I had learned... mostly in the areas of screen-printing and soy wax. Here are some samples of what I have accomplished so far:

In this example, I created a screen of the owl, printed a blank shirt, colored the owl with thickened dyes, then waxed over the image. I then used Low Water Immersion to dye the background.















Below is a design where I used a stamp to apply dishwasher gel with bleach to a pre-dyed shirt.









In this example, I traced a design on an undyed shirt, waxed over the design, dyed the background using LWI, washed the shirt, re-soaked in soda ash, then painted the sunburst with thickened dyes.


















Here is another example where I traced a design on an undyed shirt, waxed over, used LWI to dye the background, washed, then painted the image with thickened dyes.






















I feel like I have reached a turning point in my creative life... not the first time this has happened, but it's been awhile! I will post more pictures as I continue my new adventure...