Following my whims in February took me back to block printing, using blocks we had carved few years back & also, mono printing my beloved kawakawa leaves.
Indulging my monochromatic tendencies I started with a little bit of block printing, using white fabric paint on black cotton.
Must admit I was surprised by what a difference the brand of paint makes.
I equally enjoy the white block on black & the ‘less white - more grey’ tones on black using the blocks
Must admit I was surprised by what a difference the brand of paint makes.
I equally enjoy the white block on black & the ‘less white - more grey’ tones on black using the blocks
Initially I didn’t like the uneven white blotchiness I obtained with the more highly pigmented paints on the kawakawa leaves & preferred the smoothness of the grey.
I realised that my preference was based on what I had come to ‘expect’ & a preconceived motion of what I might ‘do next’ with the prints rather than what I was obtaining in the exploration.
Ha ! rookie mistake falling victim to my own preconceptions.
I realised that my preference was based on what I had come to ‘expect’ & a preconceived motion of what I might ‘do next’ with the prints rather than what I was obtaining in the exploration.
Ha ! rookie mistake falling victim to my own preconceptions.
I changed fabrics, back to the natural dyed cottons of varying weights & monoprinted some singles, groupings & multiples of kawakawa leaves.
It felt so indulgent to be picking more than one leaf at a time !
It felt so indulgent to be picking more than one leaf at a time !
I love these as none of the black is super black, which looks pleasing to me on the undyed fabrics.
I decided to test my heat setting process by over-dyeing some of my black monoprints in a harakeke pod dye bath.
I also popped a few whenu of muka in too.
Love, love, love these - perhaps mostly because it worked !
So there it is:
Changing paints, changing fabrics, creating layers all whilst preserving the detail of the leaves.
Overdyeing, or is it underdyeing, with natural dye.
White on black, grey on black, black on white, black on harakeke pod brown.
I also popped a few whenu of muka in too.
Love, love, love these - perhaps mostly because it worked !
So there it is:
Changing paints, changing fabrics, creating layers all whilst preserving the detail of the leaves.
Overdyeing, or is it underdyeing, with natural dye.
White on black, grey on black, black on white, black on harakeke pod brown.
It's been a fabulous summer following my whims & now, at the end of March, I have washed & ironed all the small squares of fabric I've been using over the past few months.
Some I used to filter the inks I made & some are the result of these last explorations.
I literally have a couch covered in 30cm squares of different browns, all obtained from harakeke pods - no wonder we can't find one word to describe them all.
Some look slightly pink, some look slightly green, there are definitely a few that hover a little too close to beige for comfort & some are a rich warm harakeke brown.
Tino nui te mihi aroha ki te pā harakeke.
He taonga tuku iho.
Sal x
Some I used to filter the inks I made & some are the result of these last explorations.
I literally have a couch covered in 30cm squares of different browns, all obtained from harakeke pods - no wonder we can't find one word to describe them all.
Some look slightly pink, some look slightly green, there are definitely a few that hover a little too close to beige for comfort & some are a rich warm harakeke brown.
Tino nui te mihi aroha ki te pā harakeke.
He taonga tuku iho.
Sal x
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