Design in Honor of the Wind!

We had such high wind gusts the other night! It sounded like a train was coming... yikes! The next day I found this stencil of a wind blown tree - I'm sorry but I don't know the name of the artist who created it. I screened the stencil onto cotton using thickened dye... but it needed more! Next up I painted the surface with thinned fabric paints - but still something was missing. I carved a stamp of wind blown leaves. I think I'm done but it still might need a little something more... maybe flecks of paint?

What do you think is missing? Do you have a suggestion?!

SAQA Conference Time!

Preparation is underway for the upcoming international SAQA conference ~ Inspire*Connect*Engage ~ 

March 31 - April 3

237 South Broad Street Philadelphia, PA

I joined a painting party at ProChemical in Fall River last weekend! It was a fun event with about 175 canvas bags completed and ready for thier conference debut. Each conference attendee will receive a bag filled with goodies - sweet! 

Allison Wilbur and Martha Sielman setting out some bags to dry! 

Marcia Young and Sandy Gregg are hard at work! 

Vicki Jensen from ProChemical kindly donated her time and materials to get this project off the ground! I look forward to taking some workshops there in the future.

The bags are drying and ready for Vicki to screen the SAQA logo across the back. 

I'll be vending on March 31 from 12:00 - 6:00 so please stop by to say hello! 

Combining Surface Design Techniques!

While waiting for my snow dyeing fabrics to cure I switched my energy over a different kind of experiment! I wanted to create something with screen collage. One thing lead to another and I ended up combining a few techniques: color magnet, thermofax screens, screen collage and hand carved stamps... take a peek at the journey! 

I started with Terri Stegmiller's wonderful Fern thermofax screen (available on Etsy). Rather than screening with paint or thickened dye I used Color Magnet (from Dharma). The idea behind this product is wherever you apply the color magnet it will grab the dye more intensely creating a tone on tone affect. 

Once the color magnet was dry I screened thickened dye across the surface of the fabric. I left the dye to set and then washed it out.The color magnet didn't show as dramatically as I had hoped so I decided it needed more! 

Next I pulled out a couple of hand carved leaf stamps and Speedball fabric paint. I really wanted to highlight Terri's Fern design more so I screened again with burgundy. 

Here is the completed 1 yard piece. The full photo looks a little washed out compared to the actual fabric. It's fun to combine techniques and let the design evolve organically without a specific plan - it's very freeing! 

10" of Fresh Snow = Snow Dyeing Fun!

Finally we got a dumping of snow! It's already late January and I thought this snowfall would never get here... but it came and I'm all smiles! The studio is now geared up to dye as much as possible while the snow lasts... the meteorologist say rain tomorrow. 

Check out these easy steps for your own snow dyeing experiments!

If you live in snow country you just have to try this!

First soak your fabric in a mixture of soda ash and water. This will allow the fabric to really grab onto the dye for a strong color. Next organize your fabric for dyeing. The beauty of snow is that you can use all kinds of 3-Dimensional items to create an interesting effect. 

Put a layer of snow across the surface of your fabric. If you have lumpy items under the fabric do your best to cover everything with snow. When sprinkling dye you MUST wear a respirator - your lungs are important so don't mess with them! 

Here is where you need patience. Wait for the snow to melt and set before rinsing and washing. I find it hard to wait so the easiest routine for me is to layer the snow in the afternoon and let it set all night. When I jump out of bed in the morning the fabric is ready for rinsing!

This piece was folded and clamped.

This snow burst effect is from placing recycled containers under the fabric! 

Here is another piece folded and clamped.

These snow bursts were created using whiffle balls tied into the fabric.

This final piece was made by slipping old hotel keys into the folds of the fabric and clamped. 

Let me know how your snow experiments come out... what did you learn... what will you try again... what won't you try again!

50' Collaborative Art Quilt Project!

The CT Farmington River Quilt Project is made up of 25 quilt sections created by 25 different art quilters! When displayed together the installation will be 50' long! The premier exhibition will be April 23rd & 24th at the Winchester Center Congregational Church annual Quilt and Needle Arts Show. At the close of the show the installation will be donated to the Farmington River Coordinating Committee located in Squire's Tavern, Barkhamsted, CT. 

The enormous project was spearheaded by MaryPat Leger. She assigned each artist a specific section of the river and provided a map for where each river would intersect the next creating a continuous river flowing across the full 50'. My section is the Black Bridge Pool. MaryPat supplied the fabric for the river and I hand dyed or painted the rest of the fabrics. I gave this project a lot of thought prior to sketching a design. The Farmington River is a valuable resource shared by wildlife and the local communities. I wasn't sure if I should add people enjoying the river or animals frolicking on the riverbanks... what season should I represent?! My heart told me to create a peaceful scene which would allow the viewer to think about the serenity and joy the river brings to them individually. The goal of the project is to heighten awareness of both cultural and environmental forces that affect the river... so, in the end I left out people and animals with the hopes that the viewer focuses on the river and how they can best advocate on behalf of it's needs. 

Please come to the exhibition to see the installation and perhaps learn more about the Farmington River Coordinating Committees efforts!  

Black Bridge Pool - Detail

Black Bridge Pool
24" X 21"

Please "like" the FRCC Facebook page to keep up with the latest efforts to 

maintain a healthy river environment! 

Look What Kate Themel Did!

The awesome Kate Themel completed another commission piece recently. Don't you just want to reach out and give this pooch a pet!I'm thrilled Kate choose a piece of my ice dyed fabric as the background. 

Finished size 15x15
©2015 Kate Themel