Tea time

It probably seems like all I've been doing in the studio this week is shuffling around rusted squares, trying to fit the puzzle pieces together correctly so that they'll stop laughing at me and finally share their stories with me. That assumption is right...and then not.

Do you remember tea time? I've had to start naming the fabrics so that I can keep them straight.

The last post on this piece ended with me deciding to go back in and add more lines/stripes. 

And that was done. Monday morning (above left) it was opened and looked pretty good. Then I decided to hang it outside to dry...in 20-something degree weather. Obviously my brain was experiencing a freeze of its own because that is exactly what had happened to the fabric when I went out later to see if it was dry. (above right)

Yes. It was frozen. In one big sheet of cotton...to the line even. Oh! The laughter can be heard, even via cyber space. I know who's laughing...and who's wondering if she should try this rusting method to see what results she gets. Or perhaps she's already tried?

Detail and color that is so lovely and vivid when wet gets lost in the drying, I know, but lines had totally disappeared as had the purple/black from the tea. Still wanting at least one strong stripe, I painted in a line of tea/vinegar, placed two rusted rectangles, re-bundled it, let it set for 24 hours, then repeated the process the next morning. 

An unexpected...certainly unthought of...thing resulted from painting the line with such a thin mixture. It bled. And in a most wonderful way. See the hard edged wavy line above...to the left? That's it.

The lines and stripes that I'd wanted are there. Different, unplanned and much better. A bit of rusty serendipity, if you please.

Hanging tea time and viewing it this way immediately brought to mind cave paintings. From tea time to the relic in one stroke of serendipity. What do you see in this piece? What stories is it telling you?