My Morning Tea, my sketchbook for the 2013 Sketchbook Project, is nearly finished. Just need to think about the cover design and what blurb about myself to put in back.
The pages...spreads really...alternate between marks and text. The marks are made of tea and rust using the tea bag my morning tea was brewed with on any given morning. The text is a memory from childhood regarding tea. More about the sketchbook once it is complete.
Pam's tip about ironing the tea bags on freezer paper to run through the copier worked so well with the tea bags that it was impossible not to try on...hmmm...
a piece of rusted cotton or
rusted silk organza.
[this is the breakthrough part, in case you're wondering]
Given organza's translucent qualities, it just begged for further exploration, don't you think?
I did. A second printing was called for.
And a third.
It needed turning this way
and that.
And then the tea bags were calling too.
They wanted to play with a canvas.
It became a bit of balancing act, needed turning this way and that,
needed a bit added here and a tad added there.
In the end, all was right. A good balance of tea bags and rusted mono printed cotton.
And then...yes there's more...
A friend emailed to ask if I'd like her stash of DMC threads on a spool. She's moving and lightening her load in the process. I said I'd be happy to have them and promised to put them to good use. I'll admit my mind latched onto DMC threads and so was picturing DMC floss.
What arrived yesterday from Joan was far more delicious than cross stitch floss! As I unpacked the box - oohing and aahing all the while - the patterns of the wrapping caught my eye. I'd never noticed how beautiful spools of threads are.
Thank you Joan for the wonderful threads! One spool has already taken a good long soak in green tea with a rusty bit or two for company. It's now resting, airing itself in the studio.
At the end of partial week 2 of kindergarten, I can safely say that my brain cells are beginning to work again. And holy smoke Batman! does it feel good.
Wow, what an amazing week you've had! I love it all, and was especially noticing how I traveled to a Morrocan marketplace or some Saharan location when looking at the tea bags on canvas - something about the colors, the light... beautiful. I'm still trying to capture the correct location for the sensation, but I traveled!
ReplyDeleteSo...tell me Valerianna, would the time space continuum come into play with your being transported to some Saharan location when looking at the tea bag canvas? I ask because the is named...what else...Continuum.
DeletePlease let me know where you traveled to once the correct location is found. Thank you for such a magical comment.
Still working on that!
Deleteso here's my question...Are the tea bags printed on the rusted fabric or did you collage them on the fabric?
ReplyDeleteReally beautiful breakthroughs!
It's making me wonder if I should try taking some of my printed weed fabric and use my printer to print the design on a sheer fabric.
To answer your question...collaged with.
DeleteHmmm...weeds + sheer fabric + printed design = fun!
When you put it like this.....the week is a visual treat! Hooray for kindergarten.
ReplyDeleteThat it was. Tad overwhelming too in a way. Haven't accomplished this much since the week at your house. This may take a bit of getting used to. NOT!!! Ha!
DeleteFabulous results Jennifer from a week of fabulous playing, and what a bonus the threads will be to your raw materials.
ReplyDeleteReally love the printed images and the translucent play with teabags. Who needs chemical dyes when nature provides such bounty?
N XX
"Who needs chemical dyes when nature provides such bounty?"
DeleteThe really ironic thing about your question is that I have a bin full of chemical dyes in the basement that I used to dye the reeds and sisal that I wove with. While various techniques have been used with the cottons and organza - rusting being my favorite - I've yet break out the chemical dyes. Haven't wanted to, actually.
At the beginning of October, I'm going to Cleveland to take a workshop with the eco goddess herself, India Flint, to learn what nature can really do with fabrics.
Yes, it was quite a week. 4 days of quality studio time. Next week, school is 5 days! Woohoo!!!
I love the text/rust combo, I feel quite excited for you! I am going to have to try this when my own brain cells start to work again. Sadly they are not ready! Tell me, how does the freezer paper come into it, though? (like I said, brain cells not kicked in yet)
ReplyDeleteI can totally understand brain cells not quite kicking into gear yet. The freezer paper is the magic of it all.
DeleteIn order to run the tea bags through the printer to print the text rather than having to hand stamp it, Pam [she of the art retreat fame] suggested ironing them to freezer paper as quilters do.
I cut a piece of freezer paper to 8 1/2" x 11", laid my tea bags on it and, with the iron set to medium and no steam, lightly ironed the tea bags to the waxy side of the freezer paper...just enough that they stayed on, but could still be pealed off later.
This "sheet of paper" was then put in my ink jet printer, I played with the text on the computer, hit print and voila! Tea bags were printed in a fraction of the time it would have taken to hand stamp it all.
Friday afternoon, my curiosity got the better of me so the process was repeated with a piece of rusted cotton as well as rusted silk organza. It worked beautifully with both, but especially the organza.
I love text, fabric, storytelling, paper, books...and this process has opened a world of possibilities, a way of uniting my loves.
Thank you so much Jennifer! Now I just have to find what this freeze paper is in France et voilà!!
DeleteWell...I hadn't considered where you live, but now that you mention it, isn't Reynolds an international company? If you can't find freezer paper let me know and I'll be happy to send you a roll of it.
DeleteWhat can I say? I'm knocked out by your work, every bit of it. It's a universe in itself. I think I'll buy some freezer paper first thing tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteMaybe I should buy stock in Reynolds. There seems to be a run on freezer paper. Ha! Welcome to my universe of "what if" and "just do it".
DeleteThank you Ersi.
All I can say with a great big grin on my face is Go Girl! What a wonderful week of exploration an success. The multi-printing and the printing onto organza are just wonderful. Ooh just sitting here smilin'!
ReplyDeleteLots of happy dances happening in the studio lately. Had to clear a space on the floor to give myself adequate dancing room, in fact. When all is an experiment, it makes it easier to play and explore.
DeleteStay tuned for more this week.
Oh boy. I love your sketchbook - the rust and tea and text. I'm digging out my freezer paper...
ReplyDeleteThank you Leslie! The sketchbook was great fun and just the beginning.
Deletehow wonderful! i rejoice with you in your breakthrough discoveries and all the beauty you've created.
ReplyDeleteA most heartfelt thank you! I hadn't realized just how freeing kindergarten would be. Seems my brain actually is functioning again. I'm enjoying experimenting in a whole new way.
DeleteBy the way, your Unfinished Poem is so, so exquisite. High art on the most wondrous level. Brava!
BAM! What a wonderful and beautiful breakthrough! Hurray for experimentation and play!
ReplyDeleteBAM! indeed. It's been that kind of week this week too. Full of experimentation and play and what if and just do it.
DeleteWhat amazing work! love the look you achieved~
ReplyDeleteThank you Donna! Following through on my what ifs is proving to be a blast.
Delete