When Cloth Meets Rock by Connie Tiegel

On recent hikes I have daydreamed about my hand dyed fabrics being part of the scenery.  My hiking philosophy is “Leave No Trace” and “look up, look down, look all around.'' I like to absorb details.

On hikes I bring along my camera and my hand dyed silk and cotton scarves. 

I take many photos of rock and cloth together.

Back home I manipulate the photos and use Shutterfly to make a book of our favorite ones. Carrizo Canyon 2020 was a gift to my husband for Christmas.  And I've made 2 more books as well: Indio Hills Badlands 2020 and Henderson Trail February 2021.

Seated Rusty Spiral by Connie Tiegel

Scarves on a Rock by Connie Tiegel

Scarf Imitating Rock, by Connie Tiegel

Scarf on a Rock by Connie Tiegel

For information on how to get your copy of these art books, contact Connie Tiegel at connieart47@gmail.com.

 

Ice Dyeing

I'm a little late on the ice dyeing craze, but I finally made time to try it.  I read about snow dyeing several years ago and thought it sounded interesting, although not very practical for someone who lives in a warm climate.  Ice dyeing makes more sense, and summer is actually a good time, because the mess can stay outside.


After doing an internet search, I realize there are many variations. I chose to work with the dyes in their powdered state rather than mixing them into a liquid.  I placed a tarp on the ground outside and used a plastic grid from a commercial light fixture to raise the fabric out of the melting ice/dye.

I am pleased with the results, although I have to admit that while it was in process I was not impressed.  I had read some comments that the results are similar to what you get with low water immersion dyeing.  I found a significant difference.  The patterning is hard to describe, but it has a distinctive look. Here are my results (I used Dharma Bronze and ProChem Tobacco on all these pieces):


This is a piece of silk dobby noil (from Thai Silks). It is a wonderful fabric and it took the ice dyeing beautifully.

This is a heavy-weight cotton. 

This is silk habotai, and it was underneath the two previous fabrics to catch the dye as it dripped down. This looks like a typical low water immersion dye.

This is also cotton, and it was dry when I placed the ice cubes on top.  The other fabrics were all wet.

This piece was underneath the plastic grid to catch the drips from the previous cloth.

  

Have you tried ice and snow dyeing?  What was your experience?

What is Your Approach?

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I spent last weekend facilitating a workshop focused on mixing dyes from primary colors. It's a class that I love to teach and I learn something each time I do. The objective was to give artists a good understanding of color mixing with dyes, the effect of using cool vs warm primaries and to train their eyes to really see the undertones in a color.

I am a strong advocate for using pure primaries to mix dye colors.  When I first started dyeing, I did so mainly for financial reasons.  Buying all those pre-mixed colors can get expensive!  I started with 7 colors - a set of warm primaries, a set of cool primaries and black.  And though I feel that mixed colors do have their place, I still work mostly with primaries.  My palette has changed, though.  Now I use one set of primaries.  After a lot of experimentation, I've found that I can get most of the colors I want by using Sun Yellow (Yellow MX-8G), Mixing Red (Red MX-5B) and Basic Blue (Blue MX-R).  (All names are the ProChemical version.) I also use Turquoise when I want a really vibrant green or violet.

Why do I like to mix my own? I learned so much about color in those first few years by mixing the primaries.  I believe that early foundation has been instrumental in my understanding of color. It also allows me to develop my own personal color palette.  There are a lot of olive greens out there, but none exactly like mine.

I know that not everyone uses this approach. Mixed colors are convenient.  And they can be faster and easier than mixing from scratch. And some mixed colors separate out in beautiful and unexpected ways. Each of us has a palette to which we are drawn and a one-size-fits-all approach just doesn't cut it. 

The workshop reminded me how much I love to experiment with color.  It has inspired me to do some more color studies on my own. I do feel this is a life-long journey.  I don't think we ever know all there is to know about color.

What is your approach?  We'd love to hear your thoughts.