Category: a collusion of ideas

Posted in a collusion of ideas, Collision: the work begins, Crafting Art, journal: lessons to learn, Not so ordinaries, UnknOwn Sister

Bear with me please

Posted on by arlee

Still been a hell of a year and 8 months, but i promise i am getting my ass in gear finally. After this amount of time and all the sadness and anger, i “caved” finally signed myself up for counselling, not talking to a friend counselling but the real deal with a therapist. Probably should have done 40 or more years ago. Whatever. I’m in.  Part of this is a combination of fear, anger and grief and part a dread of dementia. (Which i DO NOT have, but worry about anyways. I have made it clear to those who care that if that happens, i will not stick around to live through it. My decision.)

Anyways, i promised back in July to give teasers of fabrics for what i’m doing. It begins:

Above, from top: all cottons, Vermeer print layer 1, Gold striped pale coral underlayer, terra cotta jacquard pants.

Below: raspberry linen and Boho style gridded rayon–one top combined, one pants or skirt combined.

 

Below, Crushed grapes print Ankhara cotton with loud striped Ankhara cotton, pinny and pants!

Below, Glacier themed 20s flapper frock with ramie, stencilling and cracked ice lace.

Below, floofy top of some sort, full and fluffy, cottons, lime green linen (which will be coupled with apple green waffle cotton) for pants.

Below, combining plaids in colour, scale and feel for fun and funky tops, cottons.

A small collection below of cotton co-ordinates that can be mixed and mixed (HA, thought i was going to say mixed and matched, didncha?)

And there will be a line/collection/series of more feminine patterned items as well: lilies of the valley, roses, tulips, irises, wild flowers in cottons, rayon, cotton rayon blends and silk.

And laces and embroidered tulles and eyelet synthetics, rayons and cottons, because of all the fabrics i bought, my inner FouFou self took over and indulged herself in all the fripperies she could get her greedy little hoofies on!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I actually did one of my first social media “stories” for FB and IG but alas, the visual part got pretty much covered with the “caption” and even i wasn’t impressed with myself. Have to try that again, and may post it here as well  if i can remember how.

And a retirement of sorts after 15 years: i sold all of my natural dyes and assorted accoutrements that went with (pots, tools, gloves, etc etc etc) because i decided that if it had been sitting for almost 3 years in my studio and not being used, it would be better to get to someone who would love it. I have plans still to sell my dye books and HALF of my white dyeables. I’ve kept my Procion as i have plans for it. I will also at some point have the remainders of my naturally dyed fabrics for sale, economical small packs to tempt and tease. I originally had planned to do all this art wear WITH naturals but soon realized care of them and the bitching that would ensue (because no one listens to/reads the instructions) made it a foolish proposition. I’m not in this to fight anybody or try to solve problems caused by casual ignorance.

Part of posting all this is that i agreed to the therapist suggestion of setting achievable goals for myself. The above planned garments won’t all happen with a week or even a month, mostly because i have 11tybajillion other ideas as well. If i set myself on the track though, that’s my first step, and yeah Me. My BIG goal is to make enough coin to go to Europe next year, or maybe South America with my son. It’s also time to travel!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Onward and upward. WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.

Posted in a collusion of ideas, Days of Honey, UnknOwn Sister

more teasers

Posted on by arlee

I am having so much fun putting prints together! It was never something i thought of before, or even figured i could do. Trust your gut though: i’m loving these.

I’m waiting for selfie stick (Did i EVER EVER EVER think *I* would say that? NOPE.) A. My hands are too shakey for my camera, always have been. and B. *MAYBE* i would like to pose myself in some of the stuff i’m doing. Well, at the very least a Swathing or Three might happen. And C. Greyman was the one who took photos for me, of me, and he’s busy now with all the the babies Upstairs.

 

Posted in a collusion of ideas, Not so ordinaries

inkling #3

Posted on by arlee

I wish it were still summer, though winter is a good time to really buckle down and get some work done. I’m feeling that heavily this year: age, health and emotionally charged issues will do that to a person.

If they are lucky.

Did i tell you too that 2 days before his birthday on Sept 8, my darling son “divorced” himself from me?  This year has had enough of its way with me. Except for 3 lines from him then, i haven’t seen or spoken to him since June end. I miss him, i love him. The door is ALWAYS open, Honey, no matter what.

I say to this year “Your balls? My boots.” (To paraphrase the best response to a certain American asshole’s comment about women’s bodily autonomy. Who’s scared now, Asshole?)

Never mind that though and what’s South of the Canadian border (except for a few friends). I am sad for that, but very very happy in my happy lonely place.

Posted in a collusion of ideas, journal: lessons to learn, Probably talking to just myself

different kinds of simple

Posted on by arlee

What makes something simple? Minimal colour, minimal texture, big details or small? Clean lines, perfect angles, closed shapes? Archetypal symbols, personal interpretations of symbols, no symbols? (That’s a non issue the “no symbols”: somebody somewhere is going to read something into it.) One swoop on a colour field? No flowers, frillies or lacies? One technique? Maximum  ℑ/⊇/ℜ**** techniques (that merge, don’t fight)?

This is simple:

Original Truths, detail 2, hand embroidery on cottons, natural dyes and rust processes, 20×31″

So is this:

Winter Prairie, detail, 2012, rust cotton, hand embroidery, 18×26″

And this:

Lady of Sky, indigo and Procion dyed cotton, ecoprinted cotton, naturally dyed and commercial threads, 9×24″, arlee barr©, in private collection

So too are these:

I find myself fighting with things, trying to be more direct. Ideally, the goal is that last simple dotted circle: THAT is the kind of minimalism i desire, but it’s not as easy as it looks, having a harsh Inner Critic.

Spent three hours on this today (base with minimal work SO FAR in photo):

To the left, i scattered three hot pink dots, and then ripped out four versions of stitching around them–flowers yes, but i want simple, not foofy. Sometimes i see too much in these, then overwork, then rip out, start again (or toss aside). How’d i let myself be distracted by all the jeuje-ing of colour and texture?

Actually, the above started like this:

Because what i WANTED to start with, i think i threw out when we did the Big Move downsizing in September and October of last year:

I’ve torn apart my whole studio trying to find it. I wanted to cut it into at least 3 parts, then use the offcuts in a fourth piece, but. But but but, the one i came up with is not even near what i wanted, or expected of myself.

 

Each interpretation/mistake/solution-change-fix though does usually lead to other work being “easier”. Maybe that’s the point.

****imaginary part/superset/real part symbol

Posted in a collusion of ideas, Deliberation--do something you don't do--or haven't in awhile, DillyDally Coat/Ragmates 2020, in progress, Natural Dyes

the DillyDally coat

Posted on by arlee

My muslin base, a heavier weight than i would have deliberately chosen, but since it came in this form and was scrounged for free, it is what it is:

Whomever had made this originally obviously got confused about seaming for right side/wrong side, but since it will all be covered, it doesn’t matter.

 

I’ve been “mapping out” what i need, as *i*am larger 🙂 😦 and the muslin base needs to *be* larger than it is. Wow, tried it on, it’s fine except that it needs some underarm gussets and a bit of sleeve widening so i can wear things under, and a 3″ extension on either front edge so i can wrap and tie. I’ve decided to keep the colourway in the terra cotta, red, orange, redder browns range with flashes of yellow, and indigo as an accent. Linen, a bit of velvet, some cotton certainly, i’m looking through what i have, and will also rev up the natural dye pots again–i adore the terra cotta resulting from madder over marigold (top of the photo above).

And pockets, gotta have pockets!

I want to try a few things i haven’t ever done, and a few that i haven’t done in awhile. Because OMGZ, i was so bored i dug through a box in the studio that i hadn’t seen in years (HOW did i miss that in the move??) and it was full of ideas, sketches, photos, instructions, patterns and ephemera from both my Cap College day in ’93 to ’95, but my first year in “Deadmanchuk”*** (’03) and WAHOO! I love lush surfaces, both visually and as tactile texture, so some bits that were previously done as “samples” (ie bits that never made it to finished work, or were aborted work!) may show up, along with new ones. (AND I FOUND MY YULE GHOUL PATTERN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

 

 

 

***Deadmanchuk (also Deadmonton, Edmonchuk, The Chuck)–slang for Edmonton Alberta, usually used by people who hated living there…..

Posted in a collusion of ideas, Deliberation--do something you don't do--or haven't in awhile

dillydallying as productive time

Posted on by arlee

Not all of us will learn 6 new languages, make sourdough bread, write an opus for the ages, or invent a new way to weave gnat’s ass silk during these “lockdown” times, but it’s still a good and necessary thing to have SOME “busy time”.

My own busy-ness has been less than productive, because i’ve had too many busytime days instead of just relaxing and trying out things just for fun: 11tybajillion starts and 11tybajillion ideas don’t always mean actual finished (or pleasing!) work done–i have a lot of what i now realize are samples though! So whadda ya do with samples? You can stick them in a book, you can file them in boxes, you can sometimes incorporate them into future work————————

AHA! OR! I like Jude’s current project/teaching, kind of a “coating a coat” idea 🙂  and i’m going to haphazardly go as it goes. I happen to have an old muslin coat base in the dyeables bin and also stumbled over this from 1983 (a photo of only, think i lost this actual piece in the 2013 Calgary flood).

Very Yvonne Porcella inspired as that was the first time i had seen that people actually did these wild and wonderful things with fabric!

The base muslin coat i have is too small but very unfinished as to edges and shape, so i’ll add, adjust and correct as needed. Today i’ll be digging through all my unfinished bits and samples and stuff, finding hopefully a common denominator, then start laying down some spackle 🙂

Posted in a collusion of ideas, Contextural Fibre Arts Co-operative, in progress, Intersections, Natural Dyes

deadline, schmeadline, back to stitching

Posted on by arlee

Since i so rudely interrupted myself with all the thread dyeing, i now have (counting today) 25 days to finish a piece for a group show. But i *did* need those threads as the tub was emptying!

Looking rather a bit strange, but that’s how they start sometimes.

I had started with this sketch as the inspiration, but knew along the way that it would interpret itself for a new piece.

I’d also chosen that fabric behind, but realized it had spandex in the blend, which is sticky about needles and threads pulled through….

So, it became glorious pile of this:

TOO MUCH!!!!

It morphed smaller:

I tried to stare it down every time i walked by it, didn’t really like it, and it was saying nothing. Pretty but nothing.

Yesterday i took it down to the Dye Dungeon (where my studio is), and cut a piece out of it, then pieced back in some madder/marigold dyed linen. It’s started to sing now.

There may be a bit more radio silence here than normal, as i meet that pesky deadline.

Posted in a collusion of ideas, Jam Day, natural dye research, Naturally dyed threads

two and a half weeks of rainbow

Posted on by arlee

I ♥♥♥ variegated threads. I used a lot of commercially dyed ones with earlier work ( pre 2017) but when i switched completely to using naturally dyed, there was a dearth of them available anywhere, and i was petrified at the thought of doing threads! I have since refined my use and skill level of natural dyes, and while i had successfully dyed solids, i hadn’t really thought about variegating any, beyond the simple step of post modifying dipped areas.

Last week i had shown photos to an acquaintance who waxed so eloquently rhapsodic about the colour breaks in these little leaves:

 

They aren’t variegated threads however; they were “orts” (scraps, ends) of naturally dyed solids that i couldn’t bear to throw away. Just as i have found a use for one inch squares of naturally dyed velvet, so too do i save bits of thread that are at least 3″ long!

But i started thinking about this. Much of my work is finely detailed and there is no way to get such tiny breaks of colour, unless one becomes really neurotic about the method. (Yeah, yeah, i know: some many  a few think i AM neurotic but i ain’t that much…) But, never say never. While i will not attempt breaks of 1/2″, i can do 1″. Some of the colour combos too are practically impossible: i’ll never get a half inch of green on a predominantly pink, purple, blue thread, but i can get close in each colourway. And then use 3″ long bits, NARF.

So, for the past two and a half weeks, i have been working with thread instead of fabric, playing and testing, using different combos of 4 dyes (madder, osage, cochineal –that old moldy one STILL!–and indigo) and overdyes, post modifiers and timing and got these results:

The above are two colour breaks, pretty basic, but lovely nonetheless. Obviously, indigo over anything makes magic 🙂

And a mix of the 2 colour variegateds and solids from this work, thrilling to say only 3 dyes, and some indigo :)!

I dyed many of these in larger skeins so i can divvy them up, some for me, and *some* of these for the shop, in 10 yard lengths. All are cotton, except for the three in top photo, the bright red, bright yellow and salmon, towards the right of the photo.

Next i’ll be trying 3 colour skeins and continuing this way, i’m hoping to get to 5 colour breaks, something that my tired brain actually has to draw out to figure the correct sequences.

One thing that made me really happy was that i finally got a lavender/lilac/wisteria/whateverflavour you call it in your palette (centre of bottom photo). This one is NOT going to be anything but what it is, no modifying, no other colour additions. (Until the next time.) Again, from the moldy old cochineal. I’m not saying the mold had anything to do with it, just that there is no reason to waste a dye because it’s gone off, looks funny, or is fuzzy. Yeah, if it was completely foosty, but not as a surface deal 🙂 Obviously, if this happens to you, do some tests first with a small amount, don’t just take my word for it. *Your* mileage vary vary greatly.

I must now get back to a piece that is slated for a show, due March 31st–hurry, hurry, hurry hard!!