Old Buildings and Waterworks

I met with the director of Waterworks, the city parks' art studio, to talk about teaching children this summer. We will be doing some quilt things with the younger children and some photo transfers with the teens. The theme for the summer camps this year is "Buildings" which is great since I've been trying to work with my new photos of old buildings. I love the textures and faded colors of peeling paint, dirty bricks and rust stains. In teaching the kids "art" I suggested taking a walk with a camera and learn to "see" the beauty of the world. Hopefully we can do that and transfer some of their photos onto fabrics. Maybe we can also do a session of monoprinting on fabric first. This will be a fun activity for me as well as the teens. I imagine I'll get more creative stimulation from their young and vibrant minds than they get from mine.

Tie Dyeing for the Tulsa Ballet

I was asked for assistance in tie dyeing shirts for an upcoming ballet performance. The factors to consider in this project were different than those in dyeing shirts for personal use. Although each shirt should and would be different, it was essential that the color pallet and intensity look good on stage under lights. Fortunately many of these decisions were made before I entered the picture. However we did have to experiment in getting the right balance between light and dark areas and patterning of the shirts. Sometimes a shirt was dipped a second time into the dye bath to tone down bright white areas. It was an enjoyable day spent in the costume shop for the Tulsa Ballet and I'm getting comp tickets for the production!

Adventures in Textile Art

I've decided to start a blog - why? I want to document in words and pictures my latest adventures with textiles.