It is starting to cool off here in St. Louis, so eco-printing materials will soon be in short supply. Before my natural dye materials are gone, I'm finishing up a collaboration with my new friend from Australia, and I'll be using our marigolds to dye the fabric before they're gone.
I have tied up a couple of pieces of fabric my friend sent me using some different nui shibori (stitch resist) techniques. One technique is mokume, which creates a wood grain pattern. Makiage is another technique I used where the fabric is stitched, then pulled tight and bound.
I did some experiments using marigold as a dye and found that using the whole flower head and with a copper mordant produced the best color. Copper mordant really helps the color, too. My first attempt with no mordant was really disappointing, so I tried again using copper to mordant the fabric before dying.
I'm beyond happy with how the final product turned out! Our collaboration is heading off to Art Gym Denver to be included in the USPS Art Project. The USPS Art Project is a mail art artist collaboration project created by Christina Massey, free and open for anyone who wants to participate. The goal is for unique collaborative artworks to be created, allowing the artists to establish deeper connections with others while practicing social distancing and in doing so, help the financially struggling USPS by sending and receiving packages. The finished artworks are shared online on the @uspsartproject social media accounts. They are still accepting application for the Art Gym Exhibition, which runs November 5 - 29, and have announced another venue for an exhibition in December. More information about the project by Christina Massey:
Here is my submission to the Art Gym Denver exhibition.
I had quite a bit of fabric left, so I made a matching piece for my friend in Australia. I even had enough to dye some fabric for myself. I haven't decided what to make with it yet.
I'm sure I'll think of something!
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