phantasmagorical



it's getting colder and still the dye pot has some colour to offer, I leave it outdoors as the odor, pleasing as I may find it, is mildly offensive to the other household members; on a whim I cut up several different fabrics into squares and clamped them with coins of varying size and origin, the results are not dramatic, however I hope effective once I get stitching, although some results were disappointing: too little contrast; I've thrown another batch in for an over dye hoping for more contrast! my mood quickly improved as the Gang had decided to throw a little pre-halloween party with the new spider lights I bought for them the other day in town, they let me stay and watch: some enjoy 'Drumsticks' gorilla's racket and stay in the living room, nipping their Brasilian cocktails served in special beakers, whilst others have fled upstairs where they have the spiders, gaiety and pleasant conversation minus the noise



add on: later dye results, much more sun/moon going on here albeit in a crepuscular manner, the brightly coloured backgrounds are particularly uplifting, I'm going to experiment a bit with these new colour schemes; image is poor quality due to artificial lighting:













 I don't know if you noticed but in the images above there are two cut-outs from early paintings of lonely folks in rowboats, for the life of me I can't remember where this image originated, maybe the song 'row, row, row your boat gently down the stream,.....' a song my mum used to sing, teasing us ever so slightly 'cos we thought it was a sad song, despite the word 'merrily' it didn't feel right if life was 'but a dream.....'and in one of the latest pieces I've been working on a small sailing boat has materialized; as I am very much a land kind of person and hardly do any sailing or rowing it puzzles me why I feel the urge to include it in the imagery; as a nation we are surrounded by lots of water and I feel intense pleasure at the relative proximity of the sea and the rivers indeed very close by, but still I am intrigued, probably best not to have an answer 

 very latest project: combining two strips of dyed cloth, evoking planetary movements or x-rays, have started sewing them together with very small stitches, love doing that
bought 3 square glass/metal frames and 1 oblong one (was all they had left), they can open on top, perfect for small two-sided pieces; sometimes I stumble upon something like this and have to buy it, you know next time you go to the store it'll be out of stock

Comments

Mo Crow said…
what a wonderful post & that last photo!
Ms. said…
Loving the moons ans the colors and patterns...and the FUN pre-Halloween party at your place too. What joy....and that lonely sailing boat speaks to me too...it's one of those images that speaks to me of the way we little folk are floating in the vast sea of live...and there's something brave about the little ship too.
Saskia said…
ypour words ring true Michelle, we are but specks twirling in the vastness of it all
Julie S said…
Crepuscular? Sounds like something OBK would say.
Debbie said…
Love the dark cloth. I've been looking for frames like that, I can get them online but then the postage is massive.
Dana said…
Those last dyed strips are just spectacular....so mysterious and evocative.
I can see why the spider lights touched off a party, it was the only response.
i love so much the boat
and i did make
one
boat too....
Why?
but i remember the many times of floating down rivers in the canoe

and then before that, as a child, in the row boat on my aunt's lake

there is that dreaminess of floating, maybe that's all it is...
a desire for dreaminess

again, you have posted a true gift for me....thank you
jude said…
nice dye marks even if less contrast. I've got the walnut boiling today
Saskia said…
he's extremely knowledgeable Julie, he has taught me so much already and fortunately continues to share his wisdom

whenever I find something like these frames Debbie, I buy as many as I can, if I have the cash to spare of course

they love to party Dana

there are now a person and a dog in this boat Grace

thanks Jude, I'm sure I'll be able to use them

tungsten

tungsten

Popular Posts