Monday morning roundup

fabricGoddesses were out in force at the Goddess Banner workshop yesterday. It was a gorgeous afternoon for drying colorful, glittery fabric on the rack outside the Studio. Among the participants were Monika Astara (my favorite fashion designer) and Lisa Stamper Meyer from Roadhouse Arts, as well as several talented FASA members who specialize in surface design. So, even though we used the some of the same images, the results were totally diverse and eclectically spectacular. Take a look at the video, and then I’ll tell you about some of the techniques.

Aren’t those wonderful? We did a combination of Small Space Dyeing that Rosemary Uchniat teaches in her workshop and digital image transfer that’s done with hand sanitizer (yep!). I learned about this technique from an artist in Rehoboth, Delaware, and it works great on fabric. Basically, you print your image on an inkjet overhead transparency, spread a layer of hand sanitizer gel on your fabric, place the image face down, pat gently and leave for 15 minutes. You’ll get different results based on how much gel is on the fabric, but it works great. We protected the digital transfer by taping freezer paper on the back.

And speaking of Rosemary Uchniat, guess who won the Friday Freebie Mermaid Shard? Yep, Rosemary – congrats – it was totally random. Now she’ll have to make a mermaid!

Have a great Monday, y’all – I’m headed to NYC and Boston for a few days to see the family. Will send art reports along the way!

 

Goddess Banners – wishes on the wind

Goddess banner surface design in process during workshop

Goddess banner surface design in process during workshop

In my last post, I said that I was excited about the upcoming Goddess Banner Workshop because it was something new for me. The idea was a combination of influences – Joanna Powell Colbert’s Gaian Soul Retreat, of course, and also the small-space dyeing techniques that Rosemary Uchniat teaches. And personally, I’ve felt an urge to explore the healing aspects of iconic feminine energy and consciousness, aka just plain ol’ being kind and being nurturing, both to ourselves and the planet we live on. Soooo – it was a joy to work with the eight women who participated in yesterday’s Goddess Banner workshop.

Before you look at the video, you should know that every person worked with the exact same image, an anonymous early 20th century photograph (1915) from the Flickr Commons archives. But each face look very different in the individual completed banners. We all remarked on this – each of us brings ourselves into the process and transforms our images unconsciously and almost magically. I’ll be offering this workshop again soon. Thanks to the participants who helped me bring this idea to reality in yesterday’s class. Wonderful banners all!!