Here are the results of my first set on bundled silks. Each silk was dyed using natural materials gathered at different locations including seaweed from the coastline (top left hand corner), dirt, weeds and rusted metal found in the car park outside my studio (top 2nd from right), wildflowers from the small green space pockets in the city (bottom 2nd from left). By folding the fabric in on itself repeatedly, I seem to have managed to avoid any obvious patterns forming within the print. I really like the subtleness in the colour tones and the way that, (particularly in the top 2nd from left and the bottom left) there are traces of mould that grew on the plants as they fermented inside the warm jars.
I also forgot to mention in my last post that I invited a group of MA students to my studio in June to talk about transitioning from University to professional practice. It was really great to be able to share my experiences with the group and I had a good time to talk about my experience of this bursary activity so far. Although I wasn’t able to show the finished silks, I was able to share the new processes that I had learnt and how this feeds into my existing practice. I also gave them some advice on the application process – how to select opportunities and weight up the benefits and costs. I also made a clear point that however exciting the studio can appear in terms of having space and freedom to create, the reality is that a hefty amount of admin work is required to make it possible. They were a really great bunch of students so I’m looking forward to seeing their final show in September.
