things we create

well, as i await the necessary unbuffered acid free tissue paper so that i may mail it off to japan, i thought i would finally unveil the piece i've been working on. i'm quite fond of it, and would like to keep it forever, as it's the first truly artistic piece i feel i've done in awhile.

i used cochineal and osage orange on a tin mordanted silk to get the various salmon hues, cochineal for the raspberry color, and osage orange for the weft kasuri. the binding process took awhile, as there were many lengths of fiber that needed to be resisted. dyeing was an interesting experiment, as i wanted a soft gradation of lighter to darker pink near the top. this was the first serious natural dyeing that i did without a clear formula for proceeding. i used my notes from japan, the book indigo, madder and marigold, and random recollections from my memory of things i've read. now, my hope is that the dye colors will all hold up to time and the environment. well, fingers crossed.

the influence of tv

over the summer i've been sporadically watching a show on tv called bones; it has quickly become one of my favorite programs. the lead characters are really wonderful to watch, the sexual tension between them is very nice to see unfurl over the course of seasons, all of the little changes and progressions. temperance bronner (aka bones) is amazing, i can completely connect with so many of her quirks. the other characters mesh so well into the whole storyline, creating a wonderfully complex and original show. it airs on thursday nights, which is good, as i needed a replacement for my name is earl, which was cancelled.

it's funny how watching a show or reading a book can start to influence your art. when i finished the front of my second wall panel i saw the back as a cross section of a city; with the bones of the dead below, hidden from all, and the living going about their lives in the buildings above.