After the Rain

I recently finished a piece for a show I was to be a part of with my regional SAQA group. Many years ago I painted this fabric using procion dyes. I applied the paint in a splotchy manner on purpose to be used for a technique I was teaching - Shaded Applique. I loved the fabric at first ...then I didn't.

My friend Kate has always been a "rescue-er" of bad fabric and she took it happily with intents of making it better. We were doing painted Shibori and I was looking for a "not so great fabric; she gave this back to me. It was a perfect candidate for this technique. I wrapped the fabric on a wide pipe using string (doesn't matter what kind) and then scrunched it up (photo on right)

I used a textile paint and also Lumiere textile metallic paint which added a shimmer to the edges. After it dried and I removed the strings, it was a nice surprise....I was happy with the results.

I used some bright orange I had in my stash along with some marbled fabric...

put it all together - which is not always easy for me.

I needed something else on the surface and found these printed organza leaves I had made a while back. The white organza did not work. I painted some with orange Dye-na-Flow paint - a watery consistency which leaves the fabric very soft. It also does not diminish the transparency of a sheer fabric such as organza.  I settled on a wash of color which seemed to blend nicely with the background.

Sometimes it's difficult for me to come up with a name for a piece....this time I was lucky...the minute I saw the main background fabric, I thought of a forest after a rainstorm - misty and mysterious - hence the name After the Rain.