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Post by koffipot on Sept 25, 2015 17:38:56 GMT
I went foraging in the woods this morning and returned with a large bag of leaves, berries and a few flowers. I think some of the other walkers were wondering where I'd parked the broomstick. I then laid out a selection; one on cotton, one on silk, bundled, tied, then steamed them for an hour, rinsed, washed and ironed, here they are. It was an interesting excercise from which I've learned a lot. In future I will be more careful with my placement and particularly with bundling. The base fabric on the cotton is more yellow than shown on the photo, having been first dyed with dandelion flowers. Eco prints on cotton by Judith Robinson, on Flickr Eco prints on silk by Judith Robinson, on Flickr
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Post by lyn on Sept 25, 2015 18:01:35 GMT
What a lovely way to spend a sunny autumn day! The results are scrumptious too and I like them both equally.
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Post by zed on Sept 25, 2015 18:05:35 GMT
They're gorgeous, Judith! Did you soak the fabrics in anything first?
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Post by Pandagirl on Sept 25, 2015 18:13:55 GMT
Beautiful Judith!
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Post by koffipot on Sept 25, 2015 18:39:49 GMT
Thanks. zed. The cotton was mordanted in Alum and dyed in dandelion a couple of years go. The silk was mordanted in Alum and Cream of Tartar. Then I soaked them overnight in water to make sure they were completely wet. I also splodged a little iron water and a little copper water in random patches before bundling.
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Post by MTRuth on Sept 26, 2015 0:25:35 GMT
Very nice results and I love walking and gathering natural things.
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Post by halay on Sept 26, 2015 3:46:34 GMT
Just beautiful, Judith.
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Post by koffipot on Sept 26, 2015 16:30:11 GMT
The cotton print is now mounted on a canvas and hung. It's going to the gallery next week but I'm not sure how to price it. ecoprint mounter by Judith Robinson, on Flickr 'Fruits of the Forest' dyebath bubbling away with a piece of cotton. Elderberry, blackberry, sloe and a sort of cherry which I think is probably inedible but has a lovely colour. Looking a bit wishy-washy yet, but it might be good to print on.
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Post by Pandagirl on Sept 26, 2015 17:01:43 GMT
Looks great hung up. I'm sure someone will fall in love with it at the gallery. How did you attach it to the canvas?
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Post by luvswool and dyestuff on Sept 26, 2015 17:58:14 GMT
Judith, both pieces look lovely with those natural leaf prints. You are getting some good colors! Hope all goes well at the gallery!
I also enjoy foraging for natural flora and fauna, but in the city, you don’t get too many goodies. The parkways are all planted with similar type trees, chosen by the park district. To get anything decent, I’d have to be trespassing into people’s yards, and I am not up for that. I may try again when the leaves start falling.
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Post by koffipot on Sept 26, 2015 20:56:24 GMT
Looks great hung up. I'm sure someone will fall in love with it at the gallery. How did you attach it to the canvas? I used a clear acrylic paste as adhesive recommended somewhere (possibly Youtube) as a good, stable adhesive, which will not discolour the fabric, nor will it deteriorate. As luck would have it I had bought a set of German acrylic pastes at Lidl only a couple of weeks ago at a good price. NB:- Only use the clear paste as the matte finish contains tiny granules which can give a cloudy, milky, finish. Having cut the fabric to size, allowing for the thickness and depth of the stretchers, I applied the medium onto the face and sides of the canvas - I used a 2" brush to enable me to work quickly. Smoothed on the fabric, turned it over and applied medium to the back of the stretcher bars, brought the fabric over, making sure the corners were tidy, pressed it all down firmly - Presto! Very quick, easy and effective. No staining on the fabric. I did find that the thin layer of medium was prone to drying out quite quickly, so misted it with a fine water spray to keep it workable. Another tip I picked up recently:- when cleaning brushes used for acrylics; use water and salt. It works!
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Post by lyn on Sept 26, 2015 21:12:26 GMT
It looks terrific Judith! I reckon it'll sell quickly.
Forgive the pun, but you didn't hang around getting it finished did you?
Thank you for the tip about the water and salt to clean brushes of acrylic paint.
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Post by Pandagirl on Sept 26, 2015 21:14:12 GMT
Looks great hung up. I'm sure someone will fall in love with it at the gallery. How did you attach it to the canvas? I used a clear acrylic paste as adhesive recommended somewhere (possibly Youtube) as a good, stable adhesive, which will not discolour the fabric, nor will it deteriorate. As luck would have it I had bought a set of German acrylic pastes at Lidl only a couple of weeks ago at a good price. NB:- Only use the clear paste as the matte finish contains tiny granules which can give a cloudy, milky, finish. Having cut the fabric to size, allowing for the thickness and depth of the stretchers, I applied the medium onto the face and sides of the canvas - I used a 2" brush to enable me to work quickly. Smoothed on the fabric, turned it over and applied medium to the back of the stretcher bars, brought the fabric over, making sure the corners were tidy, pressed it all down firmly - Presto! Very quick, easy and effective. No staining on the fabric. I did find that the thin layer of medium was prone to drying out quite quickly, so misted it with a fine water spray to keep it workable. Another tip I picked up recently:- when cleaning brushes used for acrylics; use water and salt. It works! Wow, what a process. Thanks for the tips! I used an acylic paste last year to attach burlap to a canvas, not so great results. I'll have to take it apart and rethink it because over time it bubbled in spots. I think it was just the type of heavy fabric.
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Post by koffipot on Sept 26, 2015 21:40:01 GMT
I think Burlap is what we call Hessian. Perhaps you should dampened the fabric and really stretched it on, so it would shrink and tighten up as it dried.
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Post by zed on Sept 26, 2015 22:20:33 GMT
That's gorgeous, Judith
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