Another finished project - a Fabric Book in a Box

As I mentioned weeks ago, I have been consolidating some of my life drawings into books. The first one to be finished is a fabric book, ready for the 'challenge' at the ATASDA meeting in Brisbane on Saturday.

For the challenge, we were given a cardboard box to do anything with - I chose to merely cover it and use it to store my book.

The fabric is teadyed cotton. The feature on the top is beach driftwood with beach weathered glass. I made it up as I went along [can't you tell?].

I've used the same fabric to cover the book and simple 'Japanese stab' binding for the spine. The brass booby bit in the top right corner is a cufflink I found at a local 'car boot' sale.

The pages are scraps from life drawings I did on calico many years ago. Some of the calico has been deliberately stained with mould [easy to do here in the rainy Maleny summer].

I have also used shellac, acrylic paints and a variety of marking pens.

Some of the pages are randomly stiffened with glue.

..and here I've played with T shirt transferring film ironed onto calico.

LATEST ART PROJECT

I am still playing with the book idea - for me it is a good way to experiment and to extend ideas but mostly a way to consoliadte 'stuff' that I have lying around.

I have hundreds of rather nice life drawings. What to do with them? Leave them in the cupboards for the silverfish and cockroaches? I can't bear to cut up the good ones, but I am happily using the mediochre ones for collaged book pages.

Yes, I am using tea bags, tea, mould and rust dyed fabrics, and various inks, paints, pencils and waxes.

Lots more work to be done on the images before they become a book.

I am also playing with scanned and printed images - this one has been printed onto T shirt transfer paper then ironed onto calico.

PAINTING THE LOGO

The need for translucency plus opacity has posed many logistical issues with this commission. The translucent silk screen with the logo will be seen against a dark background when the screen is 'closed' over the entertainment unit, and against a window when it is slid 'open'. The stitching shows up against the window but not against the solid background. I decided to go to the trusty teabag again to resolve the issue, so I made a STRONG cup of tea and painted in the logo with a fine brush. I'm happy so far, but it's still a 'work in progress'.

SHRUNK SILK - AGHHHHHH

I was really happy with the colour once the silk had dried. It took 2 hours to iron, in 35 degree heat, but I must admit I have air conditioning in my studio -  so it wasn't really much of a chore. I was just a tad surprised to find that once I had draped the lengths of fabric over the screen, they had shrunk by a good 20% - a combination of boiling, hot machine drying and hot ironing! I had allowed for 5-10% shrinkage, not 20%. No matter. I had bought extra silk 'just in case' of such emergencies, so I dyed some more, a slightly deeper colour, and the extra seams will add extra interest.

The collecting, dying and stitching of individual componants is coming along nicely.

JAPANESE STYLE SCREEN & wabi sabi huntsman

The lining silk has been dyed. I left the two pieces on the line to drip dry, tea leaves and all. I should get some uneven splodges and hope that where the fabrics have touched, I will get more uneven patches. The next step is to wash the fabrics in the machine to rinse out excess residue and tea leaves.

I have an intruder in the bathroom - I'm a bit nervous about having a shower before I go out. The poor thing has a couple of legs missing, so I can't be mean and kill it or even shoo it away. I'm OK with other spides, but huntsmen frighten me - I think it's the way they run off suddenly and maybe run up your arm.....eeeaaaggghhhh!!

The timber frame has been delivered to my studio and I have taken the plunge and cut the silk to size. I have very many lovely samples of silks dyed with tea and coffee. Now I need to remember what 'dyes' I used with which silks. No measuring, calculating, weighing and recording for me - after all, this is wabi sabi.

JAPANESE STYLE SCREEN

I have a commission to make a 1.5metre square translucent screen to slide across a TV and entertainment unit in a magnificent new home in Maleny overlooking the Glasshouse mountains and Moreton Island. The owners, Robert and Ann Hadley, and the architects, 'Bark' design, have entrusted the task to me. I am using tea and coffee dyed silks with a multitude of 'pojagi' [Korean] style machine and hand stitched seams. I have enough antique kimono silks to use for the feature areas and the whole screen will be lined with new 'Dupion' silk organza. The end result will be a wonderful expression of wabi sabi.