Parfait dyeing

I have just tried parfait dyeing for the first time.  I bought a gallon jar at the thrift store and it is just the right size for a three layer dye pot. I used Procion dyes and followed the instructions from Carol Ludington's article in quilting Arts June/July 2012.  Here are the results.

For the top layer the dyes used were Bright Yellow and Brick.  Nothing else.  I can only believe that the darker areas came from the splitting of the Brick dye.

The middle layer had some Burgundy and Blue  dye, but some of the yellow came through as well.

Here is the bottom layer

This third layer has Fuschia and Medium Blue, with far less of the Yellow coming through.  This is my favourite piece and the first one I plan to use.  I had included a close-up of some of the more interesting areas.

The same day I also did a piece of low water immersion (LWI)dyeing, that I am quite pleased with.  I used Purple and Bright Scarlet dye, and this is what I got. Go figure!  The background doesn't show well but is a pale peach (lovely!)This is absolutely gorgeous fabric and I'm already planning a very special project with it.

These parfait colours are really "in your face", and I find this limits the design possibilities. The results are so "busy" that I'll have to use them in small amounts, or mute  some way.  Having said that, my mind is moving toward three dimensional work.  Maybe an animal like a turtle--with beading, of course.
But, overall, I think that LWI will remain my primary dyeing process.However, I think I would much rather use Parfait dyeing than snow dyeing--far less work!

New work??

I will be having a gallery show for 3 weeks this coming December.  I know this is not the best time to be in a gallery, but, they had a cancellation, and  I take what I can get.  So now I have to start planning what will be shown.  I've pretty well decided to show mainly work that has never before been publicly exhibited.  I may have done a lot, but I certainly aren't well-known enough to have a retrospective show.  It has been suggested that I choose 4-5 larger, focal pieces and then fill in around them with smaller, less price-y art.

For the last two days, DH and I have been sorting through the many boxes, trunks and chest just sorting out in our minds what is actually there.  We also took the opportunity to cull a few things.  I had to sit down with myself and really admit that there are many techniques I can no longer do successfully, and this means that there are supplies that are no longer useful.  The process was heart-wrenching, but we got through a fair bit, and this meant a trip to the local thrift store.  I also have packages to take into local charities where they might be more useful than around here.

As well, I found a few unfinished pieces that might work very well in the show with a bit of finishing and mounting/framing.  I have a couple of ideas for new pieces, and with finishing the UFO's, I should be able to keep myself well busy for the next few months.  Now I just have to find the discipline to get down to it!  LOL

Need a little help from my friends

I have a piece that is causing me some concern.  This was on my design wall for a few weeks, and I gave a fair bit of thought to what I wanted in the finished image, although I never had a clear picture in my mind.  So I 'bit the bullet" and started working. ( I know many people just start and modify and change their ideas as the work progresses, but I've usually had some fairly definite idea before starting, even if I do actually change it a fair bit as I go)  In this case I didn't even use a pattern, but rather just cut "by the seat of my pants."

Whoop!  Bang!  Less than two days, and it was pretty well done.  I may add some tiny silver beads at the tip of the grasses, and it has yet to be bound, but here it is. The background is vertically pieced strips of white, silk, cotton and polyester satin.  It was completely quilted before  it was very lightly painted with grey. Then grasses and the mist were fused in layers, before raw edge machine stitched.

My concern is that it was too easy.  It just came and now sits there. My work is usually far more complex and far more colourful.  This is grey,white and a tiny bit of grey/green in the grasses.  I almost feel that it is a bit of a "sellout", as I feel it is very marketable,but is it really  done from my soul.

Please, please--comments and suggestions.  The most basic question--is this good enough for exhibition?

                                                          Marsh in the Mist