Direct Dye - Gutta / Serti Techniques
It took me more than 20 years to start playing with painting directly on fabric with dyes and using gutta as a resist rather than wax. We are currently testing different types of water soluble guttas and learning how they flow and how they react to different saturation levels of dyes. Unlike wax, water-soluble guttas have the tendency to break down or "melt" under certain conditions - usually after I saturate an area to apply salt techniques. For dyes we are currently using Procion H liquid dyes and fixing them using different cold application solutions. At this time trying to set up a steaming facility to fix these dyes is too much given my available workspace and I'm looking for ways to simplify my work techniques rather than complicating them.
Here are a selection of my first pieces - all of which employ a variety of techniques since we're still in the testing phase of developing a style of work using this medium. Most of these fabrics to date have been one of our favorite fabrics - 8 mm habotai silk.
We are also starting to experiment with the instant-set pigment dyes which eliminates the need for follow-up fixing and we see great promise for these dyes. More to come as these pieces move towards completion.
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Title: Retirement Fantasies (2002)
This is the first piece I've completed using these techniques I believe is worth displaying. We used both clear and black water soluble guttas - we made the black by mixing in Procion H dyes but it really ended up more bluish than a true black. We also used salt techniques on several colors, and alcohol treatment on other areas. The photos here are the unfixed piece immediately after the dyeing process was completed. Click on the photo for larger details of this piece. |
last updated on 3/29/2002