"Woodshed in Summer" Watercolor Done

Quick post to share the"Woodshed in Summer" watercolor that I finished up today.  

Lyme Fatigue, 100 Degrees and Watercolors

I have not been in the studio much because this new Lyme infection has been knocking me out with fatigue, and I already struggle with chronic fatigue from an older chronic Lyme infection. The best term that I have heard to describe the kind of fatigue that comes with chronic Lyme is "Incomprehensible fatigue", it makes even the smallest tasks seem totally overwhelming.

Not being able to be in the studio creating paintings on silk on a regular basis for the last couple of years has really been a struggle for me so I have decided to teach myself watercolor painting since it does not involve all the technical steps like applying resists, stretching the silk, steaming it for hours and is therefore less energy intensive. Today it is nearly 100 degrees outside so I spent the morning in my lovely air-conditioned studio experimenting with watercolors again. Feeling very grateful for the A/C that my wonderful hubby hooked up in here. Below is a work in progress.

This little woodshed painting is a work in progress. I will probably finish it up tomorrow and if I do I will post a finished photo of it. It is 5 x 7 on 140 LB Fabriano hot pressed watercolor paper.

 With temps like this I am glad to be in my studio with the A/C on painting watercolors instead of steaming silk paintings for 4 hours LOL!!

Watercolor Explorations

Well, shoot, I have a new Lyme infection that is slowing me down a lot. The fatigue and pain that has come with the new infection has kept me from producing anything very complicated in the studio so I have been playing around with watercolors. I have never really worked with watercolor before and I am enjoying the process of experimenting with it and learning how much it differs from painting on silk with dyes.  Here are some small, 5 x 7, watercolor sketches I have done over the last week.

Scrunch Dyeing with Procion Mx Dyes

I did some more scrunch dyeing yesterday on a skirt and I love the results. I presoaked the rayon, (cellulose fiber), skirt in soda ash a few days ago so it was dried out, then sprayed it with water to dampen it a little before I scrunched it.  The colors I used were Sage Green, Lapis, and Blue Gray (From Dharma Trading).  I mixed up dye concentrate using 2tsp dye powder to one cup chemical water (water and urea). I scrunched the skirt into the "brain" pattern and tied it with string. I applied the dyes colors in a diluted form, I think I diluted the concentrate about 1/2 and 1/2 with chemical water, I forgot to write down the exact dilution rate.

 Bits of linen and cotton that I soda soaked (soaked in soda ash solution) 

to use as dye samples for my dye book

Below is a rayon shell that I dyed with the same colors but with a much more diluted solution

Dye Mixing Box For Procion Powdered Dyes

 This is the dye mixing box I use to mix my powdered dyes. It is made from a simple plastic bin with a lid. I cut 2 holes in it for my arms and covered the edges with duct tape to soften the sharp edges. 

 I line the bottom and the back with cotton fabric and I spray it with water to dampen it so that it will catch any airborne dye powder. The fabric can be removed and washed between uses so that the dye powder does not dry out and become airborne once again.

 Once the dye powder has been mixed with the water and your spoons have been rinsed, so there is no residual dye powder on them,  it is safe to open the box

 This is a rayon shell that I am scrunch dyeing. 

The cups contain scraps of sample fabric for my dye book

Eco Dyed Neutrals

Below are some photos of some neutrals that came out of my last batch of Eco dyeing. The rusty tin can caused the blacks and grays and in this case the leaves acted as more of a resist. I actually liked these more than the leaf prints I posted yesterday.

All images are copyrighted and may not be used without permission © L.Marcille

Nature Dyed/Eco Dyed Silk Linen & Cotton with Iron, Leaves & Tannin

Here are the results of the bundles I posted the other day. They photographed slightly darker than they are in reality.  For more info on how it was done see my previous post.