Mother Earth and Green Man

The counterpart to Mother Earth is the Green Man.  The embodiment of nature as sentient beings.  These are both redesigns of ones I had done previously.  I wanted a couple that are more similar and complement the style of each other better.  The smile of the Green Man makes him look like he has a secret.

Waxing

When waxing an item I like to use a colored, flexible cutting board to keep the wax from getting all over the table or the other side of a shirt.  These two pictures show how the color will show through differently after the wax is applied.  It makes it easier for me to tell where I've put the wax already as well as if it soaked in properly.  If the wax is too cold it will look different.

Mask

Another new design.  This one is an angular mask.  I know, I'm stating the obvious.  But it seems odd not to describe it some.

It is kind of a cross between (or interpretation of) a few different tribal masks.  My grandparents were in Niger in around 1970 for work and brought back several masks.  It is also influenced by Native American masks and totem poles.  Some of the other new disigns I worked on this summer had a lot of flowing hair so this was a good way to balance it out.

Now that we have our kitchen remodel done enough that I can start cooking in it (and the dishwasher is hooked up and works!) I promise I'll do more blog posts.  I've been busy doing new designs, I just have been bad about sharing them.  Someday, I'll even take the stove off its wheeled cart.

Well, that isn't what I expected

Some days things just don't turn out the way you expect.  Both shirts were dyed in chocolate brown dye.  The pirate one is what I would expect.  The ninja one is a nice olive green.  The dye was from the same container.  I thought maybe the mixed up dye solution had sat too long, but I had a problem with the fuchsia not taking in batch of black and purple at the same time.  The black was a greenish gray and the purple was blue.  All looked good, but weren't what I was trying for.

The best guess I have is that it is related to the water softener and how long between recharging and dyeing.  We moved in April and there is hard water here.  The softener recharges based on the date rather than volume of water used.  But I'd dyed since we moved and it turned out so I didn't think much of it.

I think the next time I'm going to do a batch of shirts I'm going to have to either manually recharge the softener or order some add in softener.

Fire truck

This is a stencil I designed a couple months ago.  It is in the style of fire trucks from the 40s-50s.  The advantage of using stencils is that I can get sharper lines than if I was applying the was freehand.  The stencil both masks the areas so I don't put was on them, but also seems to help keep it from wicking into the fabric as much.  Also, it makes a design more repeatable.  I cut this stencil at 3 different sizes so it would scale to a toddler's shirt as well as an adult's.

In looking up pictures of fire helmets I learned that firefighters have the nickname Leatherhead since the helmets were traditionally made of leather.  The leather is being replaced with polymers and other plastics.  The back brim is wider so it helps the water run down the back rather than inside the collar.

Blue

Like the previous post, an example of color differences on cotton vs. silk and from previous batches.

The silk scarf on the right and the guy in the middle were in the same batch.  The hooded tshirt, done with the Mokume Shibori technique, on the left is the same color but from a previous batch.  I know the guy and scarf the dye was stronger.  This is Dharma Trading's Lapis.

Green

Another example of the different color on silk and cotton.  As well as in different batches.

The silk scarf on the right was in the same container, at the same time, as the flower shirt in the middle.  Although fiber reactive dye will work on silk, the colors shift a bit so it will be different.  The tiger on the left was dyed with the same color, forest green from Dharma Trading, but in a different batch.  It shows that there are differences from batch to batch.

There are several possibilities:  I may have mixed it with hotter or cooler water, it may have been a different strength, the water hardness at the new house might have made a difference, the moon wasn't full.

Find your child from a distance

A couple of really bright children's sets.  In case your toddler tries to escape, you should put them in something really bright to make it easier to spot them.  Plus, these are really cute with the safari animals on them.

Wildness

This is one of my interpretations of a Green Man or wild man to go with Mother Nature or Earth Mother.

When I did a sample and held it up I asked my husband if it reminded him of my Dad.  He said "I wasn't going to say that."

Sailing on a green sea

While I haven't been busy posting, I have been busy creating.  We moved this spring and immediately started remodeling.  That is my excuse.  Not that I couldn't have gotten out my stuff to take pics of finished work.

When waxing something I like to use a flexible cutting board to keep the wax from getting all over the table.  It is easy to clean off but the wax doesn't smear on the next scarf or shirt so I don't have to clean it every time.  And I prefer a colored cutting board as it makes it easier to see the wax I've put down.  Which helps so I don't miss any spots.  You can see in the pictures how the color of the board shows when the wax is applied.