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.

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.

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.

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."

Crane

Another stencil I cut.  This one is a bit smaller and is a stand alone motif of a crane used as a Kamon.

In Japan, Kamon were used in a similar manner as coats of arms.  A person, family, organization or company would use it as their insignia or symbol.

They're less ornate than most coats of arms and don't have so many elements combined into them.  They typically are cohesive and streamlined.  It doesn't combine different branches of the family.  To me, it is more of a stand alone emblem rather than an ancestor reference.  So I find Kamon attractive for batik work.  Some are more bold than others and a lot of them are stylized.

Another sample done on a hankie to see how the design works.  I've got quite a selection of silk hankies that I've done for practice.  I'm taking a class at the Textile Center next month that uses scraps of fabric bonded to card stock and folded into origami boxes.  I figure these would work well for that.  Then I just need to find someone to give little boxes to.  Hmm.  I took a class on making fabric Kazashi flowers earlier this month.  The hankie wouldn't work as well for that since they need more pieces of fabric.  Or at least larger pieces than I can get to fold.  My fingers aren't as agile as they would need to be for that.

Quality time with my XActo knife

Since my studio is in the basement, and it is still winter in Minnesota, I haven't been working there much.  It is a bit chilly and the batik wax sets up too fast.  Makes it so things don't turn out the way I like.  So I've been doing some work down there, but not a lot.

But I have been cutting some stencils.  We'll see how they work.  The butterfly one is more intricate and with the wax setting up faster it doesn't work as well.  But once it gets a bit warmer, I'll give the full repeat a try.  It is an adaptation of an old Japanese Katagami (stencil) with impressions of grasses blowing in the wind.  So I'm interested to see how it will turn out.  Especially since I spent a lot of time cutting it out.  The overall design is rather large.  This is a 12"x12" hankie.