LET YOUR FREAK FLAGS FLY!

ECO-DUED BANNERS

BEGINNING 3-D ART

scrap fabrics, lace & doilies in new & vintage in cotton, linen & silk,

copper pipes & twigs,

lots of string, big pots to steam in, perle cottons & embroidery needles

It all started here with the student's tied up bundles filled with eco-dying materials 

such as leaves, flowers, twigs, spices, fruits, and vegetables.

Probably a couple of bugs too.  :)

We had 6 different pots going to simmer their bundles in;

blueberries, turquoise & purple Rit, clear water, eucalyptus & mulberry leaves.

The results when the kids opened them up were stunning!!

Each child made 2 bundles for contrasting fabrics.

Here are the bundles drying out for a week before opening

(it's so hard to wait)

Before they began designing and constructing their banners,

they each chose two pieces of cloth from their bundles that they didn't like.

We placed these pieces in the center of the table

 then went around taking turns picking pieces we did like.

 The seniors got to pick first and the poor little 8th graders were last.

We went around the table twice

 so that everyone got two new pieces to incorporate into their banners.

We were looking for fabrics that had some contrast from their original bundles.

I so enjoyed watching the kids trying to be patient and wait for their turn 

and then the really hard part,

making a decision.

Seniors Lauren Gammage, Hana Kim  and Ricky Gallardo especially had a good time with this.

I loved the expressions on their faces,

the pleasure they were getting out of this process.

Adorable! 

So without further ado,

let's see these banners.

We start off with this breathtaking piece by junior Sahana Ramesh .  

Incredible design and such lovely colors she was able to extract

 by the goodies she brought in to dye with.

(I provide a lot of dried windfall that I collect for the kids

 and they bring in fresh dyestuffs from home as well)

Of course the butterfly she constructed was amazing.

Below are some close-ups.

Note her Polymer bead for the butterfly's body.

Love the crisscrossed and woven strips below with tiny French Knots.

Here is senior Hana's cat she designed.

I loved it so much I bought it at Open House to teach with.

I thought it was very clever,

and can move this project in possibly a whole new realm,

doing recognizable subject matter.

And check out all the embroidery stitches and cool details 

that junior Kiana Hernandez has incorporated,

and how she even used the twine she wrapped her bundles with as braids down the sides.

Brilliant!

This next one really appealed to my sense of order and balance.

Junior Angelica Luza used the design rules (Elements & Principles of Art) learned in the 2-D class 

and brought them into her design here.

The diagonals leading our eye to the focal point,

strong contrast between values but in a subtle way.

And even thought she didn't get a chance to finish all her embroidery stitches, 

it still demanded our attention.

One of these days you must finish this Angelica so I can get one more pix of it.

This one was another beauty that I purchased at Open House 

and hangs in my studio up at the cabin.

And everytime I look at it,

it makes me happy.

It was created by 8th grader Bhumika.

The vintage laces and embroideries are so lovely and add tons of visual interest.

And I always love buttons in a piece like this.

The symmetrical design feels so good to my eye, 

along with the feathers and the frayed edges.

Bravo Bhumika!

There is just so much here to enjoy and appreciate.

I feel so badly that I can't remember who made this exciting work.

I will ask the kids tomorrow at school to help me identify it.

It's such an interesting  composition, part symmetry, 

part asymmetry which is really hard to pull off.

And love the John Muir quote below it contains.

The paper was even eco-dyed.

And isn't this a pretty one?

Those lace doilies really look terrific in these pieces.

Here is another I'm not sure who made it,

but I'm guessing 8th grader Annie Nyugen.

Check out the great colors Annie has pulled together,

as well as the wonderful focal point.

Also note the many layers of fabrics she has stacked and sewn together.

Ok, 

I promise this is the last one I need help remembering who made it.

So help!!

But don't you just adore the pocket full of dried flowers?

And the bow with the shell under it?

So very lovely!

A close-up below.

This incredible work belongs to senior Ricky Gallardo.

I believe it was the longest banner in the class,

and Ricky put his heart and soul into it.

He designed it into 3 parts.

There are so many fabulous details from the tiny pinecones he couched on 

to the tic-tac-toe grid, 

and the loose flowing strips on each side bottom.

Of course the words and colors pull it all together.

And this one stopped me in my tracks by senior Sophie Yang.

It was my very favorite and I almost bought it at Open House,

but another teacher scooped it up before me.

The close-up says it all.

Tons of effort going into the embroidery, 

the embellishments,

the couching of the bounding string,

but it's the woven strips that really pull me in with  the X's and O's.

I also really like the greyish turquoises and reds together,

 the braiding,

and that sweet window above with the flowers in it.

This is an outstanding piece Sophie,

and I'm so very proud to show it off.

Thank you all for putting so much effort into these banners.

And a very special thank you to Australian artist India Flint

who introduced me to Eco-Dyeing,

to her many books on the subject,

and now to her on-line workshops where I continue to learn so much.

ECO DYEING MEETS SLOW CLOTH - part two

ECO DYE BANNERS

BEGINNING 3-D ART

various pieces of cotton, linens & silks, windfall, spices, fruits & vegetables

with lots of string, hot plates & large pots for steaming

I'm hoping you enjoyed the banners in part one,

these next ones in part two are just as fabulous!

I hope your eyes will be delighted as mine were.

We start off with super star junior Rachel Kannampuzha.

Rachel is a deep critical thinker who always goes beyond the minimum requirements,

coming up with unique, original ideas for all her assignments.

I know for a fact that Rachel was inspired by the work of fiber artist Grace Forrest

when I suggested to the kids they check out Grace under Artists I Follow on my blog.

Rachel created two figures with her eco dyed pieces

and all of us were in awe.

Grace found out that Rachel was following her blog 

and they've now become friends thru the magic of the internet.

And if you remember the post from earlier this year called Garden Diva,

Grace sent my class a piece of hers to enjoy at Xmas time.

I love this close up of the woman against that rich turquoise backdrop.

So exquisite Rachel!

Youngster Margaret Yiu, 

junior,

with her gorgeous craftsmanship and her beautiful sense of design

created this next one.

She chose to work symmetrically (the kids had a choice),

and nailed it!

I adore her fabric rose she created,

and how she tyed each side together with the burnt orange chain stitches.

And check out how perfectly she couched down her string.

Junior Jillian Morris blew us all out of the water with this next piece.

It measures about 36" long,

2 -3 times longer than all the others.

Notice how she stripped many of her fabrics to help elongate her banner,

creating a lot of rhythmic negative spaces.

Also notice additional rhythm she achieved because of her numerous stacks.

And the balance made by her three perfectly placed polymer buttons.

Great work Jillian!

Now we go back to one of my sweet 8th grader's,

 Palmer Patel.

Palmer is the young man accompanied everyday by paraeducator Coach Milan,

and this is his second year with me.

He loves art and works very hard in my class.

We are all so proud of this beautiful piece he made

because fine motor skills do not come easy for him.

Bravo Palmer!!

Another 8th grader,

 Loren Kim,

created this next incredible work of art.

Loren was with me last year as well and is one of my top students.

Many of her works were featured last year on the blog with more to come this year.

One of the requirements that she made the most use of that I love is the fraying of her edges.

Notice how she frayed all the 4 major squares,

and how it brings so much softness to her piece.

In fact,

 I like this piece so much that I want to show off these two main sections up close-up.

And we end part two with 8th grader Dana Ahmad.

Dana also loves art and takes it very seriously.

I'm pretty sure Dana went into 3 different bundle pots to get her exterior edge colorways

which brings so much interest to this lovely piece.

And look at all the fraying she did along this bottom edge

which adds so much softness.

And my favorite part of this very pretty piece is the rose she created below.

Brilliant work young lady!

Thank  you all for working so hard for me,

jumping thru endless hoops,

and finishing on time so I can post and exhibit your work.

ECO DYEING MEETS SLOW CLOTH - part one

ECO DYE BANNERS

BEGINNING 3-D ART

various pieces of cotton, linens & silks, windfall, spices, fruits & vegetables

with lots of string, hot plates & large pots for steaming

I love teaching this assignment and dedicate it every year to mentors

India Flint and Jude Hill,

who continue to inspire me on a daily basis.

We start by talking about where all natural dye stuffs come from

and the kids go home and the search is on.

They bring back so much good stuff to use and have fun showing it off and sharing;

some goodies coming in with ants, worms and spiders as well.  

ha ha.

Some of the student bundles after emerging from the dye pots.

Notice how the color is seeping into the paper?

So lovely.

I save a lot of tidbits from garage and estate sales,

many pieces of laces, doilies, linens and such,

and cut them up into smaller pieces for the kids to choose from

(at least 20 varieties this year).

I also purchase at least 5 silk varieties off the bolt from Dharma Trading Company 

and rip banner size pieces for the students main foundation.

They can make as many as 3 bundles, 

and this year I had 4 pots of dyestuff to choose from to steam their bundles in.

I was able to find windfall from Ornamental Plum,

Eucalyptus, and Walnuts,

plus I made a cheater pot of Rit Turquoise this year. 

When the Rit mixes with the windfall it tones and softens the color to make it look like a natural dye.

I also made a pot of clear water to steam in 

which turned out many beautiful results

because of the rich source of dyestuff's the kids brought in.

These pieces above are from two bundles that I demoed with.

Loved how the doll bloomers turned out.

Included in each child's bundles are at least 2-4 butterflies of pearle cottons 

that pick up the color as well.

They use these to sew with on their banners.

After all the bundles are opened,

I have the kids gather round a table.

 They have to donate at least 2 of their pieces they don't care for or think they will not use.

Then we go round and round and they pick something new 

they might be able to incorporate into their designs.

I believe we made it around the table 3 times this year with 29 kids and 2 adults.

That's right, 

we also have English teacher Donna Hall and Coach Milan taking the class as well.

In the photo above Donna is the tall blond on the left,

and Coach Milan is middle right with hat on backwards 

standing next to our red head Assistant Principal,

 Rose Ellen Shea,

 who heard about the process and wanted to watch the excitement.

So let's see how these banners turned out this year.

There were so many outstanding ones that I've had to break this post into 2 parts.

I wanted to start with Ms. Hall's banner because the kids and I loved it so much.

The reason I want each kid to use at least 2 dye pots

 is so that they have two contrasting colors to work with.

I believe Donna used the walnut and turquoise pots.

Starting on their foundation,

students are required to stack fabrics 3 layers deep in at least one area,

and to use at least 5 of their 12 embroidery stitches they learned to tack them down with.

Also required were to incorporate at least one of their polymer beads you saw in an earlier post, 

and to figure out a clever way to hang their banner from a twig they've sourced.

Ms. Hall also found an additional embellishment (required) with the carved wooden button,

plus she sewed down lots of complimenting seed beads to catch the eye.

Most of the feathers you will see came from around my cabin this summer. 

This next beauty was made by junior Lynette Lee 

whom I'm finding is an incredible designer and craftswoman.

Check out these close-ups of her work.

My favorite part of hers are the woven fabrics ala Jude Hill with the eco-dyed thread X's over top.

The yellows in this dynamic piece were made from the spice Turmeric.

And here is a close-up so you can see senior Sarah Woo's handwork.

I'm hoping you are also noticing that each piece has threads

 that are being couched down in random patterns,

another requirement.

These are probably too earthy to be called adorable, 

but this one by senior Alexis Bilas-Imperial is pretty darn close.

The clever girl turned hers into a landscape.

Do you see it,

The clouds & flowers?

And if you look really close you will also see the clever use of safety pins

 to hold bead embellishments on top of pieces of eyelet.

In this next beauty you can really see the gorgeous turquoise that senior Crystal Lai-Ton-Nu was able to achieve in one of her bundles.

I believe her second bundle went into eucalyptus.

Two close-ups of her impeccable craftsmanship in her embroidery stitches,

and look how perfectly she couched down her thread.

So lovely Crystal!

And this last piece in part one was created by 8th grader Leanne Alcoy.

Every year I've been blessed with amazing 8th graders,

and Leanne is no exception.

 It looks like Leanne's two bundles went into the Ornamental Plum and Eucalyptus.

This is beautifully crafted,

and I love the dimensional effect she created with the overlapping of doilies. 

And then sewing on a dried flower in it's center is the perfect focal point.

Thank you all for bringing such beauty and inspiration into our lives.