A lot of progress on the Habitat project

I finalized the module forms and made template from Davey board.  All the template will fit within a 12 inch square, my basic grid unit.

 I then cut windows from posterboard using the templates so I could chose fabric orientation more easily.

A couple of days ago I made brick and siding rubbling plates from Davey board.  Today I used them to decorate a group of plain and printed pieces of cloth.

At the end of the day I had completed four samples.  I assembled the painted cloth pieces in a variety of manners with a variety of backings.
 I concluded my tests with the decision to assemble each side of these 2 sided modules on featherweight fusable pellon which will then be assembled into finished units on super heavy fusible pellon called Peltex.
    Much more testing to come.  The next set of tests involves developing the transparent/translucent modules and some systems for including text.

 
I think I said a few days ago that much fun would be had in the studio.  The FUN has definitely begun.

Materials testing

I have been running test on various materials and modalities for the Habitat Project.

Epson print on polyester chiffon, also embroidery on chiffon, laminated to cotton

I have made the wall above the ironing board the idea space.  I have been experimenting with various modes of photo transfer, printing, embroidery.
I have run prints on various grounds: Bubblejet Set, InkAid clear and Inkaid White, Golden digital ground.  I have run a newer version of solar printing, de-colorant...and, of course, dyeing.

I learned that polyester chiffon, coated with clear Ink Aid will take a fine print from the old Epson printer.  Hooray!

To the left are some prints on muslin with and without various digital grounds.

Hanging on the wall are various chains and zipties and carabiner loops to try out for assembly.

Like I said in the last post, FUN IN THE STUDIO!

The BIG PROJECT

Since I last wrote here, I was awarded a grant to create 1 large pieces of textile art from 2 panels of 8' x 10'  for the new Habitat for Humanity office in St. Paul.  Habitat is such a great organization!  My family has been supporters and workers for years.

The work that I will make will act as permeable walls for a meeting area, viewable from the cubicles and the gathering space.  Parts of the piece will be fabricated in workshops with Habitat clientele.  They are encouraged to bring their own ethnic textiles which I will scan or photograph so that they can be inserted in the design.

There is so much I could do!  So much I might do.  Follow along here to see the process unfold.

At this juncture, I am planning for 4 different House-shaped modules, suspended among branches/roads/diagonals/grids, connected with chain/threads/cords/zip ties, surface designed with  paint stick/foil/dyes/stencils/relief printing/beads/bangles/photo grams/photos, with connecting text throughout!  Whew!

The modules might look something like these paper cut outs, but visually more complex than a single piece of scrapbook paper.

The new office is decorated in warmish blues and beiges.

It occurred to me that I should have a basic palette in mind.  So, I went out today and filled in my color wheel.  The basic uniting colorway could be in browns and beiges.  The top fabric is actually large sepia toned panels of a portrait by Norman Rockwell.  Cutting it to 12" squares will abstract  the images while portions of the face will still be seen.  There is some chiffon in there that will be considered for overlays, openings and printing.









Greens and blues that tend toward the warm tones with, of course, red and yellow available for pops of color.


But then, there are the unknown client textiles that will begin to arrive in December.  What if none of this works with those unknowns?

DYE!  Dye will probably be a key normalizing factor.


What next?  PLAY!  Time to seriously play with the materials toward planning the workshops and the final product!  Fun in the studio looms large;-)