dye-colors on steriods

new textural effects in silk and dye 2013

I love how the colors migrate through silk, blending and separating depending on their various physical properties. I'm often experimenting with new ways to "steer" the migrating color into shapes and textures. Here are some exciting new effects.

waves

A wave of blue and red was formed by migration of dyes in silk.

All the colors migrated similarly but did not mix much.

oceanic organisms

This abstraction in silk dye resembles something living in the ocean, like maybe large jellyfish.

And it's all from water-base dyes migrating through silk.

spring 2013

Following the above discoveries, I pushed the technique further. To my surprise I discovered a way to create the appearance of crystals and light.

This texture-making technique is applied to my silk mural project Illuminated Passage.

The photo above is a detail (approximately two feet wide) of a sample painting for Illuminated Passage showing use of the new dye texture for stone.