Category Archives: Experiments

New techniques, ideas, experiments some good some not so good.

Not all Reds are the same.

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If you have ever asked for help finding the perfect Red, you will know the first thing I will ask you is “Blue or Orange based Red?”  I thought it was time that I explained just what that means.  Above you will see three Reds, Cherry Red, Scarlet and Emotion Red.  All three of the Reds are hand dyed using the same amount of dye, the same fabric and dyed on the same day.  Can you see the change in tone?  Cherry Red has the most Orange tone to it, thus is an Orange based Red.  Scarlet is a deeper Red but still, has that warm Orange undertone and is an Orange based Red.  Emotion Red has a cool undertone, deeper and richer, Blue based Red.

Experiment Continue!

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StartIt all starts with PFD fabric, glass marbled, rubber bands and a good movie.

UndoAfter time in the dye buckets, a couple of rinses, the marbled and rubber bands must come out. My hands turn interesting colors, but wears off in a few days.

Navy_TopNavy Blue Rayon Top.

Green_Blue_Three_YardsOne Half of the three yard piece of Blue/Green.

Blue_Green_DetailDetail of Blue/Green

Violet_Turquoise_Three_YardsOne Half of the three yard piece of Violet/Turquoise.

Violet_Turquoise_DetailDetail Violet/Turquoise

Silk_ExperimentSilk Scarf. Silk is a bit of a challenge to work with.

Finding the Perfect Marbling Colors

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Finding the perfect colors for each hand marbled pieces of fabric can be a challenge.  Generally I find myself using a combination of six colors.  The tricky part is that the paints I use are opaque (Solid), translucent (see through but not clear) and transparent (clear).  Each color is printed on a colored background.  I am using Burnt Orange for this example.1_Burnt_Orange_Fabric All of my paints are in clear jars.  A fair amount of fiddling around and trying different combinations of paint follows.  My favorite combination is dropped onto the clear marbling base.  Sometimes that can change the look of the colors.
2_Colors_on_Base

The hand dyed fabric is the gently lowered onto the base.  They are lifted and rinsed.
3_Wet_Marbled_Fabric

I discovered it is hard to photograph wet fabric.  The water reflects the light, just like a lake or pond.4_Wet_Marbled_Fabric_CU

Opaque colors tend to stay the same, translucent colors may darken or appear to mix with the fabric color, transparent color allows the hand dyed color to shine through.  More fiddling with the combination maybe required at this point.
5_Marbled_Fabric_Curing

The colors often change once they dry.  The hard part is waiting fifteen days for the paints to cure.  No trying to rush them or the colors do not adhere properly and all of the work is wasted.
6_Marbled_Burnt_OrangeThe cured fabric is washed, dryed and ironed.  It takes about three week from start to finish.

Fire Tree

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Fire Tree was inspired by wildfires, the colors and intensity of the wildfires are breathtaking and frightening at the same moment.  Yes, I was up-close to several wildfires during my years of guiding in Alaska.  It is a sight that stays with you.

Fire_TreeFire Tree started with a Hand Marbled Fat Quarter of Fire in Feathers Design.  Branches Reversed 12″ x 12″ is the stencil with three paintstik colors, Matte Ivory Black, Chocolate or Asphaltum (I don’t remember which, Dark Brown is the key) and Iridescent Gold.  Started by putting down a very light layer of Ivory Black as a primer, followed by a nice opaque layer of Dark Brown and finally a light wash of IR Gold to give depth and sparkle.
Fire_Tree_Scan

One of these days quilting will happen, but currently I am far to busy making more Hand Marbled Fabric for you.

Over Dyes and More Snow Dyes

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OverDye_Swamp OverDye_Midnight SnowDyed_Teal_Song_W SnowDyed_Purple_T_W SnowDyed_Nova_W SnowDyed_Breaking_Thru SnowDyed_Lavender_Fileds

So what happens when you get a snow dyed piece that just looks nasty ugly?  I get asked that quite often.  The first two pieces are my new Over Dyed pieces.  As the snow melts and runs into my drip trays, I put the ugly pieces in the runoff and create some very intrestin and unique Over dyed pieces.  Check them out on my web site www.marbled-arts.com  I have also included several of my new Snow Dyed pieces.  Wow do I love what I do are what?