Silkscreen of Doris Duncan

This is an image I really love. The model is my maternal grandmother Doris Duncan, her maiden name was Urie. Her father was a photographer. There are some wonderful images of her as a child having fun in front of the camera. She was very comfortable and you can sense that she enjoyed having her father's attention, as he used her as his muse. I used this image of her as a young woman for a silkscreen project. It may have ben taken before she was married. I don't know anything about the hat she is wearing, it may have just been a prop and not really something she owned.

I silkscreened the image on cotton muslin, some of my eco dyed fabrics, and bristol board. The ink color is denim blue. Stay tuned to see what these fabric bits morphs into.

Black image before it was printed to film 

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Ink from overlay

Proof on newsprint

Printing on eco dyed cotton

Indigo Surprise

Just when I thought I would abandon the indigo vat I have been nurturing since June of 2013 it surprises me. The liquid had floating pieces of dust and leaves from the backyard and was not nearly as translucent as I would like, but I gave it one more chance. I refreshed it, set it out in the sun, and waited a day. I did not add any indigo crystals, it seemed like there were enough floating pieces in the liquid that I could see. When I took off the lid I was surprised by this huge bloom. The silk chiffon scarfs below were only dipped once. If you would like to see more images of my textiles, check out my Etsy shop, https://www.etsy.com/shop/kimmeulibrown  . . . and thanks for looking.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/kimmeulibrown

Just posted some new designs on my estsy shop, which you can find here https://www.etsy.com/shop/kimmeulibrown
I have been experimenting with ombre effects and indigo. I almost don't want to part with this ombre indigo scarf that I wore last week to the Counting Crows concert at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley. Before the show we had dinner at Cheeseboard. Don't let the line intimidate you, it's worth the wait. And okay I am willing to part with this silk chiffon scarf. Thanks for visiting my shop.

Surface Designs on Silk

Last week was a very successful week for me at the studio. Below are some of the latest designs.

Crazy Quilt Samples

My dear Aunt Fran and Nell kept all their fabric scraps and I ended up with some of them. I worked with all the silks that I could find and created these squares and a case for my sun glasses.

Black Licorice + Shibori

Having a black scarf in your wardrobe is a must. I spotted some wild fennel on the freeway off ramp coming home from Davis. And decided to harvest some for these three scarfs. The wool gauze dyed nicely to a golden yellow. Silk crepe de chine and silk chiffon dyed a very light yellow. Next I decided to over dye with black. Love the contrast of the black. While ironing these, the smell of the fennel with the black shibori patterns, made me think of black licorice.

Drawing with Thread

The Visual School of Philosophy offered a class in Stone Lithography. I decided to enroll. To begin, you must draw with grease pencils onto the limestone. Being more comfortable with a sewing machine, I decided to do some free motion quilting with my Featherweight.

Here are some of the experiments. These characters just come to life. I don't know what these people will be when I begin, really . . . except that I was inspired by paper silhouettes. The needle starts at the top of the head and then I just go, they make me laugh.

The tricky part is interpreting these onto the stone. The last image shows my first drawing on stone.