Saturday, August 20, 2011

In Pursuit of Complex Cloth:
Complex Cloth Intensive Workshop
at Orange Textile Fiber Forum

Tutor: Marie-Therese Wisniowski

Preamble
This blogspot exhibits many of my students outputs from a variety of workshops. There are one, two and five day workshops as well as workshops that have a different focus. Nevertheless, it always surprises me how much I learn from my students and how enthusiastic they are to learn and so for your convenience, I have listed the workshop posts below.

Visual Communication and Design (The University of Newcastle Multi-Media Course).
The University of Newcastle (Newcastle and Ourimbah Campuses, NSW, Australia) 2008 to 2010.

In Pursuit of ArtCloth:Improvisational Screen Printing Workshop
The Australian Textile Arts & Surface Design Association Inc. Sydney, NSW.

One and Two Day Disperse Dye Workshops
Various Textile Groups (Australia) 2008 - 2011.

Five Day Workshop - In Pursuit of Complex Cloth
“Wrapt in Rocky” Textile Fibre Forum Conference (Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia) 29th June to 5th July 2008.

Five Day Workshop – In Pursuit of Complex Cloth
Orange Textile Fiber Forum (Orange, NSW, Australia) 19th to 25th April 2009.

5 Day Workshop – In Pursuit of Complex Cloth
Geelong Fiber Forum (Geelong, Victoria, Australia) 27th September to 3rd October 2009.

Two Day Workshop - Deconstructed and Polychromatic Screen Printing
Beautiful Silks (Melbourne, Victoria, Australia) 20th to 21st March 2010.

Five Day Workshop – Disperse Dye and Transfer Printing
“Wrapt in Rocky” Biennial Textile Forum/Conference Program (Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia) 25th June to 1st July 2010.

Two Day Workshop – Improvisational Screen Printing
ATASDA (Sydney, NSW, Australia) 28th to 29th August 2010.

Two Day Workshop – In Pursuit of Complex Cloth (Day One)
”Stitching and Beyond” Textile Group (Woodbridge, Tasmania, Australia) 2nd to 3rd October 2010.

Two Day Workshop – In Pursuit of Complex Cloth (Day Two)
”Stitching and Beyond” Textile Group (Woodbridge, Tasmania, Australia) 2nd to 3rd October 2010.

Advance Silk Screen Printing
Redcliffe City Art Gallery Redcliffe, Queensland, Australia) 10th April 2011.

One Day Workshop - In Pursuit of Complex Cloth
The Victorian Feltmakers Inc. (Melbourne, Victoria, Australia) 14th May 2011.

One Day Workshop - In Pursuit of Complex Cloth (Felted and Silk Fibers)
Victorian Feltmakers Inc (Melbourne, Victoria, Australia) 15th May 2011.

Five Day Workshop – Disperse Dye and Transfer Printing
SDA (Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA) 13th to 17th June 2011.

Five Day Disperse Dye Master Class – Barbara Scott
Art Quill Studio (Arcadia Vale, NSW, Australia) 15th to 19th August 2011.

Five Day Workshop – Disperse Dye and Transfer Printing
Fiber Arts Australia (Sydney, NSW, Australia) 26th September to 1st October 2011.

One Day Workshop – Improvisational Screen Printing
Newcastle Printmakers Workshop Inc. (Newcastle, NSW, Australia) 5th November 2011.

One Day Workshops – Low Relief Screen Printing
Various classes within Australia.

Two Day Workshop – Disperse Dye and Transfer Printing
ATASDA (Sydney, NSW, Australia) 23rd to 24th June 2012.

MSDS Demonstration at Zijdelings
(Tilburg, The Netherlands) October, 2012.

Five Day Workshop - Disperse Dye and Transfer Printing
Fibre Arts@Ballarat (Ballarat, Victoria, Australia) 6th to 12th April 2013.

Two Day Workshop - Disperse Dye and Transfer Printing
EFTAG (Tuross Head, NSW, Australia) 13th to 14th April 2013.

Two Day Workshop - Disperse Dye and Transfer Printing
Zijdelings Studio (Tilburg, The Netherlands) 9th to 10th October 2014.

PCA - Celebrating 50 Years in 2016
Art Quill Studio 2016 Workshop Program (Newcastle, Australia).

Image Dreamings: Basic Silk Screen Printing Workshop - Part I
2016 Art Quill Studio Workshop Program (Newcastle, Australia).

Image Dreamings: Basic Silk Screen Printing Workshop - Part II
2016 Art Quill Studio Workshop Program (Newcastle, Australia).

In Pursuit of: Improvisational Screen Printing Workshop
2016 Art Quill Studio Workshop Program (Newcastle, Australia).

In Pursuit of: Low Relief Screen Printing (LRSP) Workshop 2016
2016 Art Quill Studio Workshop Program (Newcastle, Australia).

Art Quill Studio 2017 Workshop Program
2017 Art Quill Studio Workshop Program (Newcastle, Australia).

In Pursuit of: Low Relief Screen Printing (LRSP)
2017 Art Quill Studio Workshop Program (Newcastle, Australia).

In Pursuit of Complex Cloth: Layered Printing Approaches
2017 Art Quill Studio Workshop Program (Newcastle, Australia).

Melding Experiences: New Landscapes Using Disperse Dyes and Transfer Printing.
2019 Art Quill Studio Workshop (NCEATA, Newcastle, Australia).

In Pursuit of ArtCloth: Disperse Dye and Transfer Printing Workshop
2022 Two Day Workshop (ATASDA, Sydney, NSW, Australia).


Complex Cloth Dyeing Information
The first step in creating richly layered “complex cloth” involves dyeing the cloth. In 1856 William Henry Perkin synthesized the first synthetic organic dye named mauveine. Many thousands of synthetic dyes have since been prepared. Synthetic dyes quickly replaced the traditional natural dyes. They cost less, they offered a vast range of new colors, and they imparted better properties upon the dyed materials. Dyes are now classified according to how they are used in the dyeing process.

To create the complex cloth multi-hued backgrounds I use Procion MX fiber reactive dyes. Procion MX dyes are extremely versatile and can be used for immersion dyeing, low water immersion dyeing, hand painting and surface applications. In the creation of complex cloth, specific background patterning techniques are employed using folding, tying or binding techniques, which act as a resist. The basic concept is to protect areas of the fabric from dyes. The fabric can then be over-dyed in a second, third or fourth dye bath using the resist method employing additional colors to create a rich, textured and complex surface for the next stage of the process, which includes discharging and printing.

Disclaimer: Marie-Therese Wisniowski, Art Quill Studio, and Art Quill & Co have no financial interest in any  products mentioned in this blog.


Procion MX Dye Attributes
Procion MX are “cold water” dyes, which means that the temperature needed for dyeing is low, from 29 degrees to 41 degrees centigrade (hot to very hot tap water).

There are a wide choice of colors available in Procion dyes. The colors are intermixable and can be mixed according to color theory to produce a wide variety of pure hues and shades.


Fabric Selections for Procion MX Dyes
Procion MX dyes can be used to dye cotton, viscose rayon, linen, hemp and other cellulose fibers. They will also work on silk, a protein fiber, because of its molecular structure. There are many weights and weaves of fabric to choose from, such as muslin, georgette, organza, broadcloth, twill, velvet and sateen.

Five-day Workshop Synopsis
In Pursuit of Complex Cloth: Complex Cloth Intensive

This workshop was organized by 'The Australian Forum for Textile Arts’, 2009 Orange Textile Fiber Forum Conference, Orange, New South Wales. The workshop was held in the Anderson Building at the Wolaroi/Kinross Campus from the 19th - 25th April 2009.

Anna Cahill, Barbara Jackson, Dimity Kidston, Helen Harwood, Gai McMurtrie, Kay Faulkner, Libby Hobbs, Pamela Bates, Maureen Mutton, Karen Clarke, Phyllis Sullivan, Rachel Bickovsky and Sadhana Peterson attended the workshop. The workshop participants created unique and personal one-of-a-kind ArtCloth fabrics of great depth and complexity.

The five-day workshop was dedicated to exploring and mastering complex relationships on the cloth surface using “complex cloth” dyeing and printing layering techniques. Using a variety of printing tools, processes and color combinations, participants were introduced to the underlying principles of color (monochromatic and color), contrast, value, scale and texture employed in the creation of complex cloth using dyes, discharge media, fabric paints and foils to create the illusion of depth. Exercises included immersion dyeing, overdyeing, low water immersion dyeing, resist, discharge (color removal), stamping, stenciling and foiling as well as the creation of tools. The workshop also explored and encouraged the participants to think about the relationship and impact of the color and design processes via discussion and examples. Participants were encouraged to prepare themed ideas and images, as it was possible to prepare some of these assets and tools prior to the class.

Group Photo: Back left to right: Karen Clarke, Maureen Mutton, Helen Harwood, Rachel Bickovsky, Anna Cahill, Sadhana Peterson, Barbara Jackson, Kay Faulkner, Phyllis Sullivan, Libby Hobbs, Gai McMurtrie.
Front left to right: Pamela Bates and Dimity Kidston.


A Word About The Images
By the end of the weeklong workshop each participant created a work measuring ca. 1 x 1 meter/yard. The following works were dyed and over-dyed using various binding methods, discharged, foiled and printed using the multiple complex cloth layering techniques. Color and design principles were also studied during the week long program and effectively incorporated to create this final series of stunning works. Images below include some of the larger 1 x 1 meter works and some of the smaller 30 x 30 cm works.

Barbara Jackson's depth exploration employing complementary color study using dyeing and hand painting techniques, fabric paints, discharge, glazes and foil.

Gai McMurtrie's depth study employing analogous color study using dyeing techniques, fabric paints, discharge and foil.

Sadhana Peterson's value study employing complementary color study using dyeing techniques, fabric paints and foil.

Maureen Mutton's value study with a grid format employing analogous color study using dyeing techniques, fabric paints, discharge, glazes and foil.

Pamela Bate's depth study with a grid format employing complementary color study using dyeing techniques, fabric paints, discharge and foil.

Dimity Kidston's value exploration employing analogous color study using dyeing techniques, fabric paints and foil.

Libby Hobb's depth exploration employing complementary color study using dyeing techniques, fabric paints, discharge and glazes.

Rachel Bickovsky's value study with a grid format employing analogous color study using dyeing techniques, fabric paints and glazes.

Helen Harwood's depth exploration, with a grid format and employing a complementary color study, using dyeing techniques, fabric paints, discharge and foil.

Anna Cahill's depth study employing analogous color study using dyeing techniques, fabric paints and foil.

Phyllis Sullivan's depth exploration employing analogous color study using dyeing techniques, fabric paints, discharge, glazes and foil.

Karen Clarke's depth study employing analogous color study using dyeing techniques, fabric paints and foil.

This photo and the four photo's below show images of works created during the weeklong workshop program. The workshop output display was viewed by visiting public, other workshop attendees, tutors and the forum organizers.







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