Nuno felt eco printed blouse - 羊毛混纖襯衣

 This eco printed blouse is simply made with nuno felt on shoulders and neck.

 I first done the prints on a silk fabric with leaves of sumac, mandarin and euc but I was too bored with outcome.

 Found it no harm to dye in logwood pot with little bit iron

 This image is the "Before and After".  The right pic is dark shade after logwood dyed.

 Well, not quite good but an experiment. I simply made it two-folded and done with nuno felt on shoulders and extended the "turtle neck"  with wool.  The waist lines are hand stitched.

 In two hours Mogi kept my company......

 

It's done with his approval

 

 Intended to make the neck styles "fold-in" or "fold-out", just insert the collar inside to make the neckline.

 

                         Close up of the prints.  Looks "wore out"?

 

 The two styles of the neckline

Anyway a new color scheme of my eco print wearable.  

Journey being artisan 手作旅人

 

The batch of art journals telling stories....... First from the hands of the creator ....... then to the hands of the owners ......

I can tell the stories of being artisan of the art books. If I was asked what I'm most passionate about lately.  Thought the answer is the art journals making. From wool felt, nuno felt, eco dye, botanical imprints, paper prints, ceramic making to book binding.....  In a nutshell a book tells all what I'm doing.  

每一本手作美術小本訴說一段故事，可以是旅人日誌， 可以是生活小記，從開始製作已概括我近來醉心的興趣  - 天然植物印染、羊毛氈手工、陶瓷....以至小本釘裝，正正是我的一段創作歷程開端。

I must say two persons, Ruta and James are the ones inspired my making of the art journals. Few years ago Ruta, a blogger from Lithuania was so kind to send me a beautiful wool felt covered notebook.  From then on I felt in love of wool felted book covers.  Then I stumbled into a blog Dip and Stains of paper prints. Jim Dennisons' wealth of botanic knowledge and his paper prints are wonderful.  He's so kind to share his knowledge.

From making one book to two.......

then a few more........ 

I walked through my journey of making.  My previous post mentioned it.

I used some swatches of my eco prints for the cover.  

Papers are discarded file index from my nice friend. My previous post of paper prints here.

Most leaves were from my area and a few from friends. The big castor oil is a good keepsake for myself from Israel last year.

This is the beach near my studio. I like to take shots listening to the rhythm of wave.......

......at times with the flapping sound

Cover of swatch I printed with two species of euc and mandarin leaves .

Purple from logwood dye

Each book with 7-8 signatures, each with a set of paper prints and other blank pages for writing.

Set of five

Complete set enclosed with my handmade ceramic button.

One of the pages with Hibiscus, that's the tree the book rests on.

A leaf after pigment given on the paper still on the front page, tied by a Teeswater fleece dyed in Irit's class in California.

Prints with iron mordant thus have outlines and shades

These are castor oil leaves on cotton from Israel.  Very bold prints with iron.

This page with printed fabric and dried euc as well the onion dyed fleece

Nuno felted cover of textural surface with dyed chiffon

Oak leaf from the US

Swatches with euc silver dollar, red is good to show off

The dried Hibiscus gives bold prints, much better than green ones.

 

I enjoy my journey of making and adore own creation

Each of unique and touch of love. Though I do not want to part with either, they're going to be a giveaway on special occasions.

Wrap up Shanghai workshops上海之行總結

 

My Shanghai workshops were brimming with creativity. Wool felt and eco print are not common in China.   We immersed in the ancient town for the contemporary creation. Other than the regular hours of teaching I grasped the early mornings to feel the tranquility .....

一星期在上海金澤古鎮的連串工藝工坊, 學生們全程投入創作, 我也把握早晚時刻往水鄉古鎮瀏覽, 在工坊做藍染, 做另類動物纖維創作. 時而逗逗貓兒, 在圖書館參閱, 偶爾想像自己沈醉在駐場藝術家的創作....... 想著想著...... 現實的一周完結, 留下足跡, 充實的回家了.

  

 Crossed the time-honored bridges from here to there.....

 

  

The painterly scenery of houses by the waterway

 

Washing by the bank

A bumper veggie harvest this summer

Except the normal sessions of wool felt and botanical imprints I offered, I also got my hands in the indigo dye pot. 

Jinze Arts Centre is well equipped and provides comprehensive range of facilities, incl weaving and textile art.  

At night I tried my botanical imprinted silk for the indigo blue

Soaked in the vat for a while

Took it out to oxidize for a while then soaked in again

Along with the other starch paste resisted indigo dyed cotton

So pretty indigo blue with patterns

Then the outstanding blue in the studio

Am I so welcome?  The kittens like to rub me and .....

.........visiting us after workshop.

After wool felt and fabric prints, I've special treat to students to make paper eco-prints.

 

Also the making of wool felt flower brooch.

The centre has a wealth archive over 5000 items of textile crafts and artifacts. We're showed some of them.

We're free to use the library with lots reference books.

I imagine at times I'm there for the artist-in-residence and bury myself in the studio for the creation of wool felt, nuno felt, eco print...... lots and lots......  Then a pretty model to show my wearable art along the river under the willow........
Jinze Art Centre do offer artist-in-residence programe.  Interested parties may contact the Centre directly.

  

 Well, back to reality, my one week stay in the town was quiet without distraction, no internet to the outside world, no blogging, no facebook. At night I've nothing to do, I made a few wool felt flower rings together with the paper prints as souvenirs for my students.

  I indulged in my creation.  This set I love a lot. The colorful "coblestone" texture is from the fabric prints made there and the vessel is from a kind of animal. Guess what it is of.

The last day, strolling on the stone alley for the last glimpse of the village

Farewell to the stunning water town......

Flown back to my fascinating town Hong Kong