pale pink granite

I made a silkscreen frame all on my own! Yes! This one´s motif is of the naked rock faces in pale, pale pink granite on the northern part of the most western/northern islands of Bømlo.

After making the frame, it´s a good idea to leave it in the sunlight to fasten a bit extra.

I´m still working in the POPart direction. Below on some super-thick sand washed silk crepe de chine. And of course I made another mistake! I made several layers color wise, and when I put the pink layer on, the frame I chose was a bit too narrow. In order to fill in pink all the way to the edges, I moved the frame, forgetting that the black paint was now wet again, and it made a ghost-print. So now it looks like a beautiful landscape seen with a blurry vision.

Still the most exciting part was fixating this fabric. After it´s been steamed, I worked quickly, moving it from one bathe of cold water to the next slightly warmer, keeping it in constant motion. After the third bath I could see that the color had bled onto other areas, but through even more rinsing with motion in water, I got most of it out.

(Picture above is before fixating, below is after)

The white isn´t white anymore, it´s more like a pale blue. I was given a tip to add vinegar into the water, to make the colors fasten to the fabric faster. I´ll try that next time.

More experiments today with the same motif. This time the experiment was more in colors, mixing them both pre-screening and on the fabric by layering.

The school has a library of samples of mixed dyes, so useful when I´m trying to find a certain color. And much more interesting than just the pure, clean colors.

Today´s mistake: I forgot to add the NatriumBiCarbonate to one of the colors I used, which means I can´t steam it to fixate it. Instead I used another method we´ve also learned, by glazing the fabric with a special caustic-solution. The turquoise dye demands at least 12 hours to fixate. Perfect. It can work on it´s own, while I rest 🙂