This began as a piece of space-dyed cotton that had not work worked very well. It was a combination of grey and orangey brown. Having struggled to get it onto the drainpipe I bought six years ago when I originally learnt this technique I wet it thoroughly and then painted it with Setacolor Ultramarine.
I was really pleased with the effect. The grey became blueish and the dark blue really looks like marks in the sand at low tide. I have been trying to get this effect for years!
I then decided that I could use up some of my silk paints. I have had them for years and some of them are beginning to look as though they might die if not used. I found a piece of poor quality silk which was good enough to experiment on and covered it with strips of yellow,, blue and red allowing them to run into each other.
This was one long thin piece but I cut it in two. The effect is similar to the cotton.
I realised that our garden pond looks very like this at the moment. There are striped grasses on the edge and rather a lot of pond weed because the filter has broken and my husband supports the newts and is very loathe to scrape it off!
I'm afraid the colours on this photo are not brilliant as I took the photo at midday and the light was very bright. I rather liked the abstract effect of this shot though.
Overall I think the technique works well and I will make some more. The pieces are quite narrow but it is a good way of using up some of my stash of bridal off-cuts, many of which are rather odd shapes. I am also thinking about what I can make with the resultant pieces. I am off to Normandy for a few days on Wednesday so if I can get it together I may turn the silk into a journal quilt that I can hand stitch while travelling. I have a six hour train journey to London (and another back of course) and the holiday is a Great Rail Journeys package www.greatrail.com so in theory there is plenty of 'dead' time when we will be sitting on trains.
nice!
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