Residency updates

As of today I have officially extracted the pigments for all 8 dye plants. It was only supposed to be 7, but the palo de Brazil turned out brown, so they got a different one, so that I could have a red. (Which is what it was originally supposed to be.)

When we (my instructor and me) started working he had me use coffe filters to filter the solids from the liquids. But when I saw how much pigment seeped into the filters I suggested we use fabric. This way I’ll be able to use the fabric pieces as well after everything is said and done. One thing about me, I do NOT want to waste a drop of color.

The other perk of using fabric is that it withstands the process of removing the dry pigments from the fabric. The coffee filters kept crumbling when we tried to rub the pigments off.

Of the 8 extracted colors, I’ve gotten 6 pigments ready for screen printing.

We also exposed my screens today. One I had to do twice because it was backwards though. And I decided I want to do a third, textured one. It was super exciting because it was the most simple method I’ve ever done for screen printing and it’s going to make a lot of things possible when I get back home.

We did a test of my screen and it was absolutely perfect. The third screen will add a texture and third color in the background.

I’m very excited!!!

Note: I’ve decided that instead of making the blog part of the paid membership area, I want it to be accessible. But I will be adding an option for folks to be able to donate to my practice at the bottom of each blog post. Being an artist requires so much time and money, of which we usually have neither. So community support is essential to our progress as artists. Thank you so much for being here.