i want to talk today about things that maybe just don't work out the way you want or expect them to. Have you ever had an idea you thought was really great, only to have it not work when you tried to make it real? Being open minded can be one of our greatest assets. Some of the great minds of times past have had many a failure in their attempts to create something new and exciting. Take Thomas Edison's interesting response to a reporter that urged him to give up his attempts to create the incandescent electric lamp. He replied that the young man did not know how the world works! Further, he said that he had not failed 5,000 times. Every wrong attempt that he discarded put him another step forward.
Ok, so if it does not work out the way I planned it to and I learn something each time, I will sooner than later turn each scarf into a beautiful piece of artwear.
I think about when I first started using the dyes on the silk. I was so afraid to ruin the silk that it would literally take me days to confront the process. And I had not the experience to perfect my processes except for all the trial and error that would show me the way to progress. Hmmm....
You are probably thinking something like, why did she not take a few classes to help her learn the processes? Well, I guess I am more of a Mariano Fortuny type individual that likes to discover things my own way and make my own innovations along the way in my dreamy studio. I like to stay true to my own inner wisdom and my own stream of consciousness and watch as my artwear comes to life! This can mean that sometimes I get an idea and as the work progresses, I see my idea turn into a sort of a temporary disaster! No! The dyes are not covering the silk as I planned them to - and they just clash!!
The picture above is a good example of what I am talking about. In and of itself its a fine looking scarf so far, even though its maybe a little dark. In all fairness, it was still wet in this picture. It was the process before this one though, that became the perceived problem. Here is what was underneath this, on the side against the pole...and when I excitedly removed the scarf from the pole and looked at both sides, ughh. A disasterrrr. My masterpiece clashed!!
I threw it aside. I went to work on cleaning the house and considered if it could be changed in any way or what else I could do to it that would be an improvement. Quite some hours and a clean house later, I had a thought. I wondered what would happen if I discharged it? Not on the pole any longer, I would have only a couple of viable options. One, put it back on the pole a third time and discharge and then overdye it. No, too much. The simple way to approach it would be to create a discharge bath and then just throw it in. I pulled it out and dunked it in a cold water bath. Not enough. Threw it back into the discharge bath.
To my amazement, the change created a scarf so pretty, and so light and floaty, that I wore it for a while around the studio. I am very pleased to show you the final resulting seafoam scarf with the white to palest green geometric patterns. And, without going through all that to get to this, could I ever produce the same effect and color again? Hmmm....
(Originally posted 23 June, 2018). Edited 27 January, 2024