Photo. Kit Miller

Friday 31 August 2018

Rusty Mushrooms


These mushrooms were made from my stash of rusted and tea stained fabric. My original intention was to make samples for sketchbooks leading to some mixed media work. I am now making pieces of fabric with mushrooms in mind. The original samples, and more, can still be used in the sketchbooks, which I'm sure will benefit from all this experimentation (and fun).
They are made entirely from scraps and materials from charity shops and our local scrap store (sadly now closed). So far I have only used fabric which is over dyed with tea. I prefer the grey and black colours to the plain rust. I find that different brands of tea produce different shades. One of the makes that I used was far too pink, so I have settled on this one which will turn the rust black if the tea is very strong or the rusted fabric is left in soak for long enough.
Quite a few more will be needed if I am to sell them at local craft fairs this winter. I didn't have a theme in mind, but I think that these particular ones would be well suited to Halloween. It would be a good idea to try some other styles with Solstice and Christmas in mind.





Saturday 4 August 2018

Rust and Tea

I'm having great fun at the moment experimenting with rust and tea on fabric.
I love the way that the rust turns black when soaked in strong tea.
The other side of this was once painted with acrylic paint. It has led to an interesting blotchy effect on this side as the raw fabric absorbs the rust and tea more effectively.
When the fabric is tied around  beads or pleated with pegs etc. then dipped in tea, it produces interesting patterns and textures.


 This is an impression made from an old fire hood.
Impressions made from nails and a rusty spring.

Having washed the fabric I place it in a mixture of half water and half vinegar. I also spray the iron with the same liquid. The impression made differs according to whether the fabric is pressed onto the iron or if the object is laid on the cloth. It seems to depend on how much air, therefore oxygen, reaches the point of contact.
If the process is taking a long time, or when the weather is very dry, it is necessary to keep spraying the fabric until the rust has taken full effect. I must admit that as time goes on I get more haphazard and start to worry less about measuring quantities, so the effects might be partly due to the levels of water or vinegar.
Now I need to start thinking about what to do with my growing stash of rusted fabric.



Life Through Bottles and Windscreens

 Through a Shampoo Bottle
Waiting for the school bus on a very wet day.
Still waiting.
Arriving home on a wet day.

Trees and the house through an old bottle.