Dye Workshop: Playing with Colour

 Dye Workshop: June 21, 2014

Changing the colour of fiber is a magical experience. It is so much fun to to watch the fiber absorb the colour and transform
This workshop is about the basics of immersion  dyeing using commercial acid dyes. We will be experimenting with vat dyeing and overdyeing.

The workshop runs from 10:00 a.m. -3:00 p.m. and includes materials. Each participant will take home a sample of the colours dyed.
Cost: $90, includes materials
Registration at coloursparks@gmail.com

Vessels: having fun making them and adding more

 I am having a great time making vessels...It seems every few days a new one arises. I am experimenting with different elements and colours and seeing what I get...things are getting more predictable.
Wondering what one does with a vessel, I spied my favourtie girl hanging in the corner of my studio.
She seemed to fit in perfectly.

What is a Fibre Addict to Do?

Morning Madness Mohair Locks 4 oz

I purchased a mohair fleece from Vancouver Island and I have been spending my days dyeing it one pot at a time. I like vat dyeing...I begin with one colour, dye the fibre, then add another colour, then another, then another...I end up with way too much.
Right now, I have 21 acid dyes and I am almost finished the set. I have had to refrain, of course, from purchasing more colours....I decided I would finish this set and then I was free to experiment with different colours.
I actually take notes and samples and I have found that the colours are really consistent.
I have realized that the dyeing part is what fascinates me the most...its like magic...you fill a pot of water, put in a powder...add your
wool...and voila...colour.
The colour witch is alive and well and living in Kelowna...ha ha.

The mixtures pictured here are available in my etsy store
ColourSparks on Etsy

Dawn's Finest Hour Mohair Locks 4 oz

Perfect Hair Mohair Locks 4 oz

Blue Danube Mohair Locks 4 oz

What Colour Are You?

Yesterday, I was blue and red, You were green and yellow, She was pink and purple, He was brown and green, They were black and red.

Today, I am pink and purple, You are red and blue, She is yellow and blue, He is red and pink, They are brown and orange.

Tomorrow, I will be yellow and orange, You will be brown and pink, She will be black and green, He will be blue and yellow, and They will be white and pink.

What colour are you?

People, though they may look different and believe different things are all human beings made of flesh and soul and spirit. The idea that your life does not affect mine is for me an illusion and construe of society to allow bad things to happen to justify the concept of the greater good. I believe that even though you live in a far away country and I have no visible relationship to you...your life affects mine in the matrix of mankind. The reality that you live will change the reality that I live in and vice versa.

If I Told You My Story...Would You Listen? 4th Year Show

 My pieces are now in the Fina Gallery at UBCO as part of the 4th year graduating class. The piece with the steel sculpture and felt balls is called What Colour Are You? and the piece with the felted heads is called If I Told You My Story Would You Listen. 
What is not visible hear in the picture is that one of the heads has a speaker in it and it repeatedly asks the same questions...trying to call attention to the viewer. The colourful ball sculpture has a motor in the middle which stirs the balls.

What Colour Are You?

Welded Steel and Wool Fleece

My work has dealt with the exploration of combining wool and steel and trying to find a balance between the two. I have concluded that the steel often ends up being a support or container for the wool. The idea that the steel could be construed as masculine and the wool as female was my original starting point. I felt the need to defend the idea that working in wool and using it as a sculpture tool is not to be designated as craft but serious art. In the end I was lead to the conclusion of “who cares”. The steel is stronger and holds the wool and that’s okay....just as the wool is soft and colourful and allows the steel to shine.

This piece is my attempt to display a visual reference for the oneness of mankind. People, though they may look different and believe different things are all human beings made of flesh and soul and spirit.

The idea that your life does not affect mine is for me an illusion and construe of society to allow bad things to happen in the name of the greater good. I believe that even though you live in a far away country and I have no visible relationship to you...your life affects mine in the matrix of mankind. The reality that you live in will change the reality that I live in and vice versa

If I Told You My Story...Would You Listen?

Wool Fleece and Media

This installation piece is the beginning of a larger piece that will explore the stories we tell about the lives we live. The faces are the untold stories of women as they meet and interrelate with one another. I want the viewer to listen to the stories that are told but I also want the viewer to imagine and hear the story themselves by looking at the faces and listening to what they hear.

Fabulous Finds at Summerhill Winery

Come and visit us at Fabulous Finds this Saturday....Luka and I have a booth...VBS and ColourSparks
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=245706178805870\