Oakleaf Hydrangea III

In early July I took a 4-day class with Kristy Kun on botanical printing/dyeing. I got some amazing prints that I am just delving into now. Part of my conundrum was having so many choices. I finally decided to work small and use one of the prints from our last day of work. I share some details on this printing here.

As a refresher, here is the portion of the particular piece that I chose to cut a print from.

I also trimmed off the end of the fabric that was not covered during the immersion in the cochineal dye bath. I will use every scrap of this fabric!

The oakleaf hydrangea is such a beautiful plant. This leaf is 10″ tall and 9″ wide. The crisp print and detail of the veining is just so exciting. Even in this simple state, I love it. The silk noil strip is just 11″ tall so having the gradation of cochineal on weld was perfect for adding some interest. On the right side I placed the beginning of the color change and the bottom has the next few inches which was more openly exposed to the cochineal bath. The bottom right corner is a square to complete the piece. I stabilized the fabric with Pellon featherweight interfacing by arranging the 4 pieces of fabric on top and pressing them into place — I didn’t waste a morsel by piecing it. Click on images to enlarge the view.

I used a hand-dyed pearl cotton thread that I purchased from Elin Noble many years ago. It has a bold weight and presence for this large-veined leaf that I really like.

I couldn’t wait to enhance the markings created by the twine wrap. Simple stitches with cotton embroidery floss worked well for the bottom and a variegated pearl cotton was perfect for the side. Here I am auditioning embroidery floss and 3 different beads.

A good studio assistant is never far from creative activity. Here is Cooper keeping an eye on my progress.

And here is the finished piece. It measures 12 3/4″ x 12 3/4″.

and a detail.

If you are new here, you can see my posts about the botanical printing class here and here, as well as the link above.

Thanks for reading. Please share your comments about this new work — I’d love to hear from you.