Returning to a Familiar Land

Like when you sit in front of a fire in winter — you are just there in front of the fire. You don't have to be smart or anything. The fire warms you.― Desmond Tutu

I attended my first workshop yesterday since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. I have missed these things so much over the past couple of years, but recently I've felt a real desperation to be in a workshop space. When I started seeing them re-appearing in my newsletters and online circles, it was as though someone shone a light down a very deep, dark mineshaft. It looked like hope after a long, long time.

This workshop was about painting on silk. It's not something I'd ever thought about, never mind something I thought I'd try out for myself. But I like painting and I like new things, so it seemed like a good fit for me. We learned various techniques during the class. First, we used a water-based resist to draw lines onto the silk which we would later colour in with the jacquard dyes: 

While that was drying, we played around with wet dye on dry silk. I really liked dotting the dyes on and then sitting back to watch them spread onto the fabric. It was really therapeutic:

And then we tried out wet dye on wet silk. My silk started to dry a bit in the corner which made for some dry blotches:

And then we tried combining the wet and dry techniques to paint a landscape. This looks very well-planned, but I have to say that it was looking pretty dicey in the middle of the process until I did a few desperate strokes to save it. I really had to tell myself to put down the brush at the end. I'm really glad I did because the dyes moved around in just the right way to make this image:

After that, we went back to our resist squares and added colour there. After experimenting with the free-flow of the other techniques, it was a bit of a relief to simply colour in between the lines. I really loved watching the dye spread along the fabric in between the resist lines... it was like my brush was painting on a computer screen: one touch and the colours flooded the area:

I get to go back next week after the instructor steams and sets our fabric. Apparently, the colours will be even brighter after the steam. I am very much looking forward to it:

While I was working away on my panels, someone remarked how nice it was to be around people who weren't afraid to try new things. We all nodded in agreement. It felt really nice to be among kind, creative, and adventurous people. It felt good to take off my regular work persona and to talk about colours and textiles and dyeing techniques. I felt like I had removed a hard outer shell and was free to just be myself.

I feel kind of weepy thinking about it now. Heh.

How funny it is to suddenly walk back into a world that has been closed off to me for so long. I am so grateful to have had the opportunity... and I will never take those opportunities for granted again.

Off to knit. Have a good week.