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Waxing with Ginger

gingerworking.jpg

Ginger of Gingerfied came by yesterday and we decided to do some soy wax batiking. I heated up my new electric fry pan to melt the wax and hauled out my crate of objects for making marks with soy wax. I bought a bunch of antique potato mashers which I had not used.

You can see Ginger’s results on her blog (link above).

This fabric was originally discharged with turquoise dye added to the discharge paste. Here it is with soy wax marks.

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I painted it with turquoise and purple paint. Here it is after heat setting and washing.

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It is ready for another layer of something – stamping or screen printing.

This was a rather ugly piece of orangish low immersion dyed cotton with soy wax marks..

waxedorangyfabric.jpg

Here it is after painting with turquoise paint – what an improvement.

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This fabric is silk that I folded and dyed in a class with Jane Dunnewald. It has been languishing in my studio for over a year. It was a pinkish orange color. I didn’t get a photo with the was, but here it is after painting with red Setacolor silk. It has been heat set and washed. I was going for a subtle effect. It is now ready for another layer of something.

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This is a piece of hand-dyed cotton with some gorgeous colors. I am going to mix up some dye for this so it is still sitting with the wax, waiting for me to figure out what color(s) to use.

waxedfabric.jpg

Ginger and I talked non-stop. We even had a lively theological discussion with Mr C at lunch.

After Ginger left, I ran up to Westmoreland to get my hair cut. Then Mr C and I went to Cha Cha Cha for some Mexican food before attending a lecture at Trinity by the pre-eminent biblical scholars, Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan. They discussed the first Christmas which they have written about in a newly released book.

These men are proponents of what I call progressive Christianity. We first met Marcus when we lived in North Carolina. His wife, Maryanne, is a priest at Trinity and coordinates the Center for Spiritual Development. Mr C and I are very excited because we are going to the Holy Land with the three of them and 30 some other folks next May. That is, if Dumb and Dumber will cool their heels and not invade Iran and escalate the strife in the mid-east.

Today, I did some major work on the SDA site for the 2009 conference and babysat with M & M while their Mom and Dad got some work done. They have no school next week and Steph needed to get organized for Miles’ birthday party on Monday. We messed around in my studio and then after lunch we went to the library. They are such book kids and feel right at home in a library.

7 Responses to “Waxing with Ginger”

  1. liz berg says:

    oh that looks like so much fun! great fabrics with fun people!

    And you got to hear Marcus Borg…I am envious…will have to check out his new book!

  2. terry grant says:

    “Waxing with ginger” sounds like some kind of special Thai depilatory method–a little painful! What a relief to find the wax was applied to fabrics, not bodies. Har har! Looks like fun!

  3. jenclair says:

    You and Ginger must have really enjoyed the opportunity to work and play with company.

    How exciting to be contemplating a trip to the Holy Land with someone you know.

  4. kathy says:

    These are fun, Gerrie!

  5. Judy says:

    Love that last piece…be sure to post a pic when you finish with it. Looks like you two had a fun day….and then to top it off with that lecture in the evening: wow!

  6. Kristin L says:

    Yes! That does look like a fun time! I’d love the first turquoise one as-is as a stash builder. The colorful one at the bottom is gorgeous. Could you discharge it? I wonder if the colors would change a lot, or just get lighter, or maybe a bit of both?!

    A trip to the Holy Land? Now THAT would be interesting. Living history.

  7. Vicki W says:

    What a fun day! I love the orange and turquoise peice.