Crow Work

New Crow piece from last Wednesday's Ustream episode.

Cutch and Madder Root dyed natural colored cotton muslin and dyed wool boucle yarn. 

Crow stamped with Setacolor Black Transparent Paint.

Machine Stitched.

6x8 inches.

Studio Live Stream

Made my debut today on Ustream with my first live test and all went well, thank you to Dale Anne and Diana for stopping by and critiquing!  I will be adjusting the cameras tonight and will be streaming live tomorrow from my studio 3-5pm Central Time.  Pre-Chat will begin at about 2:30ish PM Central Time.

Encaustic - Playing with Wax

I will be live streaming from my studio this coming Wednesday 3-5pm.  Will be working on some encaustic collage pieces and maybe some other stuff as well. Check it out!

Live Streaming from My Studio

I created a Ustream channel and will be streaming live from my studio starting next week. I'll be working on various natural dye, rust dyeing, composting, pigment painting, etc. in addition to a lot of collage mix media. I won't be able to particiapte in the chat unfortunately, my monitor and key board are across the room from me but will have a fix for that and soon.
You can find me at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/kbaxterpackwood and search for kbaxterpackwood.

Avocado Peel

Will add more peels tomorrow and bring to a boil to prevent mold from forming.

Avocado Pit Dye Vat

Starting an avocado pit dye vat in a 2 quart jar.

Madder Root Dyed Trims - Found!

I've been looking for these for awhile as I had several projects in mind.

Copper on Compost

Oak Galls

Oak Leaves with Galls

Shutting Down My Etsy.com Store

Taking down my http://www.etsy.com/shop/prairiefibers store this weekend, I have lots on my plate right now, so if you are in need of something get it while it's available!

Goldenrod Dye Pot

Goldenrod out in the field.

One pounds worth of fresh goldenrod plant tops will dye quite a bit of silk fabric quite nicely.

A close up of the blossoms.

Gum Tragacanth Binder for Screen Printing.

To make print paste
2 - 4 Tablespoons of Gum Tragacanth depending on the consistency you desire. For painting I use 2 T. for printing I use 4 T 1000 ml of boiling water

Container to boil water in, and heat source for boilingwater
Blender
Squeegee or rubber spatula – the kind used for scraping bowls
Container with screw on lid – 1 quart variety
Respirator for handling the Gum Tragacanth in powdered form
Measuring cups and measuring spoons


Bring 1000 ml of water to a boil add to blender – after

I let it cool a bit so as to not wreck my blender.

Add 2 – 4 Tablespoons of Gum Tragacanth powder to the blender, put lid on blender and blend until a creamy consistency.

Remove from blender using a spatula or squeegee

place into your container with lid. I use wide mouth jars as this makes removing the paste much easier.

Cool the paste to room temperature, cover with tight fitting lid.

Store in refrigerator for up to ten days, I have found that it’ll last longer if you avoid introducing contaminants
to the paste.

Studio Update

I'm working on some new dye zines and a brand new dye book that is meant to answer many of the questions I recieve daily via email.   As you can see from the previous post I also acquired a new Flip Camera and am shooting How-To videos as well, this will also be available shortly.

Moldy Dye Bath - Test Video

Canyonlands WIP Detail 1

Canyonlands a New Series

Compost dyed silk - detail

Carcass

Salvaging the Unsalvageable

Rust • Wool • Pigments • Wax

Earth Palette

Taos New Mexico

September 29th & 30th, 2010

Emails and Dye Questions

I've been recieving more emails asking about natural dyes than ususal of late... my time is very limited these days with various projects, teaching etc.  Soooooooooooo if you email me a question and don't recieve a response please don't think I'm ignoring you, in fact check back here because I may well have posted your email and the anwsers here.  Unless otherwise specified I will remove email addies from the email.

Prairie Grass

From about 5 years ago, compost dyed, screen printed, and monoprinted silk charmuse.
44x54 inches

Studio Shots

Fabrics dyed, compost dyed, and or screen printed with natural dyes from five or six years ago and soon again later this week!  I'm off to clean and reorganize the studio time to for some surface design!