Author: Eva Camacho

Rust dyeing

“Sometimes a rusty photograph worth a thousand memories.”
― Shihab Kazi

As I prepare for my next show at the Smithsonian, I am getting all my rusted metal out of the box to start doing a little bit of rust dyeing. If you have never done it, I recommend that you try it, at least just for the fun of it!

rust
  1. a reddish- or yellowish-brown flaky coating of iron oxide that is formed on iron or steel by oxidation, especially in the presence of moisture.

What you need:

– A spray bottle

– White vinegar

– Fabric (I usually use silk, cotton and wool)

– Rusty objects

How to obtain rusted prints:

The first step is to spray an equal amount of water and white vinegar with a spray bottle. The reason we use vinegar is because it’s in an aqueous solution so it contains lots of water. The active ingredient in vinegar is acetic acid, which has even more corrosive properties than water. When you spray the fabric, make sure that the fabric is well saturated. The next step is to place your rusty object on top of the wet fabric. It helps to place something heavy on top of the object for a better print. Because in order to make rust we need oxidation, I don’t cover my pieces. The oxygen will take care of the rest!

 

The possibilities from now on are endless. I will leave you with a few prints I have created on felt. Have fun and enjoy this technique!!

Surface Design Class / New England Felting Supply

“A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away”

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Although felting is my main medium and I truly enjoy working with it, when it comes to design the fabrics that I use on my felting, then I feel like I am in heaven! And this passion is what I tried to pass along to all 10 students that joined me at the New England Felting Supply this past weekend where they made a printed nuno scarf.

I studied Surface Design with Julie Booth at the Art League in Alexandria, VA even before I knew what felting was all about. Everything she taught me about 8 years ago I still use on a daily basis to design all the silks that make my felting a little bit more contemporary.

I always paint, print and design on white silk with black, grey and sometimes red fabric paint. The reason is because I can then change the background color depending on what I am going to make with it by simply adding the piece to a dye bath.

But I let the students to be creative and explore all kind of colors! And what a rainbow we had!

They explored painting backgrounds, adding designs by printing with found objects, rubber blocks, stencils, etc…

And then the felting began….

….and although not all them were able to finish their scarves, the ones that were done looked so great!

Good job, everybody! And I hope you can join me again to continue the fun!

New color palette

Why grey? because my ideas
are colourful!!”
-Anonymous

 

The Smithsonian Craft Show will be taking place in a little bit more than a month and the studio is already transforming. I’m saying goodbye to the dark winter colors, and welcoming new ones. The table is covered with samples of new ideas and a completely new palette. Grey and black have always being my favorite colors. All you have to do is to open my closet and you will see all 50 shades of grey! But combined them with white, it transforms!

Palette 1:

Eigengrau
(n.) “dark light” or “brain grey”; the color seen by the eye in perfect darkness

These two samples will lead the new line of scarves: “Spiderweb”

I will add little accents like these ones to the spring Barcelona vests.

And why not new necklaces??

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The new collection will have three new palette. I will show you more within the next few weeks. Stay tuned!

Honoring women artists

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“DO NOT WAIT FOR SOMEONE ELSE TO COME AND SPEAK FOR YOU. IT’S YOU WHO CAN CHANGE THE WORLD”

Malala Yousafzai

Suzanne Valada

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Suzanne Valada (23 September 1865 – 7 April 1938) was a French painter and artists’ model who was born Marie-Clémentine Valadon at Bessines-sur-Gartempe, Haute-Vienne, France. In 1894, Valadon became the first woman painter admitted to the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts. The subjects of her drawings and paintings included mostly female nudes, female portraits, still lifes, and landscapes. She never attended the academy and was never confined within a tradition.

Georgia O’Keeffe

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One of the first female painters to achieve worldwide acclaim from critics and the general public, Georgia O’Keeffe was an American painter who created innovative impressionist images that challenged perceptions and evolved constantly throughout her career.

 

Frida Kahlo

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A Mexican painter and activist born in Mexico City in 1907, her work has been celebrated internationally as emblematic of Mexican national and indigenous traditions and by feminists for its honest depiction of female experience.

 

Queenie McKenzie

Queenie McKenzie Nakara 1997

Queenie McKenzie was born in 1920 and is considered one of the best contemporary Indigenous Australian artists. She was declared a “State Living Treasure” the year of her death in 1998. Queenie was never taken from her family as part of the official policy of assimilation. With no mission education, her background is truly that of a traditional Aboriginal, having spent her childhood being taught the practical knowledge of managing cattle and riding horses.

 

Yayoi Kusamen

YAYOI KUSAMEN

Japanese artist who was a self-described “obsessional artist.” … Before leaving Japan, she destroyed many of her early paintings. Her early work in New York City included what she called “infinity net” paintings. She opened an art gallery but found the conservative lifestyle in Japan too mentally draining and admitted herself to a mental hospital in Shinjuku, Tokyo, where she still lives today. Her work encompassed pop art, minimalism and feminist art movements. She has exhibited all over the world and is known for her dotted, large landscapes. Her studio is a short distance from the hospital and she works there almost daily.

 

Shirin Neshat

SHIRIN NESHAT

 

She is an artist who was born in Iran in 1957 to a wealthy Persian family of five children. Her father was a firm believer in education. He sent all the children all over the world in pursuit of higher education, so Neshat traveled to California to study and received her BA, BS and MA. She moved to New York City to get married and didn’t return to her birth country until after the Iranian Revolution. The shock of seeing her country so changed by religion, especially in people’s dress and public behaviors, sparked her first mature body of work.

 

Tracey Rose

tracey rose

Tracey Rose is a South African artist who lives and works in Johannesburg. Rose is best known for her performances, video installations, and photographs. Her work as a contemporary multimedia artist and feminist usually showcases her multicultural ancestry and her history growing up as a mixed race person in South Africa. Rose’s photos, illustrations and performances illustrate the disparities of her political and social landscape.

Shifting Landscapes exhibition!

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Very happy to be part of this great exhibition!

Artists from the Surface Design Association (SDA) will reinvent the map using felt, cotton, silk, string and countless other fibrous materials in the 3rd International SDA Member Juried Exhibition at form & concept. The gallery is pleased to host Shifting Landscapes, a show that explores traditional and contemporary interpretations of place by artists, designers and makers working with or inspired by fiber or textile materials and techniques. The exhibition opens on Friday, February 24 from 5-7 pm, at form & concept gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

The Shifting Landscapes jurors, fiber artist Erika Lynne Hanson and form & concept Gallery Director Frank Rose, will embark on visual journeys through landscapes that are representational and abstract, literal and metaphorical. “With everything that’s happening environmentally and politically, I can only imagine what many artists are thinking about as they make work for the exhibition,” says Danielle Kelly, Executive Director of SDA. “We can communicate things through art when words fail us. Sometimes the best place to talk about your world is through what you make.” The exhibition features a number of awards for selected artists.

Artists in the show: Regina Benson, Eszter Bornemisza, Sarah Bozaan, Eva Camacho, Jodi Colella, Sarah Comfort, Katie Craney, Rena Detrixhe, Yewen Dong, Xia Gao, Helen Geglio, Karen Anne Glick, Margaret Hester, Faith Kane, Patricia Kennedy-Zafred, Yuni Kim Lang, Lisa Klakulak, Lena Klett, Jenna Lynch, Melody Money, Garry Noland, Kayla Paul, Manda Remmen, Kristin Rohr, Barbara Shapiro, Dolores Slowinski, Carol Sogard, Brooks Stevens, Wendy Weiss, Sarita Westrup, & Yuge Zhou.

Learn more about Shifting Landscapes: http://www.formandconcept.center/exhibitions/shifting-landscapes-exhibition/

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