At the begining of my MA I was quite enthusiastic about doing some block printing on fabric but with so many options available it was too tempting not to try a bit of everything.
Now it has come around to writing my dissertation.
This is what I wrote as a starting point for my dissertation proposal: “In my essay I will be looking at the history of arts and crafts, particularly in india, how craft transforms into art and where textile art sits within art and craft.”
After much thought it became apparent that I need to hone in on something I can enjoy researching. So I am back to block printing. This time i am really enjoying researching the history of block printing, I have found books from the 18th century on the Philosphy of Permanent Colours. These are available to download as a PDF.
A while ago I spent a day with a friend experimenting with some natural dyes that were available to us. We dyed lots of small pieces of fabric and wool with walnut, onion skins, sage amongst other dyestuffs. It is my aim now to experiment with some of the ancient dyestuffs such as madder and wode and experiment with resists and hand drawn techniques as well as making some wooden blocks.
Here are a the lovely colours we got from our natural dyeing experiments.
Nicki Dennett 