the blue hour
The Blue Hour is understood as the midnight sun - the perfect time of day during twilight when the light is neither "full daylight nor complete darkness;" the only description suitable is immaculate. During stirring nights when I am rout with insomnia, I would experience this light .. hues of blues then a range of pinks and orange. After the blue had passed; so would my insomnia and I would fall to sleep only to wake an hour later to head to work.
Indigo dye can range from dark violet to rich denim tones to an ash grey blue. Under the long distance expert guidance of Elizabeth at SquidWhale Design, I tried my hand at shibori dyeing. I have hand-painted on silk with gutta lines as resistance boundaries and digitally created prints from original paintings; however this was a bit new for me. In preparation, I studied: read books, watched tutorials, and planned ahead for weeks. When the day came to put my knowledge to the test; I couldn't stop. I had initially vowed to only make 2 scarves - but once the folding, wrapping, twisting, binding started my mind began to imagine the outcome. It was like starting a new painting - while staring at the blank canvas without even lifting the paint brush you can visualize the painting taking shape. Like reading the menu at a restaurant, you can taste the dish as your eyes devour the words. In this way; before I had even submerged the cloth into the indigo vat I could see each pattern taking shape.
Now I'm rather obsessed with shibori dyeing fabric. Expect more to come, I am currently working on clothing pieces. Soon enough I will be adding these to my etsy store along with some other indigo dyed items. Another obsession at the moment, tunes ... Jane Birkin's Période bleue. It is entrancing, blue is in the title so that naturally adds to my affection for it - staying true to the indigo trend. Completely worth waiting for the annoying YouTube commercials to pass. Below are some images my friend Jaime and I with two of the scarves from above. The images were taken for her style blog that I make impromptu appearances on, She Wore it Anyway.
Photo by Jaime Smialek
Jaime wearing cotton shibori dyed scarf
Photo by Jaime Smialek
Photo by Jaime Smialek