Snow Bleaching

My sister called me up and asked if I had done and snow decoloring after seeing a piece of fabric done by an artist in Montana.  I told her no I had not and we both scooped up some snow and tried it out.  This winter has been relatively snow free and unseasonably warm, so I was only able to scrape up a small bit that blew and accumulated on my deck.  Fortunately it was enough to cover up a scrunched yard of fabric.  I can always try it with some crushed ice.

I find it very ethereal and ghostly with many layers.  It still left a lot of black so I decided to try out some discharge paste through thermofax screens.

snow bleached fabric with thermofax print with dishcarge paste

I liked the clarity I could get from the thermofax screens but wasn’t sure I liked the combination of the colors from the bleach and the colors from the paste.  Where the bleach and paste overlapped, it turned yellow.  These screens were made using photos of hail I took in Italy.  The hail was very textural with lots of lumps and bumps.  I thought they would make very interesting thermofax screens because of the flowerlike shapes they were.  I’m sure they will be showing up in some of my future art.

Here is another screen of a well at the top castle in Marostica, Italy.  I did not get good enough definition from this one due to the image and background being too close in value and have sent off another order to Bobbie Vance for a screen which has the background removed to clarify the shape of the well better.  I was really surprised at how detailed the screens can be and it shows so well the scrollwork in the top of the well.  I’m really enjoying my screens!  Many more photos using them to come! I know I will still be able to order them from her after she moves away from Indy, but I’m getting a good supply before she goes.  I love being able to use my own images!  Thanks Bobbie!