Page 37 - The Digital Cloth Issue 6

in your design, it will read as specific techniques to be painting. The
sky. It could be green, taught in class. I make these unpredictability of wet
orange, purple or all three samples up in 6-8 colour washes on the wet fabric, the
colours, and it will still read schemes (Colour samples transparency of the medium
as sky. The area can be 1-4). I have found that after and the possibility of coming
pieced, mosaic tiled, fused looking at how the very up with exciting accidents,
strips of fabric, or a hand different colour schemes are all contribute to the range of

painted sky. As long as the all effective in their own way, effects that can be achieved.
colours of the rest of students are often motivated I have been known to paint
landscape work in harmony to let go of the realistic fabric after midnight, if I am
with the sky, it will be colours, and push their on a roll working in the
credible. colours to a new level. studio. It is quick, more
The colour of the sky dictates As well as experimenting manageable than dyeing
the colours and tones found with different palettes of fabric, and can be dried with
in the entire landscape. For colour for my skies, I have a hairdryer. And by
instance, if you want to also played with texture and overpainting commercial
portray a cool stormy sky to construction. I have fabrics, you can produce a
give your painting unity, the constructed skies using wonderful range of textures

cool greys and blues that are pieced squares or diamonds, in your chosen colour palette.
used in the sky will need to have tiled areas of sky on a Of course, there are some
be reflected back in some base fabric, have fused designs where the sky can be
way into the foreground. overlapping strips and I am a small supporting element
(Outer Hebrides 2) still continuing to play with in a landscape or secondary
I know that for me, this wonderful area of my to a major architectural
playing with colour, is the design. When challenging subject. (see Point Lonsdale
most seductive aspect of my myself to come up with Jetty). The key factor then is
work. But I also know that something new for the next to make sure that the colour

for many, it can also be the retreat at Uluru, I combined of the sky works with the
most confusing and two different elements main features and does not
challenging aspect. -sections of hand painted sky cause a distraction.
Understanding the properties interspersed with areas of I believe that over the years I
of colour and studying some strips placed on an angle to have found the sky to be my
colour schemes does give you add movement. ally and have enjoyed
a base to build on. Learning The sky is lighter in colour manipulating its surface to
about colour takes time. It is towards the horizon. Looking become a feature of my work.
a journey – but far from for fabric that has Try becoming a ‘student of
arduous and boring, it is a graduations of colour and the sky’. Give your skies
journey full of exploring, value, I have found it character and even

creating and having fun. difficult to source suitable celebrity status, making
commercial sky fabrics. them an expression of your
Over the years, one of the Initially in desperation and own personal vision.
teaching tools that I have now by choice, I paint most of
created for many of my my sky fabric using a range
classes, is a series of small of different fabric paints. The Gloria
quilts highlighting different behaviour of fabric paint,
colour schemes. I choose a when applied to wet base
simple design based on the fabric, lends itself to sky