The Colors of Snow

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Art, color, design, design challenge, pattern, silk, snow, snow dye, tie dye

For textile artists living in areas with snow, winter provides a novel vehicle for putting color on fabric. The top image shows the original piece of heavy silk organza, a/k/a gazaar, that was prepped, manipulated, and piled high with various colors of dye mixed into snow. As the snow melts, the dyes, often composed of many otherwise hidden colors, begin to “strike” the fibers at various rates. This reveals unexpected intensities and blending within the fractured patterns that emerge from the unbound cloth.

A new Tie-Dye themed Design Challenge at Spoonflower.com was the perfect motivation for digitizing this snow dyed silk and creating the pattern above. Click here to vote for your favorite design through March 31, 2020.

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Winter Wonderland

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panoramic photo, snow

We woke up to an unexpected snowfall this morning – heavy wet snow that clung to the branches and turned everything white, giving the world a monochromatic touch.

Crossing Paths

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animal tracks, rodent track, snow

This morning when I got up and took the dog out for his morning ablutions (really – he likes to flip upside down in the snow and wiggle across the ground) the sun was just below the horizon and a spike of orangey-pink was shooting straight up into the eastern sky. By the time I got the dog back in the house and found my camera, the scene had changed so significantly that the pics I took don’t even hint at what I saw. But I did come across this trail made by some small rodent living just outside the steps of my studio.
There is clearly an exit hole and entry hole in the snow – but when did that bigger animal come along? A cat? Fox? Someone heavy enough to make a deeper impression, but with good clearance and no tail dragging.