Progress on Ari’s Tallit

This morning, Ari’s tallit looked like this.  One of the problems with building up color in diluted layers is that along the way there are lots of less than beautiful stages. Yes, if I told you this was a drop cloth, you might agree. but if you build up the colors in thin thin layers you get a luminescent color shifting quality.

 

A little later on today, the tallit looked like this.

I’m really pleased with my high tech upside down jar method of suspending the silk to dry.

 

Here is the silk as it is drying over a collection of glass jars. I have also salted the fabric to get more variation in color density.

Ari want the silk to look like a galaxy. This silk is till damp so it is darker than it’s final color.

 

I’m trying to match the color on the stamp. I’m not far off. I had trouble getting the color in these photos to read as they actually are. The photo below is probably closest.

The silk is laid out on an opened black garbage bag.  I work with a couple of pots of dye and a cup of rubbing alcohol and a carton of kosher salt.  I take a fat brush ad flick wet droplets and dry droplets of dye onto the silk. I feel a little like a four year old hard at work on  a project, like digging holes in a back yard. My right arm is completely covered with purple freckles. I will clean myself up before I go to a shiva house tonight.