I am always happy to see “the season” (the three month period when the Naples Florida art and social world goes crazy) come and then go. I almost get nothing done in the way of artwork during that time. I was pleased with my gallery exhibition at the ArtLab. I did manage to create two pieces for the” Have A Seat III” event at the Friends of Art Naples Museum of Art event. I also was busy with displaying at the 25th Annual SW Florida Craft Guild’s Exhibit of Excellence at BIG Arts on Sanibel Island. There I won a Merit award for one of my pieces from the February show: Hava Tampa Spirit. The reception was well attended, but most of the time, I have been doing a lot of thinking. After seeing one of my pieces hanging in my February show, I decided that I was not happy with the final format of the layout, and I felt that I wasn’t doing well in expressing my feelings for the images that I was working with. After I had a critique with Barbara Hill, my art advisor, I decided to take one of the pieces from the February show apart, and try to rework it into a more cohesive image. This took a lot of weeping and gnashing of teeth, but I finally came up with a workable plan to create a Seminole style Kimono image that would hang on a banner. I worked out this image by making little paper dolls of layouts, photographing them, and seeing how they looked together. I have sent the fabric off to be re-sewn into the sleeves and shaping of what I want. We’ll see where I go from here.
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February is always a busy time around Naples. It is the height of “The Season”, which means every week there are at least three if not more events going on around town. The third week of February, I had the opening of my show at FGCU; A demo on Third Street in Old Naples during the “Third on Canvas” event, and a Saturday demonstration for the Southwest Florida Craft Guild. I had started planning for all of this the summer before, so I wasn’t completely overwhelmed, but overall, it was still a lot of work!. By the time Sunday rolled around, I was spent. When I had any free time in December and January, I had created images that I wanted to batik on to scarves for a March event: “Have a Seat III”, at the Patty & Jay Baker Naples Museum of Art. These were developed from photographs I had taken the previous summer, edited in Photoshop, and then redrawn with a charcoal pencil on to each scarf. I also had to pack up a box that contained my demonstration supplies: bees wax, soy wax, Tjantings, bamboo brushes, stretcher bars, silk tacks,and dyes in jars ready to go. A lot of stuff to haul around (Did I not mention the standing easel and two framed paintings to display while I worked?) A small crowd gathered around me during the cold non-Florida day when I was working outside in front of Gattles on Third Street. Many of the people were my fans, or knew of batik, which made me really happy. The next day, after the dyes had dried, I continued to work on the paintings as a demo for the Southwest Florida Craft Guild, an organization of which I have been a member for over 15 years.
Applying soy wax with Tjanting tool to painting
Muffy Clark Gill showing innitial drawing on fabric for batik painting
Close-up of Wounded Warrior III in progress
Calle de La Cruz
A few years ago, an article appeared in the Fall 2007 edition of The Surface Design Journal about artist Betsy Benjamin and her use of Soy wax in creating batik images. I read the story and put it aside, thinking that I would like to try it sometime. The opportunity arouse this last fall when I received some soy wax in an order from Dharma Trading Company, my dye supplier. I wanted to experiment with this wax, as I was seeking greener alternatives to mixing my beeswax with paraffin wax. I tried using the wax in several different projects, the first was with the “Seated in Silence” painting. I liked the results and kept on going. In this situation, the soy wax was mixed with the beeswax, so that I would have a wax that was not too runny, and would harden faster. I tried it again with another painting of a downtown street in Old San Juan:”Calle de La Cruse”.The sky and other ares of solid color did not flex well, and tended to break and create more crackle than I was used to, but I liked the final results anyway.
FGCU ArtLab Reception 2.18.10
Feb. 18, 2010. I have been behind in writing, as I have been busy preparing all of my paintings for the show that debuted last Thursday at the FGCU ArtLab. This show is titled: “Dying Arts: Batiks and Silk Works by Muffy Clark Gill and Nuch Owen” has been a labor of love for over a year since interim Curator Anica Sturdivant asked me to participate . I met Thai artist Nuch Owen many years ago when she first came to the Naples area. Her skill in painting on silk using Gutta resist is unbelievable, and very intricate. I enjoy her work and respect the talent that goes into creating it. I brought 8 paintings to the show including “Seated in Silence”;” Hava Tampa Spirit”, and two of my pieces from the FGCU Steamroller project. WGCU Public Media hosted the reception as a member event, and over 60 people showed up(there were RSVP’s for 107, and it was hard to track a true total). Quite a few for a intimate gallery setting on the University campus.I really enjoyed talking to the students who were asked to do a report on the exhibition. The show also featured the debut of my new silk hanging: “Influence”. I have a web page of the show here: http://tinyurl.com/ydmhbot.
The show was part of a busy week that included a talk about how I use my Mac computer with my artwork, and two Batik demonstrations in the Southwest Florida area, along with the opening reception February 12th for the 7th Biennial National Art Exhibition at the Visual Arts Center in Punta Gorda. The “Hava Tampa” painting was one of the 138 entries accepted from over 720 submissions. By the time Sunday night came, I was worn out!
Seated in Silence
When I finished the Steamroller Project, I discovered that there was a large measure of left over scraps of archival quality printing paper-the remnants from when the printed images had been from the master roll . I have always been a waste-not, want not kind of person(my brother and I used to create usable bicycles from cast-offs when I was little). I debated on what would be the best way to recycle this resource? I then took these strips and tore them into smaller, narrower pieces, approximately 4 inches wide by about 36 inches long. I wove the strips together to form a new piece of paper, and then the challenge began…How do I hold the pieces together to create a new image? After a lot of gritting and gnashing of teeth, I finally ended up having to place a droplet of glue at the intersection of each strip. It was very tiresome and time-consuming work. When all was ready, I returned to the base image of my “Hava Tampa” painting. I still liked the image of the three Seminole women, so I took the seated women figures and blew them up to fit in the new paper space that I had created. I then drew the outlines of the figures and the details using soy wax , which I had never worked with before. This was followed by painting the dyes directly on to the paper, and waxing over some of the areas that I did not want the dye to bleed together.When the piece was all dyed and stained, I ironed out as much of the soy wax as I could before it was mounted.
The Final Printed Images
My two prints were part of a group of almost fifty different editions, done by artists and students. One of the two images held more ink than the other, and appeared a little heavy to me in feeling. The other seemed just right. I returned to the studio with the prints and the plate, and colorized my images. To do this, I used watercolor paints, and applied some of the watercolor to go over the darker print and lighten the image. When they were completed, one of them went on a group display on campus. Afterwards, I took the images to my framer, Roger Gregory, and we decided that we wanted to show the interesting patterns left in the paper as a result of the paver rolling over the pavement. I then decided to finnish the original plate, which I painted in oils to bring out all of the fun little details I had added to the original plate. I was finished with this project!
One of the two printed images
The 3 Fates Original Plate
It was now time to print the plate that I had created. This was going to be a real challenge, as all of the ridges and spots left by the placement of the buttons and sequins would end up slowing down the application of ink to the plate. It took several applications of oil based ink to reach all of the nooks and crannies of the plate (like an English muffin). I then took the inked plate out to the Visual Art Center’s driveway, where Professor Owen had the driveway asphalt paver lined up with markings he had taped on the pavement. We lined up five plates at a time, then placed a long sheet of archival printing paper over the surface of the plates, followed by a heavy felt printing blanket. Then the fun began. Professor Owen made a slow pass with the paver over the plates, the blanket was removed, and the paper was then lifted by the students and moved off to the side to dry. The plates were removed and replaced by five freshly inked new ones, and the process was repeated until all the students had at least one, and some had two sets of prints. This was an all day event!
Let the paving begin!
Plates being prepped for driveway paver
The prints after they have been printed by the driveway paver
In March of this year, Assistant Professor of Art at Florida Gulf Coast University, Andy Owen, ran a 4 day program titled The Steamroller Project. The program utilizes printing plates that are made by students and artists that are printed by inking the plates, placing acid-free paper over the plates, and then pressing the inked plates into the paper by having a driveway paver rolling over the top of them. I thought this sounded like an interesting challenge, so I decided to join in the fun. I was given a 2′ x 3′ masonite board to use as my base plate. I then took the heads of the three Seminole ladies that appeared in my “Hava Tampa” piece, and re-created them, using cardboard, plastic and modeling paste. My grandmother had left behind in her antique hutch, which I had inherited, a bag of old buttons of every size and color. Most of the buttons were cut from old shells, and some had fabric coatings.
Plate of the Three Fates before ink is applied
I used these buttons to recreate the coin medallions on the ladies clothing, enhanced by rows of glued sequins. I dipped linen gauze into white gesso, and draped it in place to add a fabric touch to the sleeves of the clothing. I used modeling paste to style the facial features, hands and hair. I added some dried bamboo fronds to break up the composition. The finished plate is now ready for inking.
Once I got the painting back from the dry cleaner, I had to finish it off-I took it to a client who is an excellent upholsterer and had him finish the edges, and adjust the mounting hardware brackets. The final result is a hanging that is the largest Batik I have ever painted: approximately 78″ x 54″. The painting has gone on to win the Congress Jewelers Award at the 2009 Southwest Florida Craft Guild’s “Exhibit of Excellence”, held at BIG Arts on Sanibel Island, Florida.
The Batik painting "HavaTampa"
close-up of the painting: HavaTampa
By now the painting is two-thirds covered with wax and dye, and I have a few more touches to add to it before I remove the wax. When the detailing is complete, I spend the next hour removing the bulk of the wax from the fabric. I do this by laying layers of blank newsprint over the image and ironing the wax out, repeatedly changing the paper, until I have a minimal amount of wax left in the fabric. I then rinse the fabric in Synthrapol to try to remove any excess dye. At this point, I deliver the piece to my dry cleaner, a friend who has taken care of me for almost 20 years, as most dry cleaners will not touch batik because of the wax residue left behind as a result of the dry cleaning process. When I pick up the piece a week later, I take it to an upholstery expert who helps me with finishing the edges and inserting the hanging bars to the top and bottom of the painting. I then have to photograph the piece for my records. I have more than 30 hours invested in the work.
