Tote Tuesday

Tote Tuesday logo was designed by Jeanelle McCall

Tote Tuesday, a Fiberart For A Cause fundraiser for the American Cancer Society, will open Tuesday, February 2 and continue through March. It’s a fundraiser and a showcase for everything that is fun and creative about the fiber arts. It is being organized by Virginia Spiegel, who ran the amazing Collage Mania, that raised over $190,000 for the ACS in just four years. She has over thirty totes listed with the actual number of sponsored totes in-progress approaching fifty. You can read more about it on Virginia's blog:

http://www.virginiaspiegel.com/blog/

I am going sponsoring a tote called The Rust-Tex Collection. My tote is scheduled to be up for auction on Feb 2. Here is a picture of what will be in the 100% cotton tote, which you could rust dye after you get it.

Here is the blurb I wrote for Tote Tuesday:
"The Rust-Tex Collection has everything you need to get started in rust dyeing including the Rust-Tex Instructional CD. Rust Dyeing is unpredictable, but Lois Jarvis has figured out 4 techniques that will give you repeatable patterns. Also in the tote, is the Rust-Tex Starter Kit that includes everything needed to create the “Trees” pattern, one of the four techniques on the CD, and 4 steel stars that are guaranteed to rust are just some of the things in the 100% cotton tote that you could be rust dyed after you pop the CD in your computer and learn how to rust dye."

Here is the list of what will be in The Rust-Tex Collection tote:

Rust-Tex Instructional CD
Kit to make "Trees Fabric"
Tannin (enough to make a quart)
1.5oz bottle synthrapol
Tube of iron fillings
4 steel stars (guaranteed to rust)
100% cotton tote for rust dyeing
Fat Quarter of Stormy Skies Fabric
Fat Quarter of Trees Fabric
Fat Quarter of Sunburst Fabric

With a retail value of $96 I am sure you will all want to bid on it. I will post where to do the bidding closer to Feb 2.

It Is Good To Be Back

I try to post as often as possible during the rust-dyeing season which here in Madison, WI is mid April to mid Oct. I did a rust dyeing activity this week I think you should know about. Through the store at Rust-Tex.Com someone ordered a packet of rust dust. It is used with tannin, rust flakes and a rusty pan to make what I call "Stormy Skies" fabric.

Stormy Skies Fabric

I had rust dust but it was not bagged up and ready for sale so I decided I would bag some up in the indoor Rust-Tex studio in the basement as it was too cold to work in the outdoor Rust-Tex studio on the deck. I put on a dusk mask as I usually do and started to process the rust dust. I noticed it settling on EVERYTHING. My laundry room is the next open space over from the Rust-Tex studio so I quit after I had enough rust dust to make a 1.5oz bag. When I blew my nose I knew it was time to invest in a respirator!!!

I did some research on what kind to buy. I went out that night and bought a particle respirator. I was able to work outside the next day. After fitting the respirator carefully to my face I made 7 bags of rust dust and 12 bags of rust flakes. When I blew my nose after an hour and a half the tissue was perfectly clean. Good investment!!!

Call for Entries

A display of juried international entries dedicated to promoting using rust dyed fabrics in contemporary quilts. Jurors will select works that represent a variety of techniques using rust dyed fabric and fibers, good design, and excellent craftsmanship.

The Rust-Tex Collection, will premier at Spring International Quilt Festival in Chicago April 16-18, 2010. It will also be displayed at the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham, England August 20-23, 2010. Other venues to be announced as arranged.

TIMELINE
Deadline for arrival of entry materials: January 10, 2010

Notification to all entrants by email: February 10, 2010

Quilt Delivery Deadline: March 1, 2010

Exhibit Opens at Spring International Quilt Festival: April 16, 2010

REQUIREMENTS
If your quilt is juried into the show:
Your entry must be available until March 1, 2011
A hanging sleeve (2” for small pieces less than 12” wide, 4” for all other sizes)
A fabric label containing the quilter’s name, address, phone #, and title of the quilt must be placed on the quilt’s back.
An appraisal is recommended for your entry as proof of its value

Definition of quilt for this show: Three layers of textiles stitched together.

Size: Quilts can be up to 45 inches wide and 60 inches high.

Entry Fee: $25 for up to two works submitted by check, credit card or Paypal.

Entry by digital image only:
Two views required, full and detail
Image should be sized to 1200 pixel tall.
Please label the digital file with your last name, first initial, name of piece, full or detail
Example: Doe-J-Rusty-Full
Register online, attach to email or send on a CD.
Be sure your image is a clearly focused JPG.
Digital image should be cropped to show binding, but minimal background. CDs will not be returned.

Shipping: The artist is responsible for all costs relating to shipping and insurance of work while in transit to The Rust-Tex Collection. The Rust-Tex collection will pay for the cost of return shipping.

Insurance: The Rust-Tex Collection will cover the cost of insurance for all pieces while they are part of The Rust-Tex Collection.

The Rust-Tex Collection reserves the right to disqualify any work that varies from the digital images submitted.

JURORS
Deb Menz has been involved in fibers for the last 30 years. Color has always been the focus and fascination of her work. She wrote the books, “Color in Spinning” and “Color Works”. She has been traveling and teaching extensively across the country for 20 of those 30 years. Since she scaled down her teaching schedule, she has been able to participate in many group and invitational shows. Her work can be found in corporate and private collections.

Mary Jo Scandin began her career as an art teacher. She later devoted her time to creating and exhibiting her own artwork. For nineteen years, she operated Serendipity, a studio/gallery in Door County, WI. In 2002, she sold her gallery and moved to Madison. She continues to teach surface design classes each summer at Sievers School of Fiber Art in WI. She maintains a studio in Madison and currently exhibits her work at several WI galleries.

CURATOR
Lois Jarvis made her first quilt 38 years ago. Since completing college she has pursued a career in fiber art. In 2003 she began rust dyeing fabric. In 2006 she started selling them under the name, “Rust-Tex” and promoting the use of rust dyed fabrics. Currently she is combining her love of working with rust dyed fabric, found objects, traditional quilting techniques, computer technology and the sewing machine to create one of a kind fiber pieces.

To enter online or download entry form click:

HERE

The Rust-Tex Studio Got Set Up Today, YEAH!!!

The weather today was way too nice for me to be working in my cold, damp Wisconsin basement studio. I NEEDED to be outside. So I spent most of the day moving the equipment I need for rust dye from its winter storage place in the garage to the Rust-Tex Dye Studio, (okay to most of the world it is just a deck but humor me and let me call it the Rust-Tex Dye Studio).
This first picture is an over view of the Rust-Tex Dye Studio. The rest of the pictures show close ups of different places in the studio with explanations of the important things pictured. Here is a close up of what I always keep on the table. Spray bottles of water, vinegar, and tannin, a plastic gallon bottle with a handle to pour water on bottles wrapped up to make trees, or mesa or galaxies, the container of "sludge", measuring cups and spoons, and a table top garbage bucket.

Here are the bottles and copper wire I use for bottle wraps. I can't wait to use that big blue wine bottle. I sometime feel the need to add to my repertoire.

Here are the metal shelves someone put out in their trash last summer and I dragged home much to my DH's chagrin. I knew I needed a set of shelves and I didn't mind a bit that the metal shelves were rusty. They hold rust dust, rust flakes, new and used coffee filters, weights, clamps, and rubber bands. All the things I need to keep handy for rust dyeing. The shelves also provide a leaning place for the foot from a claw-footed bathtub someone once gave me for rust dyeing.

Here is where I filter rust dust from the first rinse of bottle wrap fabrics. And below the picnic bench are the iron pots that I use when dyeing stuff black.

And finally here are the things I set up today. come back tomorrow and see what I got!!!

Oh Where, Oh Where Have I Been?

Time sure flies when you are having fun. I had not realized that it has been over a month since my last post. I was busy in July not with rust dyeing per say, but with events that Rust-Tex puts in my life. First I wrote an article on rust dyeing for Fibre and Stitch magazine. It will be in their premiere issue which comes out Sept 1. There is still time to subscribe. Follow this link to find out more about Fibre and Stitch.

Second I was a vendor at the Batavia, IL Quilt Show. Here is a picture of my booth at that event.

I use clear plastic hanger to display the Rust-Tex fabric. The hangers are hung on horizontal rods so people can browse each piece of Rust-Tex. Each piece is totally unique so I want to give everyone the chance to select the piece they can see in there own work.

The very next week-end I was at Crystal Lake, IL at the Midwest Fiber and Folk Art Show. It was a well organized show. She even arranged perfect weather. I introduced rust dyeing to quite a number of people through my live demos and the great pictures on the Rust-Tex Instructional CD which I had loaded on the laptop. Here is picture of my both at that show. We were in a giant tent as you can tell from the picture.
My friend Merry helped me at this show.

We wore matching Rust-Tex t-shirts.
(Not exactly matching but as close as you can get Rust-Tex to match.)

Winners of the Rust-Tex Collection

Deborah Gregory's work focuses on nature’s cycle of growth, flowering, decay and re-creation. Rust on fiber fits neatly with decomposition. After she rusts fabric, she burns it, and colors it to represent decay. There is an article on The Textile Blog where you can read about her philosophy. It is titled: Textile Artist Deborah Gregory and the Cycle of Decay and Renewal. Click here to link to the article. Strata

This work was inspired by how layers of earth form and tell a story in each layer. The rust formed layers of heavy staining that reminded me of the way iron and other elements sometimes form a design in the side of a hill when excavated.

You can visit Deborah's website by clicking on the link below.

http://www.deborah-gregory.com/

Here is a quote from her website:
My goal is to go beyond the visible record of our climate's seasons and uncover what is just beyond. I expose the images hidden in the fabric to form a record of my spiritual connection to the earth and celebrate the mystery of our existence.

Strata
Whole cloth quilt of white cotton stained with rust, polyester fabric, fabric pens, pencil, heat distressed, free-motion machine and hand quilted.

Deborah made the rust marks with her favorite “ruster”, a window sash weight she found in a hardware store that sells recycled items. First she wraps wet fabric around it. Then she added more water and a bit of salt to the already wet fabric. She lets it sit for several days, to encourage the rust process. When she likes the pattern she see, she takes the fabric off the item and starts to make a quilt of it.

Deborah strives to depict the beauty of decomposition or decay and honor earth’s cycles this way.

You can see the entire The Rust-Tex Collection at International Quilt Festival-Chicago. I will be in booth 1632 selling rust dyed fabric and copies of a CD with the 25 winners of The Rust-Tex Collection on it.

Winners of the Rust-Tex Collection

Nina Edelman is a relatively new art quilter. A recently retired librarian and teacher, she is thrilled to finally have the time to throw herself into being a student of the many facets of the fiber world. A perennial workshop attendee, she has enjoyed soaking up new techniques and skills in workshops in piecing, dyeing, surface design and quilting. Rustscape

Nina's inspiration for this piece came from her husband being a metal sculptor. She pilfered some of his objects to rust dye fabric, in what she calls "my rust garden". In the fall she enjoys deciding what to make with them. Many pieces of her rust dyed cloth reminded her of space type landscapes, thus the split planet. Rustscape was influenced by Nina’s love of Japanese art, specifically woodblock prints.

You can see her husband's work at his website:

http://www.edelmansculpture.com/

Rustscape
Machine pieced, fused applique, 100% cotton rust dyed fabric, commercial and hand-dyed cottons, free-motion machine and hand quilted with cotton, polyester, rayon and metallic threads, embellished with seed beads.

In the past two years she has focused on commissions for installations in synagogues, and has been in juried into museum shows. She feels each creation is an experiment and a chance to learn patience, perseverance, and humility.

When not working in the studio, Nina enjoys tap dancing and playing ukulele. She also dabbles in free-lance writing. You can see her work in American Quilter November 2008. The article is called, “Quilters Take a Bite Out of the Big Apple.”

You can see the entire The Rust-Tex Collection at International Quilt Festival-Chicago, April 16-18, 2010. I will be in booth 1632. Not only will I be selling rust dyed fabric and copies of a CD with the 25 winners of The Rust-Tex Collection on it, but many items used for rust dyeing.

Naked Dancing Woman

Someone ordered the Rust-Tex Instructional CD today through the store on Rust-Tex.Com and this is what she is planning to do:

"Am really excited...have been doing a little rusting on my own as I want to make a piece of a rusty old naked dancing woman to celebrate my 65th birthday...think my joints are getting rusty so rusty fabric seems the way to go to express my joy at making it to age 65."

Good thing she lives in FL where the rust dyeing season never ends.

Here, in WI, the season is drawing to a close...sigh...I am planning to pack up the rest of the Rust-Tex dye studio this week-end. The good news is I am thinking of setting up a Rust-Tex dye studio in a corner of the basement so I can rust dye fabric in the winter. It won't be as much fun as rust dyeing outside on the deck. I won't be able to "be as messy as I want to be". I will have to be careful not to get water on the floor and flakes of rust all over the place.
When your rust dyes studio starts to look like this EVERYDAY you know it is time to pack it up.

Winners of the Rust-Tex Collection

Today's post is about Terry Ann Hartzell. Terry began making art as soon as she could hold a crayon and has never stopped. She earned her B.A. degree in art education from Otterbein University. She loves teaching art almost as much as making it. Luna

Inspiration: Reading about The Rust-Tex Collection brought to mind the phrase "moth and rust" I recalled from a Bible verse. Year’s ago, I saw a Luna moth which I thought was exceptionally beautiful, so I used it to illustrate this verse. The small brown moths were chosen because they have the same colors as the rust-dyed fabric.

Luna Detail
Machine pieced cotton sheeting rust-dyed by the artist, commercial cotton fabric; raw edge machine appliqued cotton fabric hand-dyed by the artist, painted unbleached muslin, fabric markers, acrylic paint mixed with fabric medium, free-motion machine quilting and hand-quilted with cotton, poly-cotton and nylon threads.

Terry entered two pieces with the same bible quote. From Matthew 6:19-21 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

One of the judges really want Terry's sphinx month piece pictured below, but when we look at the detail and saw the hand drawn moths on Luna, she quickly changed her mind!!!

Terry other entry for the RTC hand painted sphinx month


I finally got to meet Terry at International Quilt Festival Chicago. Here is a picture of us in the Rust-Tex booth.
Terry lives on a tree farm with her family amid the beautiful rolling hills of the Mohican Valley in Ohio. You can get a glimpse of her thoughts on her blog: http://terryannhartzell.wordpress.com/

Winners of the Rust-Tex Collection

The Rust-Tex Collection had 112 quilts entered by 80 people from all over the world. Entries came from Australia, Israel, Canada, New Zealand, Sweden, and Belgium. The majority were from the USA. The only International entry to be juried into the Rust-Tex Collection was "Rust Rest" by Els Vereycken of Belgium.

Rust Rest

During childhood Els watched as her mother made and designed, hats and clothes. Els always sewed, but mostly she collected pieces of fabric to use later on in some sort of combination. Her study of science, job and family left little time to work on all of her fantasies. As soon as she retired from teaching biology, she threw all of her energy into making art quilts.

Rust Rest Detail

Machine raw edge applique, rusted cotton fabric, commercial fabrics, free-motion machine quilting.

Els says, "Time flies so fast, I don’t have enough of it to fullfil all the dreams I have."
She shows her art quilts in national and international exhibitions.

I am so glad Els entered The Rust-Tex Collection!!!

She is a member of Q.Art.Belgium. Here is a link to their very cool site:

http://www.q-art.be/

Winners of the Rust-Tex Collection

Today I am posting about Bonnie Ouellette, she has been quilting for about 10 years and doing abstract and art quilting for the last 3 years. She founded a small art quilt group in her area to bring together other quilters who were looking for a more forward approach and begin to design their own work.

Tiffany Turquoise Mine

Bonnie loves collecting found objects so rust dyeing was right up her alley. She particularly likes to walk along railroad tracks, where she usually finds some very interesting rusted material. Rust dyeing is accidental. After examining the fabric Bonnie hopes an idea will come to her. This particular piece screamed the veins of a mine. She dyed the original fabric and thought it was a poor example of dyeing with too much white and just a little turquoise color so she "over rust dyed" it. The fun part was when she decided to discharge the rusted fabric with rust remover. Unfortunately, this process is not very well controlled so she had some work to do to remedy that. The mine entrance is from old wood found along the tracks. The mine cart is made from rusted parts from an old toy train. Bonnie loved making her piece for the Rust-Tex Collection and will continue to experiment with rust dyeing. Tiffany Turquoise Mine detail

To see similar pieces of Bonnie's look at her 2009 journal quilt entries by clicking on the link below:

http://www.quiltart.com/triple_play/artists/5.html

Stay at Home Challenge

You can see all the quilts that were created for the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative, including the ones created with the Rust-Tex fabric I sent, by clicking on the link below:

http://dianedidit.com/stayathome.html

...

The Rust-Tex ones are pretty easy to pick out, with the exception of #3324 "Fox in the Flowers". Tobi saw a fox head in the random patterning created by the rust dyeing. She enhanced what she saw with a bit of color pencil and then surrounded the fox head in golden flowers and leaves.

Another one you might not think was made of rust dyed fabric is #3301 "Faded Glory". I sent Diane a piece of Stormy Skies fabric and she made it into big gray flower.

Heather was able to make 4 quilts from the 10" square of Rust-Tex I sent her. Yeah, Heather!!!

Rusted Hearts Still Hold Love Debbie Krueger

I didn't mention, in my post on Nov 4th that shows some of these quilt, that not only did I send out pieces of Rust-Tex fabric to use in making these quilts, but that I would also make a donation to AAQI for each quilt finished by a certain day. The Stay at Home Challenge group completed 22 by the deadline. As the email I sent each person who asked for rust dyed fabric said, "Together, we can make a lot of money for Alzheimer's research."

And I was right!!!

Rust-Tex on CSI

The episode of CSI that bought rust dust and rust flakes from me was aired in Madison, WI on Thursday, April 29, 2010 at 8:00 PM. It was called, "Take My Life, Please". Here is a synopsis of the plot from the TV guide, "A legendary comic duo from the glory days of Las Vegas is set to reunite for one night only, until one half of the duo is found dead." The dead guy, I don't remember his name, was drown by his friend, I don't remember his name either but he was played by Tim Conway. Tim killed his friend because the friend couldn't remember his lines and Tim didn't want his friend to embarrassed himself. Tim fed his friend oxycontin to put him to sleep and then forced ice cubes into him as they melted, he drown. So I was wrong in saying they cut open his stomach and found rust. It was his lungs where they found the rust!!! In this picture, captured for the actual show, one of the forensic experts finds the magnetic rust flakes. I am thinking of putting, "As Seen on TV", on all my bags of rust flakes.

(hee hee hee)

Rust Dyeing Kiln

The shower stall where the kiln will be

I chose to live in Madison, Wisconsin. That choice means I can only rust dye from April through October. Rust dyeing works best when it is hot and humid. Because I had a booth in mid October at International Quilt Festival-Houston and will have one at IQF-Chicago on April 16-18, I do not have enough stock for the Chicago show. So I am building a rust dyeing kiln in my basement!!! Hopefully this will allow me to continue rust dyeing throughout the very cold Wisconsin winter. Anyone who has done any rust dyeing will attest that it is messy! This means I am building the kiln as far away as I can get from the laundry room. It will be in the basement shower stall. There is a sink in the bathroom for rinsing out the rust dyed fabric.

Shower stall lined with insulation foam

Winners of the Rust-Tex Collection

Candy Flynn like many fiber artists, explored many mediums and techniques, until 1997 when she really focused on quilt making. After making traditional quilts for several years, she became interested in art quilts. She began to experiment with non-traditional techniques, design, embellishment and surface design. In 2002, she joined Madison Contemporary Fiber Artists (MCFA), a group of women making art from a variety of fibers. Since joining MCFA, she has been inspired to experiment with other fiber techniques such as knitting, dyeing, beading and basketry.

Going

After having surgery on her wrists, which restricted her ability to quilt, she began to experiment with compost dyeing using plant materials to dye silk scarves. This in turn led Candy to rust dyeing.

Going

Whole cloth quilt, rust dyed cotton fabric, hand quilted using commercial and rust dyed cotton threads, embellished with seed beads.

This quilt was inspired by the imperfection in the transfer of a broken rusty bowl. The image appeared to be both a 'sun' and an 'eye', as though both providing light and taking it in.

Another one of Candy's incredible quilts, Edge of the World, was selected to be included in Lark Books’ “500 Art Quilts”. She has exhibited work in shows and galleries around the country, as well as done commission work.

You can see Going and the rest to The Rust-Tex Collection at Spring International Quilt Festival-Chicago. I will be in booth 1632 selling rust dyed fabric and copies of a CD with the 25 winners of The Rust-Tex Collection on it.

Winners of the Rust-Tex Collection

Today's post is about Daryl Dunlap.

Daryl's quilt is the smallest one in the Rust-Tex Collection. At 8 1/2 x 11", Homestead, is one of her journal quilts.

Daryl has been quilting fewer than three years and art quilting for less than half of that time. Since she is a “young” quilter, she constantly tries new techniques to improve her skills and build up her knowledge bank. Daryl discovered a short article on rust dyeing in an older quilt magazine and has never looked back. Although she continues to try new techniques in both traditional piecing and art quilting, the rust dyeing technique continues to pull her in over and over again. Homestead

To date, all of her experiments and experience with rust dyeing have evolved from the whole cloth approach. She loves the randomness of wrapping odd sized pieces of fabric around even odder pieces of rusty whatever. Her approach is to then try to pull out an image from the resulting imprint and create a design around it.

Detail of Homestead

The judges felt her pieces looked like Oriental Art.

Rust dyed whole cloth quilt, machine applique house, free-motion machine quilting, binding is hand done using cotton embroidery thread.

Bad News/Good News

The bad news is, no more beautiful summer days for any of us in the Midwest area of the USA. But for me it meant packing up the Rust-Tex dye studio on the deck...sigh...here is a picture of how it looked after the last load was removed to the garage for winter storage. The good new is, I am going to carve out a tiny corner of the basement to create an indoor rust dye studio. Although I will still be in my cold and damp WI basement studio, it won't be all bad. If fact here are a couple of things I am looking forward to:

ONE

I can be as messy as I want to be. I won't have to be careful not to get water on the floor and flakes of rust all over the place. There is a floor drain and I won't be using the laundry room sink

TWO

There is a hook where I can hang up my Rust-Tex lab coat. You know, the one with the Rust-Tex logo over the pocket

Here is a picture of it already hanging there waiting for me put it on when I try to carve out a place for a table from this area of the basement, which is just outside the bathroom.

I know just what you are thinking,

"GOOD LUCK WITH THAT!!!"

I will post pictures of how it turns out.

Winners of the Rust-Tex Collection

Terry White grew up in a large artistic family that encouraged originality, creativity and sharing. When she learned something new, she enjoyed teaching those new skills to her sisters and friends. Now she not only teaches on the road, but she and her husband, Scot, produce video classes so everyone can learn her sewing machine based techniques.

Spring Rites of the Turtle

Terry has published two books with the American Quilters Society. “Thread Painting Made Easy” and “All Beaded Up by Machine”, in which Terry has beaded by machine a piece of Rust-Tex fabric. She is currently working on her third book about embellishment techniques.

Terry has been keeping busy this year. She has designed her first line of fabrics for Clothworks which will be released in the spring of 2010. She is also working with Coats&Clark thread company, on exciting new developments, for their Star Cotton line of thread.

Terry's used a turtle as the inspiration for this piece because that is her totem. She is exploring the religion and culture of this lovely species. Making turtle shrines has helped her develope techniques and decorative devices to express her reverence.

Spring Rites of the Turtle Detail

Thread painted with cotton threads, rust-dyed cotton damask napkin, fused commercial and rust-dyed cotton fabric, organdy and chiffon hand wrapped flowers, hand-dyed vintage laces, free-motion machine quilted with metallic threads, embellished with hand twisted cords and beads.

This quote from Terry's website puts into words why we make quilts:

"The quilt is the best form in which to put my work. I had made many embroidery panels and with the variety of techniques and layers of fiber I tried, I would generally have to put my work in frames or on stretcher bars. When I began to quilt, I found that the quilt process added another layer of texture to the work and it supported the weight of my ideas in a textile form."
You can visit Terry's website by clicking on the link below:

http://www.threadpaint.com/index.html

Tomorrow I will post the results of the first run of the rust dyeing kiln!!!

CSI

I got a call from the property master of the TV series CSI. They wanted to buy some rust dust. I have no idea when this episode will air so I don't feel bad posting an outline of the plot. A man dies. The crime is solved by opening up his stomach and using magnets to find that he was killed by drinking too much rusty water. I told the property master that rust dust is not magnetic. I did find some iron oxide I bought from a chemical company to use as rust dust was magnetic. It had been anneal so it didn't work for the my "Rust Dust Sprinkle" technique. The iron oxide I bought is a very fine powder. I plan to send him some rust flakes, which he can grind up, if they need something larger to show up on camera.

As promised here is the result of the double galaxy.

Rust Dyeing Kiln First Attempt

I am taking a break from the winners of the Rust-Tex Collection to bring you some great news!!! I started using the rust dyeing kiln today!!!

You are probably asking yourself why I am posting a picture of a doll? It is not a doll!!! It will be a double galaxy when it is finished. It is the trees technique wrapped around a small Godiva Chocolate bottle and a glass vanilla extract bottle. At least I am hoping it will turn out to look like a double galaxy. Here is what a galaxy looks like.Here is a picture of the rust dying kiln all loaded up. I stated up the kiln at 3pm. By 6pm everything was DRY!!! I added more water to everything. I let it run till 8pm. Then I turned it off for the night. I can hardly wait until tomorrow to see what developed!!!

The rust dyed buttons will be done tomorrow, outside even when it is HOT, they usually take week. My studio assistant, who arranged them in the cast iron frying pan, must have a magic touch.