applying nori | furoshiki three

Knowing that the nori is now the right consistency, I can happily move on to applying paste to a third stencil which can dry while I take some time to colour mix a new range of colours using straight 3% dye mixtures.

I chose to work with the first katagami stencil that I drew and cut for my JUMP project - the jitensha design in the urban series. Below are a few action shots of the pasting process.

The jitensha stencil pasted with nori

The big reveal...

Jitensha furoshiki drying after adding sand and stretching with shinshi

furoshiki two | pavement

The second furoshiki - the pavement pattern from the urban series - is finished. Dyed, fixed and washed.

This furoshiki was over-dyed using the same strength of dye as the background colour and, as suspected, the dye mixture wasn't strong enough. The design is far more subtle than intended.

I'll take some more time to colour mix using straight 3% dye mixtures (rather than watering 3% mixtures down). Challenge accepted!

fixing | furoshiki two

These furoshiki have been fixed using a liquid sodium silicate solution. This solution is painted directly on to the front of the furoshiki which is then rolled up in plastic for 2 hours before being washed thoroughly in water to remove the nori and any excess dye.

I find this part of the process to be one of the most exciting as well as the most harrowing. There is nothing more you can do at this point in time except to wait for the design to be revealed...