Watching the Fade…

Thinking out loud…

This is very much like watching paint dry, only much slower.  And, to me anyway, fascinating.

In 2013 I was going through my stash of commercial fabrics, and came across a collection of Yukatas and Ikats that I had purchased from Kasuri Dyeworks in Berkeley, CA (closed long ago).  My little stash of precious fabrics  had languished for years.  I must have had some time on my hands because I decided to play with them to make hangings, and not quilted (very different from my “serious” work).  I had the idea to make something similar to the “curtains” that I’d seen hanging in doorways in some of my favorite  Japanese films.  I decided to use them pretty much as the pieces existed, and not cutting them up too much–even to leaving all the edges raw so I wouldn’t lose anything in unnecessary bindings.  I wanted to SEE these fabrics!  Every single inch of them.

So I started playing…

And arranging…

I used the Ikats up first, and made two hangings to go in our bedroom…both still there and enjoyed.

Then I started playing with the Yukatas…

This last one hangs above the tub in our bathroom where it gets light from the sky light, and therein lies the story.  So here it is in 2013…

And this is today…

I told you it was fascinating!  Black fades to the most wonderful surprises.  I should say, some black fabrics.  What fades and what doesn’t is always interesting and mysterious.

For years as a textile artist, fading was something to be avoided at all costs.  The very idea of fading fabrics was daunting.  I recall a conversation with an art consultant  (when I was just starting out), who told me that buyers are investing in something and they want their investment to LAST.  I recall that I called up the old DeYoung Museum in San Francisco, and was able to talk to a conservator there.  She told me “Every art work has a life span.  For some it is very long, and for some it is very short.”  I had chosen textiles, and I figured I would take whatever comes.

I remember my first loves of quilt making were faded scrap quilts, as well as the miraculous Amish quilts, transformed by fading.  But it has taken me years to finally get comfortable with fading in my own work.

I have places in my home where I hang quilts that I want to “watch” fade–to see how long it takes (rather swiftly with commercial fabrics).  I have to admit that the fabrics I dyed with Procion MX dyes have held up rather well. But there really is no escaping the fade, eventually.

Kinda like aging.  It is like aging, but what I see now is very different from what I saw and feared many years ago.  Now I see the softening, the patina of age, the experience of aging.  And I like what I see in my favorites surrounding me.  I like seeing the story.  I like knowing the story.

Yep, kinda like aging.