Art Update my dears! One month to go

So I didn't want to blog this past weekend because of the craziness that was my last blog, so I skipped a week and will now update you on everything I am working on right now.

I have gotten a ton done in batik since my last blog and am actually just working on extra projects now! I finally finished my key project, which turned out being really awesome. It has yellow, green, blue and purple keys on a navy background. The process I had to go through was I first waxed over all the keys that I wanted to be blue and purple and then dipped in yellow. Then you remove the wax so that the dye can flow properly. Then I waxed over the keys that I wanted to keep yellow. Then I dipped blue so I had yellow, green and blue keys. Then I waxed over the green and blue keys I wanted to keep and dipped in red, to create purple keys. Then I dipped with all the keys covered in wax to turn the background into a  navy color. It did take a while but it ended up being very beautiful! I also finished quilting my lion knocker scarf, so it is in the process of being turned into a pillow! The quilting turned out really fun and added a lot of character to the scarf. I am so excited to be able to use it!

 This scarf is my second shabori project, where we clamped the fabric. So I folded my scarf and then clamped it with a square block of wood and also some clips. I wanted it to be red, but unfortunately I didn't leave it in for long enough so I ended up with this obnoxious color of pink. Since I am the opposite of a fan of pink, I saved a pattern of the pink by waxing over it and then dipped the scarf in blue to create blue and purple! Then I went back and added a small amount of detail in black by waxing an outline of where I wanted black and just painting the dye on. It ended up being very cool though so I am really happy with it.

For my third shabori project we have to do a sewing or thread based design. For this project we used pure silk, which is much rougher and tougher to withstand the abuse of the designs. For mine I found a technique to try called the spiderweb technique which is used in Japan.

So first I had to pinch sections of the fabric and tie a knot at the bottom, wrap the thread tightly around you bunch and then tie another top at the bottom. I then dyed the sea urchin blue and waited for it to dry. The mountainous looking picture is what the fabric looked like immediately after removing all the thread and after I ironed it, I had the pattern on the right. It turned out being super fun looking and I think I am going to leave it these colors and then sew it into a tote bag when I get home!

This is the project I am still working on. I have done one more dip than is in the picture. I had to do five dips of warm colors to achieve the look I have in the face. The background is going to be different shades of blue and will be a moon and stars, to contrast the face. I have dipped a light blue so far so I have two more dips and then this scarf will be finished!
I am still loving batik and I am so excited to have learned how to do this so that I continue while I am home. There is so much you can do with it and the scarves end up being so incredibly beautiful. I wish everyone could see all the work that has been done by other people.

In jewelry I have been working on this piece mainly which is a stone setting ring project. I had to cut out all the different pieces from silver and also create the pyramid shape out of copper. I made the pyramid by folding the metal and the shaping it with filing and sanding. I also have the silver ring made. Then after I had all the pieces I started soldering pieces together. I went and bought a stone (jade) and this is how far I have gotten on the stone setting. I now have to sand the piece and set the stone and then solder the piece on the ring :)

These are the frescoes that I haven't posted yet. The grapes were my third fresco, the cow is my fifth and the face is my sixth. I really am starting to figure out the way frescoes should work so they are getting better and better as I go along and I am really happy with how they are turning out! I also have been working on touching up the paintings. That is so hard I can not imagine having to do that to a work that has been around for centuries and holds a great amount of importance. It would be so intimidating!

I cant believe how little time I have left to be in Italy. It is so hard because I love being here but I also miss home a ridiculous amount. I am so excited to be home for a ton of reasons but I am really sad to be leaving at the same time. This is such a beautiful city and I love school here. I feel like a month is such a small amount of time. It is crazy how fast this semester has gone by.