Baltimore Sonnets

Here are a few pictures of the first book I created with a recycled wedding dress.  Because it is the first book of the series on Love, I added material from one of my vintage quilts.  These quilted pages symbolize our life before we enter a relationship/marriage. I've had so much fun experimenting with dyeing, sewing, silkscreening, beading and embroidering the 1960s wedding dress that is the base material of this book. I also like combining silks and glittery fabrics with modest fabrics.  This combination creates unexpected visual patterns -- Like love, when opposites attract!

One of the wedding dresses I found at my local thrift store turned out to be 100% silk and its beautiful lace train was custom-made.   I dyed the dress and lace red, and completed one book, Geometry.  I am working on the second book, Red Lace. It has truly turned out to be one of my favorites! It is hard to move onto another dress. **Please see my October 9, 2018 post about my wedding project: https://suzannecoley.blogspot.com/2018/10/wedding-gown-book-project.html

Silkscreening is very versatile and allows me to create all types of designs and patterns on fabric. Sometimes I print designs on my fabric books before I bind them and sometimes I print after I bind them.   Whichever way I print, silkscreening always gives me a print that is perfect for the story I want to tell. Making and recycling my silkscreens are a huge part of my personal practice.  Yes, it is time consuming!  However the benefits are great -- both economical and environmental (zero-waste).  When I'm finished with a project, I clean the screens and prepare them for new designs/projects. This week the weather was nice and I finally got a chance to clean some of my older silkscreens.  I like to work outside and allow the screens to dry naturally.