Ode to Janot: Orange

Title

Ode to Janot: Orange

Date

2021

Dimensions

34” x 65”

Media

Handwoven textile utilizing cotton and linen yarns. Fabric incorporates woven shibori resist. Dyed with madder and weld, sourced from the artist’s garden.

The most lightfast and brilliant orange colors result from a combination of two dyes: a red and a yellow. I have chosen madder (Rubia tinctorium) for the red, as it already has undertones of orange. Weld (Reseda luteola) is the yellow, as it is the most brilliant and lightfast of the yellow dyes. The textiles are woven of cotton and linen and incorporate woven shibori resist. The source of both the weld and the madder root is my garden.

Each of the nine panels was dyed in a separate dyebath. #1 was dyed in a bath of weld @ 50% weight of fiber. Panel # 9 was dyed in a bath of madder root at 50% weight of fiber. Panels #2-#8 were each dyed in a bath that included weld @ 50% weight of fiber and increasing amounts of madder root from 1% to 50%. As a result of careful, well-documented measurements, all the colors are repeatable.