*

True black is getting closer! No, we’re not quite there yet, but I got a nice rich slate grey this time instead of dove grey.** There’s still a bottle of Procion Jet Black in the cabinet, but this time I went with Soft Black instead (because I’m still scurred of the Jet Black). I was worried for the first hour of the dye bath that I would wind up with plum, but then as the salt started to take effect, much to my delight, everything got darker – all at once, even: BOOM.

So there’s new stuff up in the shop this morning, after hanging out in the basement a whole bunch this weekend.

Not only is the basement, like, 10º cooler than the rest of the house, but I’ve revamped my workspace to make it a whole lot of more comfortable to work in. For one thing, goodbye to leaning over the stove next to a boiling pot! I picked up a $12 hotplate cooker thingsy with an adjustable dial. Which means I can sit at the table now \o/

Also, Will was a darling and cut me a piece of plexiglass to wrap the tees around while I work, so I can do larger designs by moving the whole shebang over the lightbox. This, friends, is super exciting.

One of the small victories the plexi frame has afforded me is a gorgon design I had abandoned. The Medusa tee (above) is a design I’ve had kicking around for a while – maybe a year and a half? I have a giant canvas that I’ve sketched it on, but have never gotten the urge to  do much more with. I think I may have managed to intimidate myself in the process of creating some stuff – the canvas is 6′ tall – usually that’s not an issue. I like big space to play in, right? Well… for some reason, it was different with this canvas – I look at it and instead of feeling like I have a gaint sized extra large playground, I feel like I’m looking at a scary empty tundra. That canvas? That’s a big expanse of needs-to-be-filled-in. When it feels like a playground again, I’ll go to it, but for now it’s in storage, and that’s ok with me. So on Friday night, with the lightbox feeling like a playground,  I revamped the image, tightened it up to just the face, and made Medusa’s features minimal. By Saturday I was putting it in wax. I can’t possibly explain correctly how thrilled I am to see her at last.

I also did a bunch of clouds, a big fat sunburst, and this one –
YaY for ratties!

More stuff in the shop – go have a look when you get a chance ♥

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*Me and the Bronx Zoo Cobra? Apparently we have tapped into some cosmic business.
**Or navy blue, for that matter.