I attended an encaustic painting demonstration given by Rosemary Barile, a member of my Eldorado Arts & Crafts Association. She talked about incorporating composted silk and silk with a copper patina in her encaustic paintings. Since I love to dye silk scarves, this was something I couldn't wait to try.
On Thursday I wrapped a silk scarf around a copper pipe and tied it down with sinew. Pickle juice was poured over the silk daily.
On Friday I cleaned out my refrigerator and collected an assortment of fruits (tangerines, limes) and vegetables (romaine lettuce, acorn squash, spaghetti squash, green onion, celery, cucumber, parsley and ginger). Saturday I added what was leftover of a jar of red cabbage. This bag has been left outside in the sun.
Silk with Copper Patina
 |
| Start of silk wrapped on copper pipe. Held in place with sinew, then soaked with pickle juice. |
 |
| 24 hours, silk with copper patina |
 |
| 48 hours, silk with copper patina. |
 |
Day 3, silk with copper patina.
|
 |
| Day 4, silk with copper patina. |
 |
| Day 5, silk with copper patina |
 |
| Day 6, silk with copper patina |
 |
| Day 7, silk with copper patina |
 |
Day 8, silk with copper patina
 |
| Day 9, Copper Patina Scarf. |
|
Composted Silk
 |
| Start of composted silk, 70 degrees. 4/22/11 |
 |
| 24 hours, 54 degrees. |
 |
| Day 3, 55 degrees. |
 |
| Day 4, 53 degrees and rainy |
 |
1 week. Smelling and decomposing. 74 degrees.
 |
Day 24, 5/16/11. Dry, with not much color on silk.
Experimented was ended. Critters pulled out the silk. |
|
