Runner debut

It seems like my productivity runs in streaks. Last year at this time I was working like mad to make some table linens to show at the holiday art walk our town sponsors each December. I had three runners and one big square under construction through the fall, working at night and weekends to get them finished. Just before the deadline, the last indigo dip on the runners ruined two of them, which was very disappointing. Once the show was over, I walked away from my studio and haven't been back since. (In my defense, the spring and summer were thoroughly taken with moving into the new house.)

This runner is one I made a while ago. The round motif came from a rubbing of an engraved metal disc, which I enlarged and made into a silk screen. I screened the design in Pre-sist and myrobalan and then overpainted the whole thing with logwood grey, staining the centers with some pretty concentrated cochineal.Once everything got washed out, I went back and re-screened the round motifs with a thiox discharge. Getting the circles neatly spaced was unexpectedly difficult, but this version came out pretty symetrically. My kind friend Jesse at Asian Eye (www.asianeye.com) helped me get a good picture of it.

Now that I have a dining room, some of these things I made a while ago are coming into use for the first time. Last week I used the grey runner, thinking its color had some of the elusive melancholy of autumn.

Since it is not too long (about 60 inches by 15 inches wide) I put it over my off white table cloth. I would have preferred a natural linen undercloth, but I don't have one. Asiatic lilies were the most compatible flowers available for the least amount of money. I envisioned cream colored roses, but couldn't find any this time. The nice thing about lilies are their sculptural shapes and cool pod-like buds. Using them is an instant antidote to my small/fussy tendencies with centerpieces, as illustrated by my previous table. Silver looks pretty on this cloth, so I got out my silver birds, and the candlesticks my great aunt gave us as a wedding present. Pink glassware and grey plates with natural linen napkins finished it off. I have been searching out this particular glassware at second-hand stores because I just love its warm overtones. Pinks that flirt with peach are my favorites.                                                                         

I was happy with the feeling the runner created on the table. Even though the cochineal traces on it encourage the use of pink, it doesn't feel especially feminine or fussy to me. I would like to try the design in different colors. I feel the need to dye coming over me again, so maybe it will happen.

Comments

[Jesse Weinberg]

That is such a great design Dana! Would love to see it in other colors too.

[Dana]

Thank you Jesse, and thanks again for your photographic help. It was a real boost to see your comment today.