COLOUR HARMONY

Colour Harmony is a collection of 12 swatches screen printed with reactive dyes on natural fabrics of linen and silk.  The collection is a response to the following prompts: colour mood based on a series of Pierre Bonnard paintings, gradients and resists, geometry, and molten.  These have been explored throughout the swatches.

To begin with, colour testing was completed based on the colour mood prompt in previous assignment.  I had identified 12 colours from this mood board.   After testing, I was able to refine this to 7 distinct colours plus 5 tints and shades.  These twelve Texicol reactive dyes were mixed up and the dilutions have been described in the swatch planning description.  Initially, when combining colours, I stuck to the three colour groups that had been identified from the Colour Mood Board.  As the swatch process developed, I began to combine colours from each colour group.  This way of working really helped me to come up with a lot of combinations. 

Gradients and resists have been explored in the swatches using Dextrin as a resist, and tints and shades of Dye Colours.  Rather than exploring an obvious lineal gradient from one colour to the next, I have used the designs within the swatch printed with different screens, to change colours from one to the next. 

Two examples of this can be seen in Sample 1 & 7. 

Geometry has been explored through the different designs that have been screen printed.  Some of these are precise combinations of shapes that fit together, and some are more organic and abstract.

Molten is the final prompt and one I probably struggled to explore through the screen-printed dye process alone.  I had thought to add some gold foil or embroider with gold thread but felt that my final swatch collection did not need these additions.  An abstract way of looking at the molten prompt could be with the spot repeat design that look like paint splatters or melting spots. 

Overall, exploring the prompts set out in Ass 2 has been an effective method of creating a diverse range of swatches in the Colour Harmony Collection.