Frills, Thrills but no Automobiles

So I had to think of alternative connections did I?
I had to make my piece bigger did I?
FINE!

Ha, no, I didn't mind at all. In fact, I much prefer the work that I produced after the critique to the work that I did before it.

I kept the outside component how it was before, but just changed the inside bits from flat sheets to frilly, puffy, protruding things!

I then started to think about other materials that I could add into the piece. A friend was using some latex and I liked the effects she was getting from it, so I gave it a go and incorporated it into my own work in my own way.

I made sheet pieces of dyed latex which I wedged in between the fabric and the metal before riveting them all together.
I quite liked these pieces. It was nice to add a contemporary and intriguing material into my work. But I still had more experiments to do.
I tried dipping the ends of the ruffs into wax. This meant that the fabric was stiffened into a set position, and, despite looking soft and flexible, the fabric would be hard and solid. I then combined the wax with acrylic paint to add some colour.

My next thought was if the latex would work in the same way and the acrylic paint. I saw no reason why it wouldn't, and thought it might have a nicer texture than the paint.



Now, the problem with the latex was that, even though I mixed a dye into it before applying it to the fabric, the natural pigment of the latex seemed to grow through the thinner parts of the latex over time, producing this vomit-like colour. Who wouldn't wan't to wear that? YUMMY!


I was also trying to think of alternative connections. Trying, and failing.
I sort of overcame the pigmentation problem though. I just added more dye!