Soaking up the city...
I have been housesitting for a dear friend 'in the city' for the past several days. While many people like to escape the constant vibrations of city living to unwind in the country, I am one who needs occasional doses of that energy to rev up my creativity. So I escape the country to come to the city! This particular area I am in reminds me strongly of my years in Columbia, South Carolina - the surrounding neighborhoods and village areas around the university where I attended. No track housing. Everything has an ambiance of its own with lots and lots of green. I'm soaking it in....
One thing I was able to do while here is visit the way sweet studio of Lumi and meet its young, highly professional, and vibrant creators. Remember how I mentioned in a previous post that I was going to start putting my images on fabric and wood? Well, this is the start of all that. I just know it's not only going to be great fun but a success as well...
I was the sole visitor this particular afternoon so I got some wonderful one on one time watching them in action. It helped me tremendously to see the process and be in their space even though their training videos are very well done and quite explicit. For those of you curious about this company and their techniques, follow this link to get the whole scoop: Lumi Co. The possibilities are endless. And yes, for my readers living across the oceans, they do ship world wide......
So thank you, Brittany, Bud, Jesse, and Stephan - for taking time out of your busy day to share a bit of your fabulously fun and innovative world with me. I look forward to watching your progress and participating in more events with you. Cheers ~ See you again soon!
Here is a glimpse of my personal demonstration by Jesse, the CEO of Lumi....
This is the front of their studio located at the Brewery in Los Angeles. The Brewery is a city block of warehouse buildings converted to art studios. Many artists live here as well. I believe they have 2 HUGE art events a year, fall and spring, when the studios are open for milling about and thousands of people come. Block party!
Here is Jesse, rolling on the Inkodye which will use the sun to permanently imprint the image onto the fabric. In this case, it's a canvas tote bag. Inkodye is a cool story onto itself. Jesse rediscovered a process used in the 1950's and pretty much forgotten. She has brought it to the present with the help of Stephan and the Lumi team. Here is their story:
(the kickstarter campaign mentioned in this link is now fully funded but the video is a great source of information...)
Inkodye and Lumi
Using sun power to activate the dye and start the "printing" process ---------------------------------------->
It was unbearably hot. They rolled up the huge garage door and slipped the pieces out in the bright sun to do it's thing..... within mere minutes, the color popped up. I think this set out for about 8-10 minutes.
Here's the fun part - peeling back the negative to see how your image turned out...
Yea! My cow parsnip image from the recent trip to Alaska! (see previous blog post for original) I emailed Jesse my image from my iPhone. She printed it onto the transparency. Total time from sending her the image to this frame? Um, maybe 20 minutes?
Last step is to immediately wash the piece using their special detergent. This stops the developing process. Any leftover Inkodye will keep developing in the light and may distort your final result in not the way you really wanted...
Jesse used the red dye full strength. They also have blue and orange. All can be diluted or mixed to achieve all kinds of spectacular color combinations. Stephan gave me all kinds of great tips on playing with color combinations and creating my own color palette for what effect I want to achieve.
And here are Jesse (left) and Brittany (right) working on a larger print. This is a special project they are working on, integrating art and history for a place in Utah. These large fabric prints will be upholstered onto period furniture pieces.
Brittany is the creative mind behind the photography and video editing for Lumi as demonstrated on their website.
What's my next step in this grand adventure? I've already started shifting usable images into files, ready to print on the transparencies as soon as my products arrive. I've found a great supplier with a nice assortment of natural fabric items. All I need now are my Inkodye products, some time, and a few minutes of the glorious sunlight in the Mojave....
Mojave Light® products with iconic desert images.......watch for them very soon!
One thing I was able to do while here is visit the way sweet studio of Lumi and meet its young, highly professional, and vibrant creators. Remember how I mentioned in a previous post that I was going to start putting my images on fabric and wood? Well, this is the start of all that. I just know it's not only going to be great fun but a success as well...
I was the sole visitor this particular afternoon so I got some wonderful one on one time watching them in action. It helped me tremendously to see the process and be in their space even though their training videos are very well done and quite explicit. For those of you curious about this company and their techniques, follow this link to get the whole scoop: Lumi Co. The possibilities are endless. And yes, for my readers living across the oceans, they do ship world wide......
So thank you, Brittany, Bud, Jesse, and Stephan - for taking time out of your busy day to share a bit of your fabulously fun and innovative world with me. I look forward to watching your progress and participating in more events with you. Cheers ~ See you again soon!
Here is a glimpse of my personal demonstration by Jesse, the CEO of Lumi....
This is the front of their studio located at the Brewery in Los Angeles. The Brewery is a city block of warehouse buildings converted to art studios. Many artists live here as well. I believe they have 2 HUGE art events a year, fall and spring, when the studios are open for milling about and thousands of people come. Block party!
Here is Jesse, rolling on the Inkodye which will use the sun to permanently imprint the image onto the fabric. In this case, it's a canvas tote bag. Inkodye is a cool story onto itself. Jesse rediscovered a process used in the 1950's and pretty much forgotten. She has brought it to the present with the help of Stephan and the Lumi team. Here is their story:
(the kickstarter campaign mentioned in this link is now fully funded but the video is a great source of information...)
Inkodye and Lumi
Using sun power to activate the dye and start the "printing" process ---------------------------------------->
It was unbearably hot. They rolled up the huge garage door and slipped the pieces out in the bright sun to do it's thing..... within mere minutes, the color popped up. I think this set out for about 8-10 minutes.
Here's the fun part - peeling back the negative to see how your image turned out...
Yea! My cow parsnip image from the recent trip to Alaska! (see previous blog post for original) I emailed Jesse my image from my iPhone. She printed it onto the transparency. Total time from sending her the image to this frame? Um, maybe 20 minutes?
Last step is to immediately wash the piece using their special detergent. This stops the developing process. Any leftover Inkodye will keep developing in the light and may distort your final result in not the way you really wanted...
Jesse used the red dye full strength. They also have blue and orange. All can be diluted or mixed to achieve all kinds of spectacular color combinations. Stephan gave me all kinds of great tips on playing with color combinations and creating my own color palette for what effect I want to achieve.
Brittany is the creative mind behind the photography and video editing for Lumi as demonstrated on their website.
What's my next step in this grand adventure? I've already started shifting usable images into files, ready to print on the transparencies as soon as my products arrive. I've found a great supplier with a nice assortment of natural fabric items. All I need now are my Inkodye products, some time, and a few minutes of the glorious sunlight in the Mojave....
Mojave Light® products with iconic desert images.......watch for them very soon!
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