11. "EPHOD" DANCE COVERING IN SILK

"EPHOD" Again the Lord guided me and taught me what to do! I took what i had learned with the triangle clamping and mixed a light royal blue. He showed me where to put the clamps. After the dye process I opened to find this amazing pattern. To me i see the bottom as crosses, that turn into praising people with arms uplifted, then turn into angels ! The sides of this habotai 8 mm top were resewn down to only about 3 ", and i attached matching silk dyed ribbon. I wear this over my all white liturgical dress and tie silk scarves to the sides. This is so i can change the colors of scarves to the meaning of the dance. Soon i will post a listing of colors and their meanings for you. I love this EPHOD. It is very modest and yet flows beautifully. It reminds me of the Ephod that the High Priest wore in the Temple.

10. " TRINITY " DOUBLE SILK FLAG

7. " TRINITY " Double flag. The blue sand washed silk is for Heavenly sky, there is a touch of green (new life) in it. The overlay of habotai 5 mm in Purple ( royalty, authority) is wonderful to dance with, it flutters so lovely as you wave it. This pattern was also a surprise. I trust Him to give me a direction to go in when i begin to dye or paint. He did not disappoint me! He gave me the plan! I first dyed this overlay in pale blue and dried. Then I had an idea to try a Japanese shiborri technique. I took some very heavy plastic and cut into triangles. I clamped the fabric very tightly and soaked in the purple procion for one day. When unclamped, rinsed, ironed, i was overjoyed. The triange stands for the TRINITY ! This was not easy to sew together, so one is a bit larger than the other, Like me, i have flaws too but God can make beauty out of both of us!

9. "CORNERSTONE " DANCING SILK

9. "CORNERSTONE" This is a 35 " dancing scarf with a loop in one corner so you can hold it on a finger and dance with freedom! This scarf was a total surprise to me. I just let God tell me what to do. He had me fold in a way i had not thought of before. Then i applied dyes after heavy clamping. I waited a bit over 2 hours for the dyes to process. The cornerstone of our faith is What Jesus did on the Cross. His blood is the center, His Royalty ( deep purple) extends outward to every corner of the earth. The Golden Yellow sprays of Light stand for the Ressurection and Joy. This is a heavier scarf, a satin silk, thus the shorter time in dye processing. It can hold more dye per molecule!

8. MOM'S ORCHID SCARF

"MOM'S ORCHID" I was feeling more confident, so for my mom's birthday I purchased a pregutta scarf and painted it in. I used various salts for various effects, and was happy how this came out! The salts created various textures. All the while i painted i worried about bleeding but only in a few places it bled thru the gold lines but it added to the natural beauty. She loved it!

7."FOUNDATION STONES" FLAG

4."FOUNDATION STONES" FLAG, One of my first attempts at folding, then dyeing. These folds were made and the dry fabric was painted. It was left for 24 hours, unclamped and rinsed. I love how the orange has gold highlights in it. This is habotai silk 5 mm, which i am learning is a bit light for a flag, the light shines thru, but it is a beauty to dance with as it hovers in the air! In 2006 there was a manifestation of God's Glory at the Community Bible Church in South Burlington during a conference worship time. I was alone at the back of the church waving this and all of a sudden drops of dried blood appeared on this and one of the firee flags. I had no cuts, there was no explanation. This flag through a series of divine circumstances came to be delivered as a prophetic gift to the NATICK PRAYING INDIANS where it resides on their altar to God. How humbled am I!

6. JACOB'S LADDER FLAG

"JACOB'S LADDER" is one of the first flags I created where I used a Mix of 2 techniques, Shibori ( clamped and folded) and Partial Immersion. This was damp before immersing in dyebath, that is why it bled so interestingly. When I look at this, I feel we are looking between the rungs of a Heavenly Ladder from the sky to the earth. The Light blue for the heavenlies, the Purples for Authority and the misty appearance make me think of The Ladder where angels ascend and descend.
copyrighted Grace Brunelle 2005

5. "HEAVENLY AUTHORITY"

MY FAVORITE scarf for worship. Soon after the first sampler you saw, I learned about partial immersion. I created a mix of cerulean blue , violet and deep purple in one batch. I then gently immersed the silk, leaving parts above the dyebath. I waited a day. When i rinsed, it came out just great. This particular silk I hemmed with rayon on my serger, I so wish i had roll hemmed it like my others. I was experimenting to see how the rayon would react. Well, i really really love the scarf but the rayon dyed much darker. It is my very favorite because it truely floats in the air when i worship and toss it to the Lord. It is habotai 5 mm. The colors mean "Heavenly Authority"!

4. MY VERY UGLY FIRST SAMPLER!

VERY UGLY 1st Sampler! This blog is for a progression of my work. This sampler was done with Procion mx fiber reactive dyes and Silkpaint Brand Clear resist. The resist was a great disappointment. Even with well executed dry resist lines I had many breaks where the dye bled through. I've since learned that these 2 products don't do well together! The soda ash must be breaking down the line. I like to flood dye when i work and it can't hold up to that. I wanted you to see my ugliest piece of work so you can see what the Lord did to improve my art as I released my art to HIM.