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Artist CommentaryLabel
Iris is well-known for her leaf print quilts, wallhangings, and framed pieces. She spends her time concentrating on creating her pieces. Hammering, dyeing, and weaving techniques inform the organic look of her work.
Commenting on Hammered at Home, Iris says, “This quilt has introduced me to a wonderful way to incorporate my immediate environment in my quilts. The images found on this quilt were made by taking leaves from trees, placing them directly on muslin treated with a mordant, and hammering the liquid, which is the dye, out of each leaf. The separate leaf images of kiwi leaves, tulip poplar, ferns, and sweet gum surround the very large juvenile Empress Tree leaf. These hand hammered block designs were arranged to form the design of the quilt, and pen-work was added to delineate the veins in the leaves.”Label
"I make prints onto fabric using two methods. First, I make prints by hammering leaves onto fabric. The color of the leaf in the print is the result of whatever dye is naturally present in the fresh leaves that are used. The mordant I use to prepare the fabric is alum. This mordanting process gives the fabric "tooth" and makes it receptive to the dye in the leaves. I have determined what leaves to use by trying plants mentioned in natural dye books and by the process of trial and error. Each leaf variety has gone through tests before being used in a finished piece. I am continually experimenting with various fixers that are applied to the image to aid in permanency. After the fixing process I add drawing to emphasize veining and stitching to give dimension. All quilting is done free motion on a straight stitch home sewing machine.
The second printmaking technique I employ is monoprinting with an etching press using collagraph plates constructed from natural materials. The colors are from the paints that are used to ink the plate. I print onto fabric and, similar to my hammered prints, use pen work and quilting for definition.
The fabric I use for borders in my quilts are dyed, painted, or printed by me using a combination of commercially available and natural materials so that each piece is unique."