Kathy Hays

I thought about using circles as the main theme.

I auditioned numerous circles in different sizes.

I was puzzled by what to do with the circles down the center of the silk.

I decided to discharge circle shapes over the entire piece.

The discharge was with Jacquard Discharge Paste and went well.

I decided to overdye with Olive Green.

The resulting color was horrible! I think the dye solution was too strong.

I pulled my hair out for about five days trying to decide how to resolve the dilemma.

I chose to discharge using only one organic looking circle shape.

The results were pretty good, and I was pleased with the rust orange color.

I knew now, that overdye was not an option, so I chose paint.

I painted some discharged areas with Color Hue.

I decided I needed some larger elements, so I added the gold rings.

I wasn't happy with the large rings, and decided to enhance them with a second gold color.

I thought adding green rings would be helpful, but they are not really visible.

I decided to add some gold paint dibs and dabs.

Finally stamped additional circles of different sizes and colors - red, yellow, gold and green.

Conclusion: 

I am somewhat emotionless with the results. Because I made a mistake early on, with the olive dye, it was hard to get my momentum back. The failure to execute a process successfully (to my eye) took me off my mark, so I am ambivalent about the outcome. I am hoping that when I haven't seen the piece for awhile, I will eventually like what I did. I know I was truly challenged, and for that I am thankful! Had this piece been a piece of my own, I would have tossed it in the trash after the overdye session. But I couldn't walk away from this piece, and I had to finish it! It was a great exercise for me to complete something and problem solve.