The Cumulative Cloth: A Guide to Fabric Color, Pattern, Construction, and Embellishment (Wet Techniques)
Susan Brandeis
Schiffer Publishing
Basic idea behind this book
This is a real get into it book - it is in my opinion, not a “read and leave it on the page” - the whole point is to use its education to provide you with the ability to surface design yourself. It is a book with a direct intent, a purpose. If you are not wanting to use it, do not bother to buy it.
Let’s make it clear - this is a book on surface design for cloth and every single thought that goes with it.
The author themselves
Susan has done her time as a teacher. She explains in the introduction that as a practitioner she searched for a one stop book, which covered all the techniques and methods. There was not one, so she began to make her own notes, although it seems that this was directed for her teaching and not for any book related focus at the time. It was only years later, with more mind space time due to lack of so many roles that she was pushed and placed into a position where she was able to put this all together. But it is based on years of ‘cumulative’ experience, so I see the title of this book being about that not just the cloth in real form. A bringing together of this much experience has made for a book we can really gather clarity and education from.
Having read her website too, I have learned of her exhibiting history as well as her personal practice. So she has this experience to feed off as well as the social views of her life as a teacher to others.
What is the Cumulative Cloth?
Technically you could learn all the techniques taught within this book and then put them all into one big project on cloth, so in this way it would cumulate together into one. However personally, I see it as a toolbox, use it at the point you need it. I will give you an example from the book. I want to learn some screen printing techniques for a self portrait project I am working on, so I will turn to page 150 and re-learn the methods required in order to make for myself some screens with facial features.
Who is the book aimed at?
This is not for a retired artist, someone who wants a book to ogle at another artists work without the onward desire to try the methods themselves. This is for those who wish to learn - you could be a student, you could be a teacher yourself - its a cheap way of getting an education in many forms of surface design - the tuition in this book is so good that it is possible to actually grasp techniques from it.
How can I give an opinion on such a large book….
It is so vast, all I can say is it is the bible of surface design, the ‘wet’ techniques, the dyeing, printing, mixing, painting, adding images to cloth…..bleaching and other colour removing methods.
I see it as a book you need to experience for yourself, once you see how much of use it is, then you can only be greatful for it - I sound like I have shares in the profits here!
The intricate details are just sublime, the author describes the dyes and their measures so prolifically, it is as if she was with us right now.
I loved how this author has brought all that teaching experience into this book, all the years of giving out and yet she was gaining so much without even being aware of it. She would have come across so many interpretations, variations, seen work go right and also wrong. More importantly, she would have explored why and how - how it went wrong and how to improve or resolve it for another time. She did not just move on and forget, no, she made notes. We learn from her own narrations that this was not for any book related project, this was life, a way of remembering things as an artist and teacher herself. But all these fine little booklets of a textile art diary as it were, came to be of so much use when she began writing this title and her other books.
The blurb to this book uses the word ‘authoritative’ - this rings true. Brandeis has ‘prepared well’ as it were, so yes, she can speak with clarity and a turn of phrase which makes sense to us, the ‘students’ as it were.
It is the little things of which I love…
The Appendix sections are so important, I remember clearly as a student myself, thinking that whatever I did, however I did it, I would remember it. I would not need to note any reminders down, no, that dye colour came out that way with this mix and that and because I was so happy with the result of COURSE I would remember how, including the measurements and quantities needed. What a farce. Do as a say, not as I did then - use Brandeis’ example and create as Appendix C brings out - a sample folder, a file. Write it all down, for example of it is a dye related test, make notes, the measures, the amounts, what worked, why it didn’t, how you got to that conclusion, what you want to try in the future - images, photographs, diagrams and even a bit of the dye painted on the paper. Whatever will support your ‘memory file’. Believe me you will thank yourself in the morning, as it were. Her images around this section will support your understanding of what is meant by building this sort of sample file and how you can make your own.
Final thinking on this book
Honestly, I could go into every single area of this book, but I do not see the point, all I can say is that if you want to learn how to dye fabric, print and be generally artistic on cloth - this is just brilliant. Its a fun book, yet it is serious in its teaching style - the perfect combination - believe me, with Susan Brandeis as your teacher, you wouldn’t and actually, you won’t go far wrong. You will feel secure as a learner, yet saited - excited, never at a loss.