Spring Rainbow ~ Hand Painted BFL

I've been wanting to hand paint roving for a long time now. I think I may live in the perfect place for this activity. Let me explain.

Usually, part of the process in hand painting in setting the color with heat. Some artists use steamers. I've also read about some who have dedicated microwave ovens just for their roving. Part of the reason I've been itching to hand paint, is because I suspected that living here in outer Phoenix, I'd need neither of those.

I was planning to wait until full on summer when I could count on those high temps of 100º or more, but yesterday I just got the urge to paint. Our high was 80º and I wondered if this would be enough to set my color.

I know rainbow roving is not very original, but I just couldn't help myself. Actually, I did modify it a little by leaving out purple and using turquoise instead of blue. I was going for light and Springy so I went with chartreuse and sunny yellow, a lighter orange and a soft red.



I'm pleased with how my BFL turned out. The color fully saturated the roving and the sun did a nice job for me. I think it helped that I set this out on a metal pan in the full sun to make the most of those 80º. I also gave it plenty of time. I'm sure when summer comes, the process will speed up and I'll have to be concerned about not applying too much heat. For now, it's nice to know that this is something I can do almost all year round. I can't wait to play with differnt fibers and the endless color possibilities!