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| Pam Wells in 1958 in front of her grandparent's Dry Cleaner Shop |
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| The "Leaf" costume - 1955 |
Her mother encouraged her to try new
things, too, so she altered patterns early on, and just created her
own fairly soon. Her favorite things to make were Halloween costumes
and prom dresses! Both allowed for some experimentation, which
continued to increase her skill and proficiency.
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| Some background dye has been applied to silk. A stamp is ready to add its shape and color to the surface. |
In the 70s, she took a class in
precision dying. “While the precision part didn't stick, the dying
part was great fun”, she says. Pam began adding her own dyed
fabrics to the mix and continues to this day. Of course she
experimented with that, too, and now has a unique dying style that
creates a subtle, mottled background for the surface embellishment
she applies next.
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| Pam's large collection of wooden stamps from India and Indonesia. |
Having an avid interest in ethnic
fabrics of the world, Pam began collecting wooden stamp blocks from
India and Indonesia, used in the batik industry there. For batik,
the stamp would be dipped in wax to stamp onto the fabric, preventing
dye from seeping into it. Pam, instead, dips the stamp into dye and
applies that to her already hand-dyed fabric. She has her own
hand-made stamps as well, along with stencils and all manner of
things to apply surface design.
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| Pillows are a nice canvas to show off her skills. These include unique Korean wovens, Japanese dyed pieces, and her own stencil designs. |
The combination of her own surface
design, along with her love of unusual, handmade fabrics, has made
her a collector of them too. Intricately woven silks with the
pattern woven in with gold wire (“yes, it's really gold, too”,
she points out), or Chinese silk embroidery and applique, or vintage
Japanese kimono fabrics, and so much more. “I usually can only
afford a tiny piece of these things, so walk out of the place with
these little 6” strips of amazing cloth,” she says.
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| The design process - a little of this, a little of that... |
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| Pam Wells models one of her unique scarves. |
Those of us who get to see the end
result find each piece anything but boring! Each is unique, and
comes with a story, too, of where each precious piece of surface
embellishment came from, whether Pam's own hand or some far-off land.
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| Pam's signature "Dragonfly Wrap", so named because of its shimmer and movement, enjoys myriad incarnations from Pam's imagination. Here she's used black silk and silver metallic fabric paint in the shape of dragonflies. |
Her simple scarves are another
excellent canvas for surface design, and when worn over a simple top
or dress, turn even a plain T-shirt into wearable art.
A new source of enjoyment takes the
form of dying socks made of bamboo fabric. Ultra-soft, with
naturally built-in antiseptic and moisture-wicking properties, Pam
transforms a utilitarian white sock into something very colorful and
fun – and affordable at $15 per pair! Her clever husband
engineered her “sock machine” so she could dye a pair at the same
time to get a good match.
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| Dying socks |
Artfully Yours,
Manya Vee
