African Art

The making of mudcloth is a time-consuming process, normally taking four days to a week to complete depending onweather.  Each piece is made of 100% cotton, and is completely and totally hand-made.  

The men start the process by weaving cotton thread on a loom.  The loom is normally hand-held and makes a strip of cloth 5″-6″ wide.  After they weave around 9 panels they sew them together and then traditionally the women paint and design the cloth.
A mudcloth artist deals in a specific field. Each concept is taught and learned over a long period of time.  A person wishing to work in the African Art of mudcloth has to be taught how to make each of the different dyes out of organic substances, as well as how each of the substances will react with the fabric and fixatives.  

The first step in making the cloth is to set it in a fixative solution made from tea. The mud designs are then hand-painted and the tea sets into the fabric. Mud used to make mudcloth is usually mixed with water and set aside for about a year.  

Using twigs or metal instruments the artist paints the designs with the mud, saturating the area so it will not wash out. After being washed the process is repeated and then dried and put in another solution to make patterns stand out more. On black and white fabric, a soda is painted on the areas with no patterns causing then to be white.