miles to go (before possibly another post)

Not sure how much i will be able to post, or have time for---i'm off to Bowen Island BC in the morning for my  teaching gig as an ecoprinter/ecodyer. Bowen of course does have the interwebs, but i may be too occupied to take advantage :)

There's either going to be tons of pictures during this next 10 days, or nothing until the 24th! Stay tuned!

first ecoprints of the season

The cottonwood catkins aside for wonderful greens but not really a print, the rose leaves that didn't give that deep an impression and the hydrangea leaves that did nothing (!), these are the first successes of the new season.

Ah the pleasures of "floral waste" from the flower mines day job.........

This is one of the few times too that i successfully re-printed over a previous ecoprint: on some of these, you can see eucalyptus and rose leaf.

 

And interesting! Someone posted on the Natural Dyer's list this morning about her first brush with ecoprints: her Granny used to do them, and quite awhile ago!  

My grandma used to dye with colored leaves by layering a bunch of leaves on
the bottom of a large iron kettle, then layering pieces of cloth and/or
clothing (making sure the cloth doesn't touch the kettle), then more leave,
then more fabric, until the pot is nearly full of leaves and fabric. She
then dissolved a "goodly handful" of alum into hot water and poured it into
the kettle. She poured in more water (no more alum) until the water covered
everything. Then she put a platter on top of the whole mess, weighted the
platter down with a brick, and left the kettle to sit for at least a month,
usually longer. She never stirred the pot. Just left it outdoors.

When she was ready to decant the kettle, she ladled out the water and put
it on her plants. The fiber, whether pieces of cloth or clothing, would be
revealed with splotchy colors in browns and ochers, with touches of
reddish. There would often be leaf patterns on the fabric. She'd make quilt
squares out of the pieces, and sometimes with the clothing as well. We
always liked the effect. She never did this with aprons; I always wondered
about this until a chef said it was likely due to the mottled dyes making
the apron look dirty. Might be.

Two sleeps until i go to Bowen now!

And happy Mother's Day to you all :)

rings and roses, and things with neuroses

Well, it sort of rhymes :)

Not much local here that ecoprints successfully at the moment--i think plant material that is too "green' (ie the first growth of the season) just doesn't have enough pigment in it yet to print much of anything. I'm lucky enough though to be able to bring home "floral waste" from the day job, so with rose and hydrangea leaves and a few rusty bits, i'll hopefully be opening some wonderful bundles tomorrow. 

I did a few more silks with the cottonwood catkins. They are a very strange "animal"--when wet, the silk has a distinct deep blue and torrid purple colour to it, but when dry, it changes to greens of a blue cast. Odd, but very Monet looking!

 

Now, about the "neuroses". I'm not an expert, but it really burns my ass when people publish on their blogs seriously wrong, ill researched (if any research was done at all) information about natural dyeing. You are NOT going to get red from beets PERIOD. I don't care if it's on cotton, properly mordanted or danced on by the Dye Fairies--it doesn't make red, especially if you use "salt and vinegar", no mordanting, no actual science basis and then allow no discussion about it. Beets don't make red, spinach, strawberries and turmeric don't last and don't give deep colours. And lavender? Really? Gimme a break. I wouldn't dream of selling this stuff, never mind waxing rhapsodic about "food dyeing" in an arty sort of way with no scientific basis, and no chemistry calculations. People like this do a horrible dis-service to natural dyers whether serious, professional, artist or enthiusiastic novice, extending the bad rep that "natural" doesn't last, that we're all airyfairy tutu makers in our spare time and that science is not necessary in any form.

As i said, i know i'm not an expert, but i am a damn good researcher and i believe in trial and tests, before, during and after the fact when it comes to imparting plant materials to cloth. I know who the real artists are, i know they share their information (except for those little arcane secrets we dyers, natural or synthetic, have all personally developed for that special recognizable"voice" :) ) I know here to look for information, i know who to ask--and i know who is talking out of their asshat. (Especially when instead of an actual answer, you get told you need to see a psychiatrist for taking someone politely to task for their methods and disinformation because you are "obviously unhappy, unproductive, pathetic, and jealous"...) ERK.

I don't mean that Science should be the main or only part of this research either: magic, surprise, serendipity, luck, karma, whatever, all contribute too--but if you don't know the basic process, you probably aren't going to get real results or lasting colour. Just because borscht stains your blouse doesn't make it a red dye.

Wendy's EcoDye article in the summer 2013 issue of Fiber Arts Now has a good list of references we all contributed to as featured artists. I'll be adding a page here on this blog too for actual answers and research. (When i return from Bowen as right now i am also full throttle in the flower mines for Mother's Day arrangements!)

Wordless Wednesday...on not tho Thilent Thurthday

Mock up, not the final configuration. Looking good.

In good company

My friend in Ottawa, Wendy Feldberg of ThreadBorne, has an article in the summer 2013 issue of Fiber Art Now about ecodyes and ecoprinting, and more importantly exploring the next level we can aspire to by creating these fabrics and using them in personal ways in our art. I'm pleased to be featured along with other talented artists Fabienne Dorsman-Rey, Irit Dulman, Yvonne Dalton, Elena Ulyanova, Patricia Vivod and Wendy Felberg.

Can't wait to get my hoofies on a copy!

spines and pinions adrift

This is going to work. I kept looking at my rough drawings and horrors, the spine looked too short. Thought maybe i'd have to lengthen it somehow to support the other element, but nope, thank goodness: look at the actual work, arlee! (My sketches are really rough! :) ) It may be a made up body and bumblesbees aerodynamically wrong too in their structure, but it still has to make some sense in proportion to all its parts. I do have *some* rules :) (And no, this is not a bumblebee, i'm just talking about nature and design.)

 

I was proudly considering this done, when i remembered i wanted some hip bones in there as well right where those eucalyptus leaves show as coral--more stitching tonight!

And the pinions are beautiful. I have one small section left to do and then they can be assembled.

I'll be taking this as my handwork/quiet time work during the Bowen ecoprint workshop. Only 8 sleeps now until i go!

oh what a beautiful day

A drift of innumerable flirting butterflies in a cloud of pussywillow, full bloom, full winging magic today in the mountains of Alberta. (Click on photo to see all of the beauty.)

More when we have calmed down from the calming down :)

First of the local ecoprints cookin'

 I was jogged by a memory of brilliant green on silk when i walked past the cottonwoods this morning with the DogFaced Girl. They're all abud with the most gorgeous tufts of burgundy and won't last long, so i thought i'd better take advantage.

Last years results, respectively on silk with iron and silk with no iron:

My bag of goodies:

A bit of hollyhock and rover bell leaves in there as well--they're up, they're growing, there's craploads so i'm gonna use some!

I'll have to get some closer close-ups of these because they are so beautiful on their own!

(My fingers looked as though i had stuck them in the ahem, scooping procedure necessary while walking a dog--the sap is quite sticky and dirty..)

And i thought to wash all the old FAILS from the beginning of all these ecoprint and natural dye experiments--always check to see there isn't a pink procion piece accidentally scooped in.....

thread addendum!

I want to point out a special dyer friend--Caroline Bell does the most beautiful colourways and combinations in hand dyed silks and cottons threads. I ADORE them!!!!!!! She sells on Ebay and i want to send you there. Her quality is amazing and i'm always so excited when i receive a parcel from her. (Paypal only for international customers, but ya know what? Set up an account, it is SO worth it for scrumptious materials like these to work with.)

123Stitch as i mentioned before is for commercial threads i use, but Caroline is for those special Artist made threads!

thread and blogging thread

I do hope my thread shipment from 123Stitch comes soon! I've run out of the colours and types i was using on the second element, had even resorted to "faking" with others that were close, but am now at the point where no more can be done to keep them "tied in"! And of course, there are only a few pieces left to do........

It's the same premise on a grander scale of when you are stitching something and the thread runs out 2 stitches before the end! I can usually guestimate how much is needed, but i had forgotten that a wrapped stitch takes more, a lot more thread. (Some areas have 3 lines or types of stitch over each other to build the dimension.)

Time to go to the background for real now. No more futzing, and without it, the whole is rather fragmented :) At least i know i won't run out of white thread, as i have resorted to buying the huge balls of very fine perle cotton, a product normally reserved for crochet and tatting. I just wind off a few skeins at a time so it doesn't roll all over the place or entice the cats into snaredom :) (And it dyes beautifully as well.)

~~~~~~~~

Oh my goodness, is it ever a mess behind the scenes here! I was looking for a particular photo in my storage unit, and can tell i didn't think about proper labelling in those days (2010 and before)! How many images can you label as "1"????? What are they??? Now i file my process photos with the abbreviation i use for the current project and a date, and finished works get my name, the title, the year and "detail" or "full view" labels--so much easier to track! I also keep the "original" now, labelled as such, because you don't know if somewhere down the line, some magazine or website is going to ask for large images of high resolution---and you don't always have the option of reshooting if the item is no longer in your hands.

This goes along with BACKING UP all data, so i don't have the same debacle i had at WP. Save your files: on disc, as PDF, in Google Drive (or wherever you do your "create document"), image storage facilities online (just don't forget your email address used, password and user name!), or as hard copy. With so many blog platforms deleting or suspending "inactive" blogs, or deciding arbitrarily that yours doesn't meet the criteria for a live blog, accessing this information can become a nightmare if you haven't saved them somewhere else.

I also have a very private "work" blog on WP, one i write in and post photos to keep track of progress, ideas and what-if's. That will have to be moved or stored somewhere now too. I might just print the whole thing off and store in a binder anyways, so i can have access to it all the time.