Ecoprinting on Bowen Island, part 2

Going to get a bit ahead of myself with this post, as i still haven't photographed my first samples.

We had some difficulty "building" the soup pot to get enough "stick to it-ness"--i'm not sure the limestone in Bowen's water didn't create problems. I always wonder about other workshops (using fabric, not paper, 'cause that's a different ball game) where they show the results as all homogenously dark, detailed and vivid. Was the bath prepared well ahead of time for use the first day for such spectacular results? Was it the fact that eucalyptus is so prevalent in these workshops?

Our focus for this workshop was plants that were local. Whether it was the limestone or the newness (fresh growth) of the plant material we gathered, the results were not always fantastic, i admit. Some were pretty, some were pretty pale, but/and everyone seemed willing to experiment, so we happily went along with that. I honestly was afraid that i would be outed as a "fraud" because the results with local plant materials are usually NOT what you see with eucalyptus!!

I had done some research ahead of time as to what might be available growing on the property itself and the surrounding environs of the island, so we had a few successes that could be developed further with some stronger pot liquer--i do believe that the more "flavours" in the pot, the more interesting the resulting ecoprint and secondary markings. We tried alum alone, iron and copper pre and post mordanting, and soda ash and vinegar pre and post modifying, even a pot of rhubarb leaf mordant with an alkaline modifier.

Local plant results:

Above red rhododendron blooms with small fragments of donated ecualyptus, cotton. Below, peony and onion skin on cotton:

Below, equisetum imparting a pinky copper with tansy giving marvellous greens and patterning (cotton on left, silk on right):

Below, onion, tea and maple on silk:

Below, birch bark on silk, one of my favourites actually because of the paleness and intricate patterning!

Look at the detail of the bark!

Below, peony on cotton, not really "local" except in the sense that it grows in a lot of gardens in a lot of  locales :)

Below, marsh marigold on cotton:

The marsh marigold is one we really wanted to play with as it gave that lovley purpled patterning, but as we were practicing "salvage botany", we couldn't gather enough to really try all the permutations. I know it grows here in Alberta as well, as in many parts of Canada, so i'll be seeking it out now i'm home again!

The biggest surprise of the weekend was Margaret's play with skunk cabbage!!! I really didn't think it would work, but encouraging everyone to try various plants was the focus, so i was quite as excited as she to see this tropical looking result!

She's going to play further with this with an iron post dip. The details are amazing in this:

We were happy to get colour from the rhododendron blooms also, though i'm rather sure they are going to fade:

Below, a fern and maple post iron dip, lovely honey and amber tones:

 

A couple more entries to write: thoughts, my initial samples and some work done with other "donated" materials.

Ecoprinting on Bowen Island, part 1

A taster of what i am sorting and finding the notes for.

Where i stayed:

I've known, visited and loved EverGreen Acres for close to 22 years, and woke every morning to beautiful vistas, the sounds of horses and birds, and went to sleep with verdant green breezes, frogs a capella in the pond and horses thumping stalls downstairs.

The local deer are very small, many years of inbreeding, disease and narrow diet.

 I on occassion had the loan of a dog: Joey was the Official Surrogate Dog for the time i was there :)

I tested local dye stuffs first, below the results of equisetum on silk with various mordants and modifiers.

 And then started with tests on silk and cotton wit the local plants:

 There were many other samples shown to the participants, but i haven't photographed them yet, as we were anxious to get to playing! I tried everything from equisetum and filaree to alder and daisy, wild currant, dock, fern, anything i could find!

I have a bit of a "bug", either picked up on Bowen or from a visit in town where there was a young child, so more photos tomorrow.

no rest for the wicked and weary

:) HA!

Still digesting my workshop experiences, going through the photos and notes and will be posting about that asap.

We are also looking at a house tonight that sounds pretty near perfect, so hopefully that worry will be off the table.

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 :)