Well, close enough: it’s actually the 24th this month, but i’m enjoying the beauty longer this way.
A medley of naturally dyed threads on indigo, 9×7″, and seriously joyful!!!!!
And yes, this is in the shop! SOLD
Category: Indigo Dreams
making
Because you just can’t let them sit around doing nothing.
Even Lalage, my nasty sewing machine got excited. Then the little boogers stuffed themselves, so they could sit upright.
All lined with indigo.
YUM.
going soft
Because sometimes, small can be big.
a serious love affair
Such sunshine from this one pot of Osage Orange! Bought from Maiwa, a dependable, high wash and light fast dye made from wood chips, it’s such an antidote to the grey smokey skies we’ve had for the last three (?more? seems like it…) weeks. My tansy results were poor again this year, not sure why since i followed the same recipe i always have, one i always got good results from, but not in the last two years. Locally, as i have mentioned before, the soldiago/goldenrod is sadly a stunted, mingy little plant, that i now leave alone, for pollinators. Weld is spendy, though highly rated, but the budget allows for Osage in plenitude.
I’m building up a stock of these fabrics, for overdyeing, for playing with post modifiers, for shibori and because i have little yellow in any form in my stash!
And greens too!
Having fun working on these as well, for little projects! The threads here are osage, sandalwood, walnut and indigo, or blends thereof, on osage over indigo over madder, all cottons 🙂
Just a hint too, there is only today and tomorrow left for my 8th anniversary sale in the shop. Enter 8AFS in the discount box (and make sure you click on the little black circle to add it), to receive 20% off EVERYTHING in the shop, sale items and art included. Someone remarked my shipping prices were too high, BUT i ALWAYS refund any differences in what you paid and what the actual postage is at the post office. One cannot guess at weights and costs to other countries/continents, but one does one’s best to be fair. I’m sure you’re all familiar with packages that you paid 15bucks to have shipped to you, and when it arrives, the post stamp clearly says it only cost 4.95……
I’m just mad about Osage
Osage’s mad about me
I’m just mad about Osage
She’s just mad about meThey call me mellow yellow
(Quite rightly)
They call me mellow yellow
(Quite rightly)
They call me mellow yellow
Paraphrased 🙂
just a day
Here’s proof that pink calms dragons as well 🙂 He then flew onto my shoulder to say hello, before he went off on business.
How can one ignore inspiration from one’s own garden? It wasn’t just the yellow shouting of these Ligularia flowers, it was the indigo shadows underneath as well, due in part to the smoke still hanging here.
daisy days
Like a fancy gerbera, and 
i can’t wait to stitch this one!
cooking with noxious weed control
Just doing my bit to keep invasives from taking over 🙂 Tansy, oh Tansy, i love you, but you’re considered “noxious” here in Alberta. And YES, i get that invasive/non-native weeds plants can be a serious problem. I’m a Nature Girl, but the best Nature is, well, Natural, not “introduced”.
Okay, really, to me, a weed is something that grows in my garden that isn’t edible and/or pretty. I let the purslane and amaranthus go crazy, the millet seeded from the bird feeder, the bindweed in the lawn, the dandilions even. Control is maintained by mowing the Back40 often enough, but not MEGA SHORT (cause A that’s ugly and B bad practice), so our little nasties there are never taller than 3″. We have a milkweed growing by the side fence where no other garden is, and guard it jealously, as the bees love it, as do other pollinators, and hope and pray that one day, some day we have visits from Monarch butterflies. I don’t think i’ve seen one since i was a child in mid-western Ontario, many many moons ago.
(I should finish this, from 2012…)
BUT, Tansy is really really prevalent here, so i’m ambivalent about the growth, and the destruction of it, as the city and the province would like us to do. On the fence actually, because i cut their pretty little yellow heads off so they can’t set anymore seed, BUT they also reproduce easily from a rhizomatous root. However, because they are so ubiquitous here, i feel no compunction in bringing home bags and bags and bags of decapitated Tanacetum vulgare, to throw in the dyepot fresh, and to dry for future use. The colourfastness is classified as “good””, and with proper mordanting, i don’t worry about its longevity. (Note though, the longest lasting natural yellow is Weld, an ancient–and spendy–dye. Can’t grow my own because it too is a No No here in Alberta.)
Too, yellow is the most scopic of all natural dye plants, from a multitude of sources, some light and wash fast, some not so much. It is however, if you remember your primary mixing of colour, a good base for oranges (think corals and peaches, not pumpkins 🙂 ), greens (teal! emerald!) and browns (chocolate chocolate chocolate!). The photo i showed here is the reason i picked much of this, and plan on stockpiling fibres as bases for overdyeing. I didn’t get *quite* the greens i wanted, but will keep trying.
Tansy on bamboo above overdyed (obviously) with indigo. I’m going to try again with cotton (because i’m out of the bamboo) that took up a load of oxidized tannin, as the yellow uptake was quite strong.
There were more greens in the shibori samples below, but the indigo is now weak, and needs reviving. Ah, to find that happy balance. The tansy dyed cotton was post modifed in, top to bottom soda ash, iron and copper before the indigo dip.
I need to find a disappearing type of marker as well. Even after the “finishing” of these pieces, the pencil i used is still visible, okay for samples, but not for actual work.
And i also want to do this again!
learning curve, shibori
Actually, i could say “re-learning”: i did a bit of shibori during my 2012 residency, and certainly in the 90’s at Capilano College!
This was my first attempt, a bit of “guntai” stitching:
A small piece, i was a bit impatient and didn’t get it far enough into the indigo.
So then i did this one, same design but many more on one piece:
It took me 2 hours to do all the stitching on this–and almost as long to pick it out after dyeing! Note to self: good light, sharp seam ripper, lighter coloured thread, patience.
Then i thought “Hey, why not get the actual shibori BOOK out and try some samples?” *And* the good light, sharp seam ripper and lighter coloured thread. Patience was found, as i realized i was quite enjoying the process.
Above, trying out different conformations of line.
Below, 2 types of stitch, one motif.
Below, shapes, alone and combined.
And this rose, which i thought would be wonderful, but could still be, done properly 🙂 Three types of stitch, several of which were not pulled tightly enough, and too square as i learnt to handle the fabric as it stitch. The larger the piece, the more awkward, but it was getting easier!
Rose approximately 10×12″.
dot dot matrix (shop update), and the use of poisonous (gasp) plants in the dyepot
It’s hot, it’s sunny, it’s dry in Calgary, so while that lasts, i’m running a lot of indigo! Some of these babies will be kept for the stash, as i’d like to do an adjunct project with natural dyes this summer, not just the Summer Madder Study! Some will go in the shop***. I have listed only a few to start with, as it takes time to “match up” pieces, so they’re interesting :), and more time to photograph! There are MANY more to list, BUT once the ones in there now are gone, they are GONE, as these are impossible to replicate.
Indigo over madder:
Like a Monet painting!
Indigo over tansy and madder:
Indigo over ecoprint:
This one above i really love, as the indigo turned the ecoprint almost metallic!
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I’m still in need of green threads for projects, and remembered i still had some dried privet berries stored away from last February. CRAP, this points up why some materials should be used fresh, rather than dried or frozen……
And OMG did the dyepot STINK. A deep dark brown, it immediately got poured out in a spot where nobody goes in the back alley! I want to point out too, that privet (Ligustrum vulgare), while an attractive garden shrub, is also TOXIC. (It’s also invasive, so you might be doing the neighbourhood a favour by grabbing the berries so they don’t turn into baby privets…) One wears gloves, and one does not go all airyfairy breathy goddess and hang one’s head over the pot, inhaling deeply and exclaiming about Mother Nature’s wonderful gifts.
I’ll have to modify those to get greens, or dip in some indigo….
If you forage locally, know what you are gathering, and any potential toxicities. Also, check to see if *your* country has a Biodiversity databank. Canada has an excellent one. They do also mention other areas, in the US. http://www.cbif.gc.ca/…/canadian-poisonous-plants…/…
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***Please bear with me as i update shop offerings. I know it may be annoying to continually see posts of “GO TO MY SHOP AND BUY BUY BUY”, but as an artist, and a small business owner, this is the way i help keep the groceries on the table, animal food in the pantry for the assorted beasties, and the occasional “luxury” like new socks and underwear 🙂 My hardworking Greyman is very supportive of me, but i still have to pull my own weight, as an even partner in our marriage! I have only 3 avenues to promote my business: here, on my FB “biz” page, and on Instagram, so i have to take advantage of that. I don’t do craft fairs, though i may do the Contextural one this year, haven’t decided yet, so online is where my business is. Yes, it may seem pushy in a way to keep seeing these “ads”, but a Woman Has to Do What a Woman Has to Do, and the Gawdz know i ramble, rant and rite write about other stuff often enough in other posts, that i hope you will understand.
albedo too 
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