Category: Moons

Posted in a collusion of ideas, Moons, Natural Dyes

adding to the series

Posted on by arlee

There’s a very satisfying feeling to using your own dyed fabrics, and especially your own dyed threads 🙂 All natural again, i’m continuing with the moon series.

These little goddess figures make me so happy! I’ve used them before, but i never get tired of them.

All of the above are the natural dyes, and from the Summer of Madder Study project–still working on that though summer is long gone now!

Below, a section from a piece i did during a Jane Dunnewold creativity course in 2016.

EDIT: Just found these 2 “oldies” as well, from my mixed media throweverythingandseewhatsticks days (2005)

goddess 2005

goddess 2005b

Posted in Ecoprints and Natural Dyes, FybreSpace the shop, Indigo Dreams, Moons, Natural Dyes, Probably talking to just myself, Work 2018

dot dot matrix (shop update), and the use of poisonous (gasp) plants in the dyepot

Posted on by arlee

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.

 

 

Posted in brazilwood, cochineal, embrilting, FybreSpace the shop, hollyhock, indigo, logwood, Moons, Natural Dyes, Naturally dyed threads, osage, potassium permanganate, privet, rhubarb root, sandalwood

a natural moon

Posted on by arlee

I’ve been slowly (and not so diligently, as other pursuits in the studio have “interfered”) working on this indigo moon, using my newly dyed naturally dyed threads. This is a lesson in itself, as the indigo i’m working on is strong enough to overshadow certain colours, necessitating some more neutral backgrounds for future plans/use.

 

The moon is worked with cotton, silk, silk/wool blend and wool threads in cochineal, osage, logwood, and privet berries, with the brown of the seeds coming from potassium permanganate (actually an inorganic compound). I found a walnut bath i had stored several years ago, when i was setting up in the basement, and shall test to see if it’s still “live”, for some of my browns in future, though i do love all the permutations the PP gave on the skein of cotton. On the background surround, in cotton, silk, wool and silk/wool, the colours i used are privet berry, cochineal, brazilwood, rhubarb root, hollyhock (and that’s where the “oh-oh” happened, as some of the colours are so soft, they are barely discernible), osage, logwood, and sandalwood. Using pre-mordanting (VERY important), and post modifying methods, changes the colours to a wide range. (Ha, just realized i used none of the wonderful madder results!)

I have two other moons still in the finishing stages, and hope to get them done soon too! All will be in the shop.

 

 

Posted in journal: lessons to learn, Moons, Natural Dyes, Not so ordinaries

immersion therapy

Posted on by arlee

Autumn is my favourite season, with its deeply rich colours and the spicy smell of earth, falling leaf and seed. It’s also the start of SAD time, something i struggle deeply with every year. I know all the coping mechanisms well, and follow most of them ( and sometimes they work, or don’t……), but this year, seem to have been helped muchly by my intense self-workshopping on natural dyes. I *do* tend to get obsessive about things, and this is no exception, but the results from it have been most gratifying.

My brain has benefited from all the science lessons, my focus by the procedural steps that it necessitates, and my soul heartened by the results. Instead of sitting on the couch staring at the walls, or visiting the kitchen too often, i’m up and about between studio, dye dungeon and sketch/notebook.

As i’ve been dyeing the threads, i’ve also been stitching with them, and this is the result.

All natural dyes (except that one brown from “PP”), it’s almost finished. Silk, silk/wool, wool and cotton threads, and all the dyes i can get my hoofies on, on indigo dyed cotton, i can’t wait to finish this and mount on a canvas!

 

 

Posted in cochineal, Dyeing, Ecoprints and Natural Dyes, logwood, Moons, osage, potassium permanganate, privet

a new moon

Posted on by arlee

This one is particularly satisfying–99% natural dyes!

The first section is osage and cochineal on cotton,

centre section is privet berries on silk and potassium permanganate on cotton (technically an inorganic chemical dye…)

and third section is three flavours of cochineal and logwood on wool, silk, and silk/wool blend, all on a background of indigo on cotton. (And yes, i am fully aware there are natural substances for browns, but i happen to like the permutations of “potperm”, and i have none of the naturals at the moment.)

And i just realized, that as usual my photos are mislabelled…….left and right always confuse me………..these are portrayed in the correct order above, but the orientation in the file name is reversed!

I have only to add a few more milkweed seeds to the centre, and then i can finish the whole.

 

 

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Apparently i have scared a few people with the potassium permanganate. It’s as “safe” as using any other dye, WHEN you follow the protocols! (Would you drink or bathe in Procion??? Or even indigo???????) People also assume that “natural” immediately classifies as safe, and that’s not true either. Yes, PP is corrosive, so wear gloves—-i don’t stick my bare hands in ANY dye pot, mordant or assistant, i wear protective gear when mixing. PP is inert on the fibres: it is not going to explode or spontaneously combust, UNLESS you let ALL the liquid in the bath evaporate and then store it improperly. PP is poisonous–guess what? So are pokeweed, privet berries, rhubarb leaves can be problematic with all the oxalic acid, and logwood is potentially deadly. I also NEVER stick my nose over a pot and inhale deeply while exclaiming how earthgoddessywonderful it is, or blithely swish my unprotected hands through a conventional indigo vat, or even a 123 vat (there’s lime in there, right? and i’m not talking about the fruit.) Common sense people, common sense. We *don’t* know cumulative effects for most of these substances, because when they were in common use, nobody was doing studies about it, were they? Who wants to die from dyeing?

Posted in embrilting, Indigo Dreams, Moons

indigo moons again

Posted on by arlee

I just can’t resist these. I love looking at the fabrics i’ve dyed, envisioning new moonscapes, different thread colourways, unique stitches i haven’t tried before.

I’ve got quite a little stockpile of these now to work. Not all are in the photo!

I’ve been alternating these with the res work, and the large commission.