I'm not sure what kind of flowers these are. I found them at The Morgan Arboretum on a warm Summer's day and they reflected the warm comfort of that day. I love the complexity of the structures and sub-structures within this flower... There's a fantasy architecture of some alien world in these, where the petals … Continue reading Revisiting Some Unpublished Photos of 2020 – Essential Yellows
Revisiting Some Unpublished Photos of 2020 – Crowded Autumn Colours
Looking out the windows of my suburban home on this gray early winter morning, I'm happy to be reminded of the beauty that was and will be again. There are colours even in the cold dampness of this season, but they only start jumping when the snow falls. For now, we can remember the warmth … Continue reading Revisiting Some Unpublished Photos of 2020 – Crowded Autumn Colours
Fabrics – Colour Mapping Challenge – Part 3 – An Experiment In Yellow
Here you have them... all together in a nice pile... All the yellow variations I could achieve. I'll separate them and catalogue them, then reconfigure them into something hopefully beautiful... well... no, let's just go with that intention, shall we... Stay tuned and see what happens...
Fabrics – Colour Mapping Challenge – Part 2 – Some Resists & Removals
What you'll see here are 3 pieces of cotton and one of raw silk... all soaked in an alum mordant. The cotton is soaked in a cool turmeric dye bath. The raw silk was soaked in an acidic food colouring bath. (Made from watering down a direct application colour paste: alum, guar gum, vinegar, & … Continue reading Fabrics – Colour Mapping Challenge – Part 2 – Some Resists & Removals
Fabrics – Colour Mapping Challenge – Part 1 – Ready to Catalogue my Results
The main fabrics are cotton canvas and wool yarn. I've had some old canvas lying around for years... often used as a drop sheet for house painting. I had to scour (wash) it very well to remove as much sizing as possible (and other crap from it). My dyes are made from : Turmeric, Goldenrod, … Continue reading Fabrics – Colour Mapping Challenge – Part 1 – Ready to Catalogue my Results
Fabrics – Colour Mapping Challenge – Part 1 – Picking my Colour & Why…
Here are some of the early yellows: Turmeric.
Playing with Iron Waters … prep for the fibres samples
From left to right, the iron waters were made with... (material samples are cotton and raw silk) Iron oxide power (1tbps), 1 cup tap water, 1 cup vinegarRusted iron coasters soaked (5 days) in 2 cups filtered water, 1 cup vinegarIron ore balls soaked (2 weeks) in 2 cups of tap water, 1 cup vienegar … Continue reading Playing with Iron Waters … prep for the fibres samples
More Natural Dye Tests… Subtle to stunning
First a reminder about the materials used (see previous posting on October 12)... We have cotton, silk habitat, raw silk, and wool. They have been soaked in mordants (Alum, Soy milk, Sumac) or nothing. I used a cold-bath technique of soaking the materials overnight (after wetting them in warm water). I'm not sure if the … Continue reading More Natural Dye Tests… Subtle to stunning
Cascade
The staghorn sumacs around my yard shed leaves all summer... it's the squirrels who break some branches and hasten their transformation into beautiful reds and pinks. Against the backdrop of deep dark forest greens, they give off their own light. This is how I see them in my minds-eye. They wilt into a gentle cascade … Continue reading Cascade
