I decided to enter the County Fair with three of the silk scarves pictured on the left (the two outside scarves in the top photo and the scarf in the next photo down). I also entered an Eco Printed cotton Tee Shirt. All total, they won 4 blue ribbons. I was very surprised, not many people in my rural county know what eco printing is, much less natural dyeing. But I guess beauty wins out in any case. The scarves are lovely to look at and feel. The Tee shirt was popular with many hunters and fishermen because it looked like a camoflage shirt.
Of course, it made me very happy that they were so well received.!
Monday, February 20, 2012
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Spread the Word!
It is becoming more and more obvious to me that the use of natural plant materials to make dyes, inks and other things is spreading rapidly. I have given a few speeches locally, and taught a few workshops; and now the request for more are rolling in. I am of course very happy. I have become fairly passionate about what I do and I would like the whole World to enjoy it as much as I.
My reasons for getting started in this were quite simple, my reasons for staying with this and pushing it further is more complex. There is something wonderful about taking simple, natural items and creating something of beauty with them that warms the inner being. Why shouldn't I use Nature's gifts to do what makes me feel good? Our World has become so complicated and technical that we have lost our connection with Nature. We use to take a vacation and dedicate it to visiting one National Park or Historical place. Now, we jump on a tour bus and in 3 days we can cover 7 or 8 places and thereby gain knowledge of the World!
Natural dyeing and Eco printing have given me back the feeling of discovery!
I have a childlike wonder again, something I sadly missed. I admit I have become quite jaded and cynical due to the various careers I have had. I can pickup a leaf and see its texture, color and shape; but it doesn't stop there. I also see the subtle little changes in color that indicate there is more inside. I now look at all of the parts of the leaf, not just the immediately visible surface. Now I think, "I wonder how this will print on fabric or paper, how can I extract this beautiful color before it has gone?"
At 69 yrs. old it is a wonderful thing to have a renewed interest in Life and find joy in the simple things again. I makes me want to shout from the rooftops, "The World is at your feet, pick it up, look at it, It's wonderful!"
I am a Virgo. Sometimes considered to be a real organizer, planner and full steam ahead doer. Sometimes I am a bit of a perfectionist. Ha. Nature can sure change all that! When you work with natural things, you learn that we are but one pebble in the stream, and just when we thought we had it down pat, Nature shows us there is still a lot to learn.
This blog entry got a little wordy, but I wanted to tell you how much this art form has meant to me and what I have discovered about myself along the way. I would like each of you to look at what you have discovered about the techniques and how the knowledge has changed the way you view the World. We are truly an international community, we share that same thrill of discovery, the practicality of what we do, and we leave the World a little better off because we have done it.
Enjoy your dyeing, tell your friends about it, encourage more interest in it and share your knowledge willingly and freely.....Now go! Back to the dyepots!
My reasons for getting started in this were quite simple, my reasons for staying with this and pushing it further is more complex. There is something wonderful about taking simple, natural items and creating something of beauty with them that warms the inner being. Why shouldn't I use Nature's gifts to do what makes me feel good? Our World has become so complicated and technical that we have lost our connection with Nature. We use to take a vacation and dedicate it to visiting one National Park or Historical place. Now, we jump on a tour bus and in 3 days we can cover 7 or 8 places and thereby gain knowledge of the World!
Natural dyeing and Eco printing have given me back the feeling of discovery!
I have a childlike wonder again, something I sadly missed. I admit I have become quite jaded and cynical due to the various careers I have had. I can pickup a leaf and see its texture, color and shape; but it doesn't stop there. I also see the subtle little changes in color that indicate there is more inside. I now look at all of the parts of the leaf, not just the immediately visible surface. Now I think, "I wonder how this will print on fabric or paper, how can I extract this beautiful color before it has gone?"
At 69 yrs. old it is a wonderful thing to have a renewed interest in Life and find joy in the simple things again. I makes me want to shout from the rooftops, "The World is at your feet, pick it up, look at it, It's wonderful!"
I am a Virgo. Sometimes considered to be a real organizer, planner and full steam ahead doer. Sometimes I am a bit of a perfectionist. Ha. Nature can sure change all that! When you work with natural things, you learn that we are but one pebble in the stream, and just when we thought we had it down pat, Nature shows us there is still a lot to learn.
This blog entry got a little wordy, but I wanted to tell you how much this art form has meant to me and what I have discovered about myself along the way. I would like each of you to look at what you have discovered about the techniques and how the knowledge has changed the way you view the World. We are truly an international community, we share that same thrill of discovery, the practicality of what we do, and we leave the World a little better off because we have done it.
Enjoy your dyeing, tell your friends about it, encourage more interest in it and share your knowledge willingly and freely.....Now go! Back to the dyepots!
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Eco Prints on Paper II
Well, I'm off again, seeking new adventure on paper. My latest inspiration came to me while making spachetti sauce. I was sprinkling Italian Seasoning into the pot when I though "What if" I did something like this only prints? Not daunted by much, I set my sauce to simmer, got out some broken leaves and other plant materials, a ziplock bag and a rolling pin. I place the materials in the Ziplock bag and crushed them with the rolling pin. Then I place them in an empty shaker bottle. I set some printmaking paper to soak in a pot of alum mordant I had prepared for cloth, and gathered dried leaves, berries, some rusty wire from a burned automobile tire and my trusty rice cooker. After soaking my papers, I began so stack paper, leaves, sprinkles of plant material, etc. until I had a nice stack. I placed the stack in my rice cooker and added 3 cups of a fern root and bladder extract. I steamed for 1.5 hrs. and left in the pot covered overnight. The attached photos will show the final results. I was glad to discover that you could use more than watercolor paper to make prints.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Eco-printing for paper!
It's a new year, with new ideas and new things to play with. Last December I posted two sites that just blew me away with examples of using eco-dyeing to print paper. As a printmaker, I knew that I had to try this. This morning I spent about 2 hrs. gathering up leaves from my stash, soaking them in warm water, and preparing water color paper for eco-printing. Like a quilter, I went from bin to bin, box to box, gathering things that would give texture and color to my prints. I felt like a kid in school again. I have even used some leaves that were previously used in eco-printing fabric.
I had some scraps of 140 lb. and 300 lb. watercolor papers, both hot and cold pressed so I prepared them by tearing them into approx. 5 x 7 in. sheets, then soaking them in an alum bath (warm) for about 20-25 minutes. I placed a large bowl of water in the micro and warmed it for about 3 minutes and placed my leaves, etc.in the water to soak until they were soft enough to lay flat.
I placed a steamer rack in my old enameled canning kettle, and laid down an 8" x8" white ceramic tile. Then I started layering. Paper then leaves, paper, leaves, until I had 8 sheets of paper covered with leaves and flower parts of different kinds, finally weighing them down with another ceramic tile. I covered the kettle with the lid and am steaming for about 2 hours. I will not undo the bundle until it is completely cold. Photos to follow tomorrow.
I had some scraps of 140 lb. and 300 lb. watercolor papers, both hot and cold pressed so I prepared them by tearing them into approx. 5 x 7 in. sheets, then soaking them in an alum bath (warm) for about 20-25 minutes. I placed a large bowl of water in the micro and warmed it for about 3 minutes and placed my leaves, etc.in the water to soak until they were soft enough to lay flat.
I placed a steamer rack in my old enameled canning kettle, and laid down an 8" x8" white ceramic tile. Then I started layering. Paper then leaves, paper, leaves, until I had 8 sheets of paper covered with leaves and flower parts of different kinds, finally weighing them down with another ceramic tile. I covered the kettle with the lid and am steaming for about 2 hours. I will not undo the bundle until it is completely cold. Photos to follow tomorrow.
Monday, December 19, 2011
New blog sites that are great!
I stumbled on two new blogs today while searching for eco-printing on paper. I'm having a little difficulty attaching them to my blog list, but I don't want you to miss them. Wendy Felberg at wendyfe.wordpress.com and Casandra Tondro at casandratondro.blogspot.com. They are two really fine artists, and both have contributed information that I had not run across before in our field. Take a few minutes to check them out. It will be well worth your time. Some of you already are familiar with them and their works, but for those of you who aren't, don't miss them.
Monday, November 28, 2011
Loving Autumn's Bounty!
This is a wonderful time of the year for dyers. There is such a huge collection of things to choose from to make colors and prints with. On the left is a photograph of 3 silk scarves that were all dyed/printed with Autumn leaves, bits of metal and cooked in an iron pot for an hour. The left scarf is a combination of wild cherry and maple leaves combined with rectangles of steel mesh used in stucco and plaster work. It almost looks reptilian.
The middle scarf is all maple leaves. This scarf barely showed any color or print at all until I dipped it in vinegar after dyeing. Then the leaf shapes and even some red color came up. The right scarf is maple and persimmon leaves folded into a long rectangle, then the rectangle was folded into triangles (like folding a flag) then clamped with steel binder clips on all edges before dyeing. These scarves were all simmered for an hour. They were placed in Ziplock bags immediately after removing from the pot and allowed to sit for 5 days. It is best to wait longer, but when using iron or steel metal parts, best to check after 3 days to make sure the reaction is not eating holes in your fabric. Five days seemed to be the max I would risk, so I took the bundles to a Natural Dye class I was teaching at the Pioneer Florida Museum, and I let the students open the bundles at the very beginning of class to show them where we were headed. They were thrilled, and I was very pleased with the results.
The middle scarf is all maple leaves. This scarf barely showed any color or print at all until I dipped it in vinegar after dyeing. Then the leaf shapes and even some red color came up. The right scarf is maple and persimmon leaves folded into a long rectangle, then the rectangle was folded into triangles (like folding a flag) then clamped with steel binder clips on all edges before dyeing. These scarves were all simmered for an hour. They were placed in Ziplock bags immediately after removing from the pot and allowed to sit for 5 days. It is best to wait longer, but when using iron or steel metal parts, best to check after 3 days to make sure the reaction is not eating holes in your fabric. Five days seemed to be the max I would risk, so I took the bundles to a Natural Dye class I was teaching at the Pioneer Florida Museum, and I let the students open the bundles at the very beginning of class to show them where we were headed. They were thrilled, and I was very pleased with the results.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
The Wonders of Nature!
There is a chill n the air, but the days are still dry and beautiful. I have seen some unusual Autumn sights this year. I wonder what they portend? At least they are giving me a wonderful selection of materials to dye with.
The wild cherry trees in my yard usually drop yellow leaves that turn brown quickly and only in small amounts. This year the treas have had brilliant yellow, orange and red leaves and have dropped most of their leaves over a three day period. This afforded me a great opportunity to gather some of each color to dye a silk scarf. I had gone to the river to renew my supply of river water heavy in tannic acid. While at the river, I found about 30 beer bottle caps in different states of rusting. I picked them up, brought them home and rinsed them. I put them in a cup of water with some vinegar to encourage more rusting overnight. The next morning I gathered a great selection of Wild Cherry leaves and along with the bottle caps, I wrapped them in a silk habotai scarf around a Jacaranda stick, bound them with rubber bands and put them in the rice cooker with 3 cups of water to steam for an hour. When they were steamed, I took them out and put the bundle in a ziplock bag and set it aside for 4 days. When I opened the bundle, hung it to dry and then photographed it. See photo on left. I called the scarf Cherry Liquer.
The wild cherry trees in my yard usually drop yellow leaves that turn brown quickly and only in small amounts. This year the treas have had brilliant yellow, orange and red leaves and have dropped most of their leaves over a three day period. This afforded me a great opportunity to gather some of each color to dye a silk scarf. I had gone to the river to renew my supply of river water heavy in tannic acid. While at the river, I found about 30 beer bottle caps in different states of rusting. I picked them up, brought them home and rinsed them. I put them in a cup of water with some vinegar to encourage more rusting overnight. The next morning I gathered a great selection of Wild Cherry leaves and along with the bottle caps, I wrapped them in a silk habotai scarf around a Jacaranda stick, bound them with rubber bands and put them in the rice cooker with 3 cups of water to steam for an hour. When they were steamed, I took them out and put the bundle in a ziplock bag and set it aside for 4 days. When I opened the bundle, hung it to dry and then photographed it. See photo on left. I called the scarf Cherry Liquer.
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