Wednesday, June 26, 2024

dirty pot

 “every colour

harbors its own soul”

-emil nolde 


following years of rust dyeing, i finally decided to delve into the mysteries of eco dyeing and chose the “dirty pot” method for my first experiments. having found a lovely old oval aluminium pot at a charity shop, i dug through my stash of rusty iron bits and came up with a couple rusted horse shoes to donate to the cause. add in some fresh spring water, a pint (-ish, i am not much of a measurer) of vinegar and a fistful of mostly brown onion skins (a few red ones fell into the mix just because they are mischievous that way,), and it was ready to begin its magic! 


whilst that concoction was busy bubbling and toiling its way to magical perfection, i raided my stash of scrap cottons and linens. being unfamiliar with this process and uncertain of  its outcomes, i grabbed a handful of the most hideous vintage linen hankies i could find (so i would not mourn their demise should things go all pear shaped) and assorted quilting cotton strips ripped to true up edges and other random scraps, one a textured cotton and another a bit of lovely handwoven hemp cloth.


again, not having any experience, i forged ahead, ignoring all the “rules” i had read about (you know me, i simply detest rules!) and rolled half of my clothy treasures up, sprinkled with more onion skin fragments, into a semi-tight bundle. i tied it up with some cotton thread, thinking it would make wonderful variegated thread for embroidering with later on, and then contemplated the next bunch. this second group of scraps and abominable lacy linen hankies (ick!) i decided not to roll (being the rebel role breaking fiend that i am) and just scrunched them all piggety wigglety and tied them up with more cotton thread!


then into the roiling concoction these bundles went to undergo their magical transformation! four hours of bubbling and boiling they went with only the occasional respite as fresh water was added to replenish the levels. it looked a right mess, all blackened and muddy. even the onion skins had turned a terrifyingly deep black from the chemical reaction with  the rusted iron! i resolutely pressed on and allowed the muck the grace to do what it was going to do, all the while now fully convinced it would end up chucked in the wheely bin in its entirety when all was said and done.


not having the forethought to acquire tongs or serving spoons i could dedicate to this process, i could not immediately fish the bundles from their steaming brew, so i shut off the burner, covered the dirty pot (by now the rusty vinegar smell was rather potent, explaining why so many of the videos i had watched about dirty dyeing were shot outdoors) and let them cool. 


an hour or so later, my bundles were scooped out of the muck, squeezed and laid out on the deck to dry overnight (look at me, following rules for once!). settled in on the davenport at the kitchen table with a fresh cup of steaming chai in hand, i contemplated the day’s labor and wondered whether it would all be a success or a great wholloping waste of time? drip. drop. splutter. splatter.  it began to rain. rain! eyes rolling, i huffed outside to gather my precious (or worthless?) bundles in from the offending skywater threatening to foil my day’s adventures.  no more fannying about, breaking the one rule i actually attempted to follow, i unbundled my bundles here and now (back to rule breaking!). in my agitation i completely forgot about the why’s of my using cotton thread to tie them up, i broke those threads apart (sorry, dear future embroideries) and freed the most gorgeous scraps of murky greens, stormy grays, and redolent reds! my day’s endeavors were not wasted and i now have my first lot of lovely eco dyed scraps to play with!


even more fortuitous for this newly emboldened eco dyer, my lovely fiancé came home and grumbled about the smell and set to making a lovely lamb and roasted veg supper, filling our home with delicious smells and our bellies with delightful goodness!



i could not have asked for a better way to end my week off!

namasté


Sunday, May 26, 2024

moon, soft and wild

 “everyone is a moon,

and has a dark side

which he never shows to anybody.”

-mark twain



three years have trudged through the darkness. my last post added at the onset of a world pandemic that extinguished millions of bright sparks. my bodhi expired shortly thereafter after seeing me through some of the darkest years of my life and there was nothing i could do but hold him as he passed and remember the joy he brought me. plunged into deep depression, my life was strained. bear lifted me up daily and helped me find my way through it all. 

there is light and joy in my life now, thanks to him. none (at least, not much) of this was on display to the “outside.”  glimpses of light were shared in short form on instagram and mirrored on facebook. here, however, has always been a deeper, more raw space. looking so deep was not an option… but it is time i wake up. stop hiding from the depths. the depths are where the shadows lie, true. the depths are also where the wells of joy reside!



bodhi left such a rift in my heart that i was unable to bring home another, even still. critters have a mysterious way, however, of filling these voids whether or not we would them. this is cat.  

we rescued a starving, tiny fluff ball a few months ago from the jaws and talons of a gargantuan owl that had already swallowed his mother and five siblings. we weren’t even sure he’d make it through the night when we heard his pitiful cries from his hiding space beneath his mother’s carcass in the field behind the scale house (i’m working again, at a different special waste landfill for the oil fields), but his spirit is valiant! he now keeps our scale house free from mice and has worked his way into all of our hearts (even that of those who are “confirmed dislikers of cats”).  working with a bunch of redneck operators, he was almost named something crude and vulgar, until the voice of reason (was that me?) commanded the reins of this particular naming carriage and dubbed him “cat, the poor slob without a name.” yes, i am indeed a fanboy of breakfast at tiffany’s and all things audrey hepburn! cat fulfills my need for a furry in my life, but being a shop cat keeps him safe from breaking my heart again (or so i’ve convinced myself…ssshhhh…don’t try to convince me otherwise!).


Thursday, June 24, 2021

converging skies

“creativity is just
connecting things.”
-steve jobs


bodhi found himself drowning in a sea of frothy shampoo and moisturising conditioner today! the sun was blazing across the sky. the beast was malodorous, so it seemed like a utopian union. he smells delightfully fragrant now!

i’ve been bloodless and world-weary of late. fraught with uncertainty as my unemployment is surreptitiously terminated by sanctimonious politicians who believe we are all simply lazy and need to take one of the thousands of poverty level jobs available in food service and hospitality, a field nowhere near my own which was destroyed not only by the pandemic, but by governmental idiocies in the first place…and pays less than half what i was making…grumble, grumble, piss and moan. ha! a fat lot of good all that grouching just did, eh? tomorrow is another day.

to be more productive, i begin again. forging skies. new fragments. anticipating stories. even snipping and dipping a stacklet of shibori indigo moons! too colossal for these fragments, but ripe for impending journeys in stitch and whisper.

now to settle in and needle chant awhile as the rotund moon shimmers outside my window and gentle night breezes cool the fragrant beast at my feet and the bear sleeps in the next room.

namasté 


Saturday, June 19, 2021

luminous language of art

"art washes away from the soul
the dust of everyday life."
-pablo picasso 


kurt vonnegut once said that "to practice any art, no matter how well or how badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven’s sake. so do it.” in today’s climate, i figure anything that feeds our souls is a worthy pursuit.

i'm trying to be quiet as no one else is up, but my paints and canvas have been whispering a steady lament for some time and I decided it was time to get them out and let them walk around a bit…

namasté

Friday, June 18, 2021

pande…monium

 “i am an artist you know…

it is my right to be mad!”

-e.a. buchianneri



my grasp on this blog has always been tenuous at best. so many avenues with more immediate gratification pulling me in other directions like instagram and facebook. then the pandemic loomed large and out of control. furloughed and depressed, i turned inward, reaching out through those other mediums as they were simpler. faster. required less of me. but is that truly healthy? does it instill creativity? foster artistic growth?

one thing that i have always loved about blogging is that it requires me to look deeper. examine. uncover. share…but with something more. to do so simply for the sake of being honest with myself. more open with myself.

when it comes down to it, i  blog because i want to give that voice a venue in which to whisper. to allow myself the space to see what it is i’m creating from a different perspective…and if that imparts some insight to others, then it is doubly blessed. if nothing else, then at least it shares the inner workings of a madman amidst his creative expressions!

namasté

Friday, November 6, 2020

a jolly little frolic

 “of course there is

a santa claus!”

-truman capote 




taking a break today from all the tiny stitching and having a jolly little frolic through santa’s workshop. stitching a sleepy little santa in his pajamas! he already makes me smile!

fabrics are by tim holtz (except for the skin which is grunge by basicgrey. next up is stuffing and beard making!

namasté


Saturday, October 31, 2020

small journies

my favorite thing to do
is go where i've never been
even if only in my imagination



in this strange new world where travel is nearly impossible, or at best inadvisable, we have to find new ways to explore. for me, it has manifested in a series of diminutive stitcheries. tiny worlds filled with stars and moons and bears and hares and trees. story fragments of cobble cloth.

it's amazing, the places and things i've seen while sitting in my studio with a steaming cup of coffee! i wonder where i'll go next? who i might meet?

namaste'

Wednesday, September 2, 2020

homeward bound beneath a friendly moon

“tragedy doesn’t necessarily change us.
 more often, i think, it just brings out
more of who we are - or were - all along “
-nora roberts  



my dear friends, i know i haven’t been actively posting of late - indeed it’s been so very long that some of you may have forgotten you even followed in the first place - but life rather shook me off my feet a while and i had to set my blog aside, and then of course the longer i left it at rest, the harder it was to summon up the energy to begin again. 

i always thought that i’d come back to it one day. it was here, waiting safe, and appreciated by any of those who still stumbled across it. i had more ideas to share, and no less love for my work. i've made some false starts. perhaps this will be yet another. my hope, however, is that i will be able to fan the spark into a healthy flame once again!

this project roll (pictured above) is my latest endeavour. i started with annie downs’ pattern, “homeward bound”. but i had other ideas for construction, design, and ornament. lol. i always do, don’t i?



i quilted it with decorative stitches from one of my younger vintage machines and carried my bunny under the moon theme to the inside work area, never being one for leaving cloth plain. i also bound the work mat instead of using ricrac. 



it makes for a wonderfully convenient way to transport appliqué and embroidery projects in progress! my modification of using a pool noodle, rather than the called for mailing tube, makes the core a handy pin cushion, too.



with my latest project safely rolled up inside, i’m ready and able to carry it anywhere, even if it’s only from the sewing room to the living room while sheltering in place!

namasté




Wednesday, April 29, 2020

at home with fragments

“every experience, 
no matter how bad it seems, 
holds within a blessing 
of some kind. 
the goal is to find it.
-buddha


i got laid off today. the corona virus and the oil price war between russia and saudi arabia have all but shut down the oil industry in the states. of a sudden, i have a lot of time on my hands, so this is happening. a bit of fragment exploration in three dimensions. playing with unusual forms to create old favourites. where will this all lead? i do not know, but it should be fun figuring it out!

namasté