I can’t believe that it’s two months since I last posted something on my blog. My excuse is that I hate cold weather and I have a tendency to hibernate over winter, only venturing forth on nice sunny days to prune something before scurrying back to the fire.
Winter hasn’t been entirely unproductive though. Two of my eco-dyed scarves won a prize at the Bellingen Agricultural Show. It’s not exactly the Sydney Show but who cares!
I made up an “artist’s book” of my paper and fabric dyeing successes (and failures) for display at our local library…
The display was mounted by the Mixed Up Art group as part of Readers & Writers week. The group held a bookbinding workshop in May, and whilst my bookbinding/sewing skills would benefit from some (a lot) more practice, the book held together and much to my surprise was featured in our local paper.
On rainy days, I have been experimenting with leaves gathered from the garden and on my morning walks. Some leaves were disappointing – yielding absolutely no colour – but others such as Ornamental Maple and Native Tulipwood rewarded me with soft silhouettes, Geranium varied leaf by leaf, steamed Purple Carrot worked well, but sometimes the bundle wrapping was more successful than the fabric piece.
The “compost experiment” failed primarily because I forgot about it. By the time I dug it out of my compost heap, the bugs had munched on the silk and the bacteria had broken down the fibres. Note to self: write a reminder in your diary!
One of my experiments using Native Tulipwood leaves on Habotai silk which was then dipped in a purple cabbage and iron bath – was particularly successful. Depending on whether the cabbage is permanent or fugitive, this scarf may be a contender for next year’s Bellingen Show. It’s all a bit of fun …
A Bellingen Diary 