a dream come true

 

i have wanted to stay on a houseboat in Sausalito ever since the first time i came to the Bay Area. i know the retired pirate in Swallows and Amazons lived on a lake

and i do love lakes

but i seriously love places with tides (which is why the Tay River also has a corner of my heart)

so when i discovered the Yellow Ferry i was delighted.

here was a chance to spend time living on the water

with the space to invite people to come and share in the poetics of the place

sometimes an event is so much worth the doing that it doesn't matter that it doesn't return a profit. it came out even and that was fine (and good for the local economy!)

and happily (at almost the last minute) i had the thought to ask Chef Violette to join us, meaning i didn't have to rise at the crack of dawn to begin prep...and also that the food was far better than anything i could have offered. she flew in on my frequent flyer points, bless her heart. cooked fabulous abundances of vegetarian gluten free food and served us utterly sensational desserts at afternoon tea time (with different ice-creams every day, all beaten by hand)

 (above) lentils, polenta, crispy baked kale leaves, and a rich tomato sauce

(below) shortbread icecream , ginger snaps, caramelized pineapple, fragrant rice pudding and blueberries

three brown feet

bundles (looking a bit like the seals that lolled on rafts just a little ways from the boat)

...

and of course i adore paeonies

simple beauty

celebrating the month of twinkle lights and Sagittarian birthdays by giving y'all a present.

leafprinting in a nutshell.

simple is beautiful.

and it's as simple and beautiful as that.

but

if you'd like to go deeper

i would of course be delighted if you'd buy the Bundle Book

or

attend a class sometime

(there's one on Sunday at Poet's Ode)

and while we're on the subject of beautiful

i've gathered together the words you kindly gave

put them in italics and begun to acquaint them with others

there are so many different paths that might be followed,

here is the first one that ensued.

i try for kindness

though i am restless

and would rather meander

through luscious gardens

with time to ponder

the meaning of bespoke

with gratitude

despite confusion

hoping for an epiphany

 with zeal

 and love

never losing hope

for serenity

and connectedness

awaiting the dawning

and the murmur of magic

that particular moment

in which to advocate joy

for now

i fly

mindful

up and beyond

seeking peace

in the precious dusk

fearless 

thank you for sending me these seeds of writing.

keeping it simple (2) and dark and beautiful

what, so soon? yes.

eucalyptus is pretty much the instant gratification genus. once it's been boiled all you need do is wait for it to cool...unless you have metals present such as copper or aluminium or iron. in that case giving it time can yield further magic

if you're working with leaves from what i would call deciduous exotics (when i'm home) aka the deciduous plants of the northern hemisphere

then giving the bundles a week or two

(or longer in a preserving jar) will well repay your patience

i'm loving how this quite stiff and hard-edged weave has softened in the dyepot

the warp and weft have relaxed

and it feels lovely to the hand

(no scouring necessary, eucalyptus did the trick)

that very open weave allowed colour to travel between layers

and of course capillary action sucked the black of the pre-loved pot

through everything

exactly as i had hoped

(if i had not wanted that i could simply have layered the cloth with paper)

it will dry a little lighter

and is perfect for all seasons

the fragrance is delicious

and will make itself known whether in San Francisco fogs

the mists of Scotland

or a Singapore downpour

i can wear it in layers with a big wool wrap

or roll it around some beads

if i want to dress up

because

sometimes

dressing up is fun

want to see a rapid fire film of the unbundling?  go here.

PS the pix are unedited and straight from the batfone... WSWG

down in the ninth

 

 'being (t)here' in the lower ninth was so absorbing i hardly took any photographs at all. but here are a few...we walked along the levee

and wandered through the streets

finding several enormous pecan trees whose inhabitants were cheerfully hurling unripe nuts to the ground

those nuts made a fabulous brew

as ever, the bundles were a source of joy. we worked with cloth and paper

experimented with kitchen-sourced mordants and spent time considering words in gentle poetic forms

New Orleans water has a quality all its own. the reaction to the spent gladiolus flowers was particularly beautiful. that blue came instantly

we had interest from a pair of goats who seemed keen to join us in the studio

not to mention a rather lovely cat who happily rolled in our poetry after hours,

rearranging the words to his satisfaction

at one point he took centre stage on the shared work table and cheerfully faced each offered camera in turn so that everyone could enjoy a photo opportunity

i'd like to thank each of my students for being t)here, for sharing your stories and for adding to the general pool of wisdom. 

wrap up (some more) for winter

 

we had a glorious day at Poet's Ode last Sunday

wrapping and dyeing beautifully soft pure wool shawls

in a cauldron heated over a lovely twig-fired heater

made especially for me by my blacksmith son

the sky was blue, the lunch delicious

we drank tea, told stories

played and worked in the back garden

(an oasis of quiet hidden from the hubbub of Hahndorf)

laying our shawls out on the grass

and happily strewing leaves 

we composed a little spontaneous poetry

while waiting for the bundles to cool

it was such a lovely time that we're offering a repeat

(i'm not in South Australia much after all)

the weather might not be so kind on June 6

but we can cosy up in our lovely workroom

make a fire in that lovely hearth

and wrap up in our wool shawls

because wool is warm even when wet

Sam and Yoda won't be getting off the home sofa though

they're much too comfortable

musing over the dyepots

I'm told a program broadcast by the ABC recently allegedly claimed that ecoprint bundling is a practice originating from and belonging to indigenous Australian culture. The truth is that it is derived from Latvian Easter Egg dyeing, a pagan tradition pre-dating Christianity, involving the wrapping of hens eggs with plant matter followed by boiling them in a pot full of onionskins and water. I transposed it to cloth (experimenting with steaming as well as boiling) substituting eucalyptus leaves for onionshells. They smell a good deal nicer, for one thing.

As far as I know metal pots, as well as woven wool and silk, only came to this country with the European invasion of 1788 (other than accidental arrival via shipwreck) and it wasn't until they became available that eucalyptus leaves could be boiled in water to reveal their extraordinary colour potential, now in such demand whirled-wide.

But maybe I'm wrong.  Perhaps metal pots were salvaged from the shipwrecks that occurred along the West Australian coast from 1622 onwards (though that first one, the Tryall, was quite a distance offshore). If you have information I'd be very interested to read it, especially if you can back it up with references. Dye history fascinates me.

I have a theory that dye traditions around the planet follow traditional regional cooking practices quite closely...for example the slow-brewed indigo of Japan relating to their fermenting of foods, the soup-like dye extraction traditionally used in Europe and the stone-ground ochres and stains of indigenous Australians that echoed the ground pastes of seeds that formed part of their diet. The absence of boiled food in aboriginal cooking pre 1788 seems to be a clue about dyes.

I'm not being picky, I really want to know.

On the count of three

It's nearing 3am on the morning after the last of the Bower Bird Blues workshops and I'm lying wide awake listening to the pounding of the ocean and thinking of all the things I could have done better. 

Kubbi on the other hand is snoozing peacefully by my side. 

Scrolling back through my Batfone I'm surprised to find this is the only image I made of the newly established Botanical Studio at Beautiful Silks in Allansford 

Marion and Elephant have worked miracles to create a retreat and workshop centre dedicated to facilitating ecologically sustainable textile arts. 

During our three days together we were spiritually sustained by the beauty of the space and gardens and nourished by deliciousgood meals prepared by Marion - supplemented by various dulcet delectables from the kitchen of her good friend Brenda.   

Once again we were considering the blues (though my limited set of images doesn't really reflect that). There was stitching, stringmaking, writing and the beating of leaves. Complemented by much enthusiasm in the hammering and sawing of metals (under the direction of Roz Hawker) - sadly I don't seem to have any images of those pieces either. Ah well. 

Indigo leaves were beaten in as well as bundled. 

The surface of this dyebath was absolutely jewel-like. 

As were the bundles that emerged from it

Somehow in between all that we found time to design a simple dress for one of the participants to wear to her daughter's wedding - all she has to do now is dye it. 

I'll write up the instructions in the next post, meanwhile I'm hoping to drift into the arms of Morpheus for a while...if I can stop the churning of thoughts!

looking and seeing

it's been a big week. 

I won't burden you with the details

suffice it to say I was pleased to make it through

and still be smiling at the other end

today I had work to do

though it was hot

the help (in several forms) was ready to lend a paw

in the early evening there were a few welcome drops of rain

which settled the dust and made the whirled look even more beautiful 

so we took our eyes for a wee walk

looking and seeing

only a few hours to go

if those of you who purchase the bundle book

[and those who have already bought it]

email me a copy of your receipt

then

i will make a lucky dip

choose three names from a tsunobukuro bag

and send a hand-embellished ecoprint tsunobukuro bag

to each of those three people

if you happen to mention the book on your blog or facebook

[and send me the link]

you will receive a bonus entry for each separate site on which you do so

entries will only be accepted via this email address

wanderbear[at]gmx[dot]com

sockbundles

tis a fine thing
when the infants take an interest in the construction of things
especially when those things are warm and comfy
and are given to me

my Wild Rose [aka the Eldest of the Three] who has a B.Sc Hons and was recently awarded her wool classer's stencil
is not content with being able to do clever things with statistics and fling fleeces on tables
and [thanks to instruction by great-grandmother] churn out exquisite tatted lace at machine speed
has now turned her hand to knitting
and discovered a passion for socks.
- unlike me she can actually make two objects that are exactly alike.
 
the first pair went to her beloved.
i scored the second lot.

so of course
i bundled them up with some eucalyptus leaves

i love my socks

and was tempted to sling them in here as well

but i was firmly restrained.
they said enough was enough.
sigh.

guess i shall be wearing contrasting socks.