in place

Last month I quite suddenly found myself sliding down a slippery slope...from a year filled with workshops and exhibitions to... nix.

Thanks to the invisible scourge (our planet doing a bit of housekeeping) I now have a small fortune in flight credits (that I suspect may never be used) and all the time in the whirled to spend with my grand-daughter.

I'm very lucky that my self-isolation takes place on 500 acres ( "don't fence me in" was always my theme song ) and also that I quite like a solitary lifetstyle (I've spent nearly thirty years as a sole parent). I know others are not quite so fortunate, so I created an online gathering I have called "in place", that offers small daily classes, readings and prompts to help people get through the days of isolation.

"in place" began as a 23 day course, but has now been extended for as long as we endure the Great Pause. Together we are sailing our armchairs around the village well.

I've committed to keep posting a little something every day. Participants are stitching on used tea-towels to create work for what was intended as an online exhibition but has also now blossomed into an actual exhibition to be held at Fabrik Arts + Heritage, in the old Onkaparinga Woollen Mill complex at Lobethal in South Australia some time next year.

We have been drawing, stitching, writing.
Presently we are dabbling in a little indigo.
We are also making a small film together (clips are coming in from all over the whirled).

There's still time to join us if you like...the Great Pause doesn't look like finishing any time soon.

For an investment of $353 Australian dollars (or you can choose a 3 to 6 month payment plan) you'll have lifetime access to the course. The Aussie shekel is at an all time low at present (last time I looked it was worth 60 US cents) and so far 24 dailies have been uploaded.

I'll keep going until the Great Pause is over (meaning we can all go dance in the streets again) or the Beast knocks me off my feet. I hope it doesn't...I very much like the idea of continuing to sail my armchair (dog willing and with a fair wind).

Want to know more?  this link will take you there.  

journeying

it's nearly 9 years (next March) since Eco Colour (a book i wanted to call 'botanical alchemy' but was told the title wouldn't sell) hit the bookstores. in that time what i initially referred to as 'ecoprint' has spread far and wide. thousands of people are making a living by printing with plants.

hilariously, though i was the first to publish the technique* i usually see myself referred to as an "also ran" in various media. a recent book about natural processes in textile art listed me merely as a "practitioner" of the technique (though instructions for ecoprinting are scattered generously throughout its pages).

i've seen colleagues absorb my work into their teaching practices, and observed "fashion labels" created after people have taken classes....sometimes only a one day class.

and there are so many people out there teaching "ecoprinting" (though much of it is not ecologically sustainable at all, as toxic adjuncts are increasingly employed) that i no longer offer basic "how to" classes. it would be like having to play "twinkle, twinkle, little star" over and over again.

not much fun for me, and ergo less for my students.

which is how 'being (t)here' took root and has grown into a retreat class that embraces being fully present and at the same time exploring the poetics of place.
it gives me such joy to be able to offer something more than just a class about printing with leaves.

for me, 'being (t)here' is a way of experiencing the whirled that helps open the cracks that let the light get in (thank you Leonard, for that phrase) no matter where you are. it offers a pathway to beauty that can be rolled out whether you're in a verdant forest, a shimmering desert, an urban wasteland or your own private paradise.

we observe and see, write and draw, print and dye. we fold paper into books...  the island book fold and its bigger cousin the river book, making a journals from single sheets of paper :: without having to thread a needle.

together we make discoveries, in ourselves AND in the dyepot. the other lovely thing that's been happening is that many of the students keep in touch with each other after the workshops. sometimes they make a facebook group, sometimes a blog. others just wrestle with an email list. but they maintain the connections and forge deep bonds. it's wonderful.

i've been teaching less through institutions (though i remain loyal to a select few), and more in beautiful and sometimes unusual places. the Yellow Ferry is one of these. there is something deeply magical about being on a boat, which is why i will be back there in February 2017.
i've reduced the class numbers and though the feedback from many people is that they consider the fee too high, the investment for the class is actually the same as for the first one, it's just that i have sourced a richer collection of materials for each person to work with, with treasures such as a limited edition silkymerino dress to take home.
 as a business proposition it is laughable because the expenses won't balance against the income...but to me it is absolutely worth it for the experience we will all have.

because it is the journey that matters, in the end.

and i am loving the ride.



*you'll see references to "nature printing" that are earlier, but that is a technique where the plant is dipped in paint or dye and pressed against a substrate of some kind

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.

the solace of north

i've been wandering

northwards

taking some visitors to country

that is quite unlike the place where they live

it's a long way there

but worth the trek

my role was driver and camp cook

and keeper of the flame

feeding the wood stove in the kitchen 

and the donk that heats the water for the showers

[the visitors very kindly took on the washing up]

but in between i still found time for writing

and for drawing on and with country

on the seventh day

i left the visitors in Port Augusta

to make their way to other things

and went north again

this time a little west

past a lake of crystal salt

for a few days quiet work at the Observatory

where i found

six contributions for the Solace project

already awaiting me

all the way from the UK and the USA

as well as closer to home

dyeing paper

much as i enjoy wandering

i also love being back in my studio

pottering about, stoking the fire

and of course opening up bundles

 at the risk of boring y'all

with too frequent references to my new book

i just wanted to make sure that those of you who had already bought it

knew there is now a lucky dip involved

[i'd mention it on the Blurb site if i could]

i wrote this book for those of you who don't have a chance to attend classes

as well as those who just like a refresher or

to read about the process in different words

and of course there's the field i haven't discussed in print before,

++ dyeing paper ++

therapy

one of the five delightful recidivists amongst my students informed me that i was

"cheaper than a psychotherapist and a good deal more fun"

....looking at these photographs i think there may be something in what she says...

wondering at the lack of colour?

big dye day tomorrow...

to be : and a bit of roll-up-and-dye

somehow one year has rolled into another

it seems timely to look at what lies ahead

and to try and think about living a better life.

not that my life is bad, far from it...i just happen to think that it should get better with each passing year

and by better

i don't necessarily mean financially [although it's pleasant to have "enough"]

my hope [ambition is too strong a word for me] is to do and be the best i can each day

so that when it comes time to lay my head on my pillow [that my grandmother made for me fifty years ago*] at night

i can feel comfortable about how the day rolled out

making New Year's resolutions hasn't worked well in the past and i think it's likely because they seemed to be quite negative

"i will not...."

"i will give up...."

this year i'm proposing a more joyful approach

some of which began when i returned home from my recent visit to the US.

i arrived on my birthday and decided to mark the occasion by taking up running again.

well, more of a fast shuffle

but i'm pleased to say i've only missed three days [on which i substituted a walk]

so this year i hope to

be kinder

be healthier

play more

listen more deeply

and find more space

that seems a nice list to be working on.

here's another person who makes nice lists

[i wanted to embed the video but it wasn't cooperating, just click on the coloured words to be inspired]

and in the interests of kindliness i thought i'd share a recent playtime with y'all

my friend Lindy had sent me this lovely linen shirt

i've worn it quite a lot [because i love dust colours] but decided to celebrate my return home

by wandering about the farm and seeing it with fresh eyes

and taking the shirt out to one of the dams, where there is much to play with

i tossed on whatever was within reach

laid a dogspike at the cuff of each sleeve

and rolled inwards

then i rolled from tail to top

and needed a foot as well as a hand [because the other hand had the camera]

a lovely tight bundle

the beautiful trunk of Corymbia citriodora

leaves and bark from the tree above, crumbled into my yabby pot

after boiling [there was a bit more old iron involved to get that black]

i wanted to leave the bundle for longer

to take advantage of the alchemy of archaeology

but it was way too big for a jar

i guess i could have tossed it into the dam

 tied to a long piece of string

but somehow it didn't feel right

so

it's sitting at the bottom of the studio "sink" instead

[water is delivered to my workspace from a tank outside]

which is a beautiful blue bowl

 

as long as i keep that topped up

- which mostly happens as i'm filling other vessels -

that shirt should be ok for a while

dreaming that it is at the bottom of some deep, far off lake

it won't be coming out for a while yet

but

be sure i'll post pics when it does

it will be very slow[dyed]cloth[ing]

Happy New Year.

* yes it is getting a bit lumpy but i love it very much.

the giving season

tis the season of twinkling lights and of giving
and i am well content
in a place that is dear to my heart

so
i am announcing a give-away to kindly followers of this blog

you have until December 13
to comment telling me what you would most like to read about here
and share this post via your blog [if you have one] or some other social medium [if you participate in such things]

i will write your names on windfallen eucalyptus leaves
toss them in the air
and ask Miss Martha to choose one at random

i think she will like that game

a similar give-away is running on FaceBook
that gives you two chances!

shapeshifting in paradise

imagine a wild garden with twenty five ENORMOUS mango trees

[bigger than those oaks and buckeyes in California, to put them into perspective for those reading on the other side of the pond]

and

a rosa mutabilis, a persimmon, an abundance of citrus

ferns growing with weedlike vigour

bougainvillea, eucalyptus

Avril's garden was frankly heavenly and it was unalloyed joy to be in it for three days.

we worked on a beautiful porch

supervised by Winston

who sometimes found the responsibility exhausting

we had a quiet but curious visitor

who may have been attracted by the dressmaking tools

that were being made

[a whirled without string is a whirled in chaos]

i was introduced to the 'ice cream bean'

whose botanical name Inga edulis sounds like she could be Latvian :o)

there is fluffy stuff inside

which is fabulously delicious

 

 

the usual suspects

which opened up to

the 'shapeshifter' class really keeps me on my toes

because everybody arrives with different cloth

and their personal collection of pre-loved goodness

ready to transform 

and

it is my responsibility to make sure that everybody goes home happy

with something beautiful

the Dogs Above were kind

i wore my hoodie because it was cool

[i meant the weather, but the hoodie is too]

and that gave some people ideas

i usually frown on people bringing tumeric to class

but those yellow spots there

were from the home-grown variety

[curiously that fern print later oxidised to a golden brown]

 my grey cells had a lot of exercise

and

i had a very happy three days

thank you, everybody