on the other side

it was a bit hard getting away

Miss Martha was not best pleased

and made no secret of it

cattle class on the plane was even more vile than usual

the tubby gentleman occupying the seat next to me had seven elbows

and an overly liberal attitude to the passing of wind

- thank goodness for the adjustable air thingy

i stitched a lot

to try and get my dress ready for here

not quite Alabama Stitch Style

but i'm thinking it will need those strong surface elements

if it is to carry off a forest floor of leaf prints

 when i finally reached San Francisco

after the obligatory hour-long shuffle through LAX

[not a criticism, i quite understand the need to be cautious about letting gypsies like me cross the borders]

i was delighted to find an exquisite exhibition

at the airport

all about the acoutrements of hand-sewing. 

i decided it was a SIGN.

i headed for the great outdoors

and a glorious day, full of happy bouncing dogs

weather that played peekaboo with the Bridge

between bouts of brilliant sunshine

i wandered a long way

to make up for hours in the sardine can

found a lovely burgundy-leaved form of Agonis flexuosa

which would be a joy in the dyepot

yielding lovely colour as well as a delicious peppermint fragrance

[i think i shall be checking the pavements near here

when i'm ready to dye that frock]

  

found an abundance of rust

 

some lovely stones to stack

and more irresistible images

[using the polaroid filter on the batfone]

words of wisdom from William Blake

and finally

just to make certain that i really was in the right place

i found the 'four winds'

marked on the pavement

near Fort Point

gone

i'm off
to my special place.
you might find me here

or here

looking for 'stone folders' for my students
or
stacking rocks
or
applying seawater-as-mordant to my dress made of Alabama Chanin organic cotton [which i have very nearly finished stitching together]
or

just looking out for this schooner i first saw
in 1976

i was on the headlands
and the Aldebaran [i'm pretty sure it was the same boat]
passed under the bridge
- there's proof in my slides, if only i could find them -
[images above thieved from a Bay area sailing site]

i'll be back sometime
with stories
and
perhaps
the odd splash of colour

still following the thread below

Marianna has added her piece of the story
over at her blog
skip over the rainbow to read...

where the day went...and a New Plan

where did the day go?

i composted the contents of a forgotten cauldron -

Oxalis pes-caprae had been festering away

since the last week of June

oops.

you have to admit that whatever-it-was

that was thriving in there

looks quite pretty.

but you have to be careful with mould

wouldn't want to be incubating a new and improved

Legionnaire's disease, for example

then i made up a wee book.

the person who showed me years ago

[whose name i have sadly forgotten

...it happened in the very long ago]

called it a 'Diamond Book'

Velma Bolyard calls it an "origami book"

[however if you google origami book 

there's some spectacular stuff 

none of which looks like this one]

however

what never occurred to me

before i took Velma's class

was to prepare a version with pre-printed text

i always have my students make it up

and then just dye it

so now i've put together

"9 things to think about"

stuff about working with plants

that i think is important

and i will be handing them out in class

- thank you Velma!

[if i have them laser-printed

we may still be able to over-dye them]

here's something else that's exercising my brain

the liquid above

was left over from cooking the meal below

which involved purple cauliflower

the liquid left over from steaming the vegetable was purple

so i put some paper in it overnight

to see if it would take colour

it didn't much

but the liquid turned sea green 

[i didn't photograph either the purple or the green versions, bother.]

anyway

this morning it was a screaming pink.

i'm guessing the kaolin in the paper

changed the pH sufficiently to procure the green

and then

the jar sat in the warm overnight

and fermented

causing the pH to drop

and the colour to change again.

magic.

and now the New Plan.

i have decided that from time to time

i will invite people i like and respect

to contribute a guest post.

the first one will come soon.

thought for today

small things

i am at home
looking closely about me
and taking time

behind the studio door

 

 

and
out in the paddock

this old friend is
Eucalyptus sideroxylon
an elegant black trunked tree

 

whose beautiful leaves produce a delicious red dye
as does the sap [although a bit too crunchy for cloth]

and in the image above, that blackish dot next to the retreating ewe is a lamb that bears the same colour markings as a Border Collie

if i had a male Border Collie on the farm i would be questioning his priorities. but there ain't. maybe one of the Pandas from the zoo nipped out for a weekend in the country. it's a very cute lambie.

be that as it may, i am enjoying this quiet week at home...especially as next Sunday i'm heading this way

deep breaths

a few last images of Melbourne
likely the last time i shall be there this year
other than transitory moments at the aerodrome

the multiplicity of leaf shapes from one specimen of Eucalyptus polyanthemos

the traditional doublepark as performed in Brunswick

sign of the times

and Martha, who decided to dispense with the cold-shoulder treatment
and happily snuggled straight into bed with me

potted

 

call me old-fashioned but

i could have found other uses

for these treasures!

from Melbourne to Los Angeles [well, sort of]

remarkably i am keeping a clean workspace
in Velma Bolyard's shifu class

possibly due [in part] to the fabulous breakfast
partaken of at Grigons & Orr
prior to settling down to all that paper spinning
which
i can now say
is considerably more tricksy than wool
paper doesn't have anything to grip with
unlike those fishlike scales that make working with wool so much fun

fortunately for us
we have an excellent teacher
guiding us through the intricacies of shifu
[i don't think Hiroko Karuno needs to lose any sleep over my efforts though]

i find it healthy to be a student from time to time
it makes me pay more attention as a teacher
because i am firmly reminded how it feels
to know very little about something

speaking of teaching
i will be sharing the ecoprint bundle technique in Los Angeles next month
at the Grau Haus
please contact Claudia Grau by email if you'd like more details