Monday 21 May 2012

roses roses all the way

roses, roses all the way
but
unlike the Browning poem
no "myrtle mixed in my path like mad"

merely the nice chap at Central Market Flowers
calling out to me in passing last week
that he had a lovely pile of rose petals
and was sure i could find a use for them



i'd always liked the thought of being showered with rose petals
- this is as close as i am likely to get -
so smiled broadly and accepted the pile with glee

the fragrance was heavenly
and i enjoyed it for a few days
while pondering what to do with them

i had a little white book, made in Dorothy Caldwell's class
- the intent was that it should have marked pages
&
that it was to be stitched/woven together with coloured threads

my eyes don't work well with colour
i find white much more restful
so i was a little naughty and quietly bent the instructions


which meant i had a lovely blank/blanc book
awaiting play




warning : the fragrance of semi-dried rose petals is utterly intoxicating


the wee book was bound, gagged and submerged
under the close supervision of Johnnie
who likes to drape himself along the masonry
that backs our wood-burning stove


this was good
because i didn't want the pot to boil
and
we all know
a watched pot NEVER boils


and then i went to bed

this morning i opened my present






a rose-scented dorothybook
just for me

30 comments:

  1. that soooo IS a rose filled coffin
    what a way to go !

    interested that it is gagged tho, some secret that the cat may have let out of the bag otherwise?

    s'pose as it is a dorothy book , if there were no red shoes available at the time , red rose petals seems to be very fitting indeed ..

    as always , love yer work!

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    1. it's very clever at reading between lines you are
      luckily cat not in bag
      nor has it got MY tongue

      just a muffled book

      now thinking about stitching more red petals into shoes...or book pages...

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  2. gawh! lurve! (I can almost smell the roses through my computer screen!)

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  3. wooHOO! so grand and how much fun did you have?
    is a rose a rose is a...
    book!

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  4. utterly delightful. and so special.

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  5. oooh what a lovely post, gorgeous book and I too could smell the roses. We must always make time to smell the roses....

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  6. Johnnie is one handsome man.
    Coming up roses alright.

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  7. Astonishing results...I never would have thought of this natural process. So much warmth here...You are blessed! Peace, Mary Helen Fernandez Stewart

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  8. funny how things just sometimes come together in perfection.....
    hugs

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  9. a rose scented book.......how lovely!
    XXXm

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  10. We have no roses in the yard,
    yet I'd swear the intoxicating
    scent of roses just wafted through
    my studio window...all thanks to you
    and your most exquisite Dorothybook.

    How was the class?
    I took it in 2006 and so want to do so again.
    Maybe next year when she teaches in the US.

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    1. taking a class with Dorothy Caldwell is like having an advanced yoga retreat for the mind -
      being led gently through all sorts of exercises and
      emerging at the end [which then is really of course another beginning] feeling as though your mind has been taken out, aired, shaken free of cobwebs and then gently flexed and stretched

      as with yoga her classes can be taken again and again, there is repetition but also extension...and the stories and images are wondrous

      i'm not just waxing lyrical to polish our friendship, i can truly say "if you get the chance to take a class, do it", even if it makes you a recidivist.

      Sandra Brownlee is another such teacher. seek them both out...being around them is a splendid means of sprinkling fertilizer on the garden that is "your work"

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  11. It has often brought great things, when people are naughty ..... and go their own way !

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  12. That is a wondrous thing, my mouth dropped open when I saw the finished piece!

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  13. oh my word - this is stunning - what a wonderful thing to do . . hxx

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  14. Continents away, hemispheres away, time zones away....we seem to be doing identical things you and me. White books, rose petals, book making...eerily connected.

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    Replies
    1. once a skinsister, always a skinsister...

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  15. So... you never cease to amaze and awe me. And your Dorothy Book is a work of art that inspires wonder.

    Wow!

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  16. Thanks for ideas x

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  17. Like others have mentioned, my room has filled with the scent of roses...you are no stranger to powerful descriptors! And your pot watcher...he's in HIS groove too.

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  18. Oh Wow India!! A spectacular little book ..... wafting the scent of roses all the way over here. I was very excited to see you and your work on Li Edelkoort's website (though i have seen you there before).

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  19. aren't cats amazing - who else would think its ok to just hang out above the wood burning stove in that totally relaxed but oh so aware way - oh yeah, the book is pretty amazing too - as is Dorothy - I'd take the yellow brick road to her class anytime jxx

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    1. i knew a cat once [not mine] who was called Christmas and who literally hung out over the Aga on the rack designed to hold tea-towels
      utterly comatose

      with all four feet [and tail] hanging down

      toasting gently in the rising heat

      BTW a certain young Dancer is keen to commission another pair of those amazing legwarmers you made...cos she can't bear to take the ones she has off!!!

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  20. oh my this is so very beautiful and so totally imprinted with your Ind!@na potions processing, would never have thought of immersing a book, the scent of those rose petals has wafted through the ether to inner city Sydney too, ah intoxicating indeed, thank you!!!

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  21. Pretty as the picture as always India. I love that shot of the bath with the book just peeping through.

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  22. I agree with all the above comments.
    This is earthy and real and works on many levels.
    In sort..wow.

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  23. that is breathtaking. i can smell those roses. i can feel that book in my hands, stroking the stitches as i listen to u. x

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  24. I was so intrigued by this process that I had to try it. I took your basic information...which worked very well, I think and came up with paper I that is stunning. Thank you. I even blogged about it here...http://dandelionanddaisy2.blogspot.com/2012/05/rose-petals-to-dye-with.html

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  25. What an amazing little rose dyed book! I came over via Dandelion and Daisy and am ever so glad I did! WOW!!! I am now proceeding to read your blog backwards till I reach the end!!! I can hardly wait to try this process! Thanks!
    Julie

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