Wednesday 6 February 2013

eucalyptus uses + studio placements



the genus eucalyptus yields so much more than just dyes
timber, honey, paper, oil
and
a very useful trick for cleaning rust from tools


i bought this lovely implement when i was working on costumes
in Yamaguchi, Japan
nearly seven years ago

it had been lost for some while
and then i found it again. rusty and in need of care

so
knowing that eucalyptus leaves yield acids and oils when heated in water
and that those acids work to assist a rust reduction whereby the red rust
[ferrous oxide] which is quite hard
is turned black and soft [ferric oxide] and is then easy to remove from the tool

i boiled up my little cutter in eucalyptus and water
after tying some string around the handle in case of accidental patterning
[those are not my paws]


after an hour or so
the blade was as black as its shadow


so i dried it and honed it
greased it with lanolin from a scrap of wool




and waxed the handle
so now it's as good as new

+    +    +

which brings me to the second part of this post.

studio placement.

it's the time of year when i am deluged with requests from people who want to come and stay so that in a few short weeks i can teach them everything i know. they say that in return they will help me with my work.
it's kind of y'all to offer

but
i already have all the help i can handle



 and in case you were wondering
the liquid left over from cleaning the tool
...perfect as an iron-rich mordant.


17 comments:

  1. Its clear that Martha is happy you are around! ( and I dig your tool!)

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  2. yeah, i love that tool, also. i "resonate" with losing something precious...and then having it resurface. what an alchemistress you (and martha) are.

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  3. I have studio helpers also... My Baby Cakes will lay on ANYTHING I am working on. I made an assemblage in a grape box (wooden, rough, etc.) I turned my back and BC was laying in the box, just like it was soft and comfortable! I joking say the cat hair is free!

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  4. You have a beautiful studio assistant!

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  5. Gorgeous studio assistant... and thanks for the explanation of what was to me only a black mystery, in the absence of any real understanding of chemistry.

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  6. I love your assistants....and to be able to visit you here is a gift in itself. I have ordered your second book and it should be delivered tomorrow. Cat hair is an accessory in my humble household. Peace, Mary Helen Fernandez Stewart

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    Replies
    1. thank you for buying the book. it helps feed the cats

      >^*;*^<

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  7. I'm left lusting for eucalyptus.........

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    Replies
    1. i read that with a Japlish accent
      ....rusting for eucalyptus [with apologies to my Japanese friends but secure in the knowledge you all have excellent senses of humour]

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  8. Well I didnt know that............thank you!!!

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  9. Miss Martha...so pretty (but then I'm just silly for torties...)

    Anyway, THANK YOU for the tip/clarification btwn ferrous and ferric oxide. I've been oggling some cloth I wanted to be gray/black, NOT my normal red after rusting and wondering if it was just our iron oxide here.

    Now I know and I'm off to get some Pulverulenta (the only species I think I can get around here...) and experiment.

    ThankYouThankYouThankYou! XOXOXO Treena

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  10. love the tip for the tools - now if only we can conjure up where my grandfather's rabbit hoe was left (I'm blaming my farmer husband who 'borrowed' it a few years ago..... grrrrrrrr) *sob* I miss my favourite hoe....

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    Replies
    1. i'm betting it was the rabbits. they don't like being hoed...

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    2. From the photos I saw of textile artist's studios some years ago it is clear that a moggy is a well nigh indispensable studio assistant / muse.

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    3. this one is accustomed to fame...having been featured in a Japanese book about "artists and their cats" [which should probably have been called "cats and their artists"] some years ago

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