who knows where the time goes

it's been a while since I've published anything here , and the field of the year has been very thoroughly harrowed in the interim, beginning with the passing of my mother in February. 

not something I am ready to write about yet. so I will not.

in May I travelled to Vancouver, to give my first two-week class at the Maiwa School of Textiles. 

the magical view from the air as you fly into San Francisco

as Qantas only flies there direct in midwinter and midsummer, I had to travel via the United States.
in the past , my arrival at SFO has been met with a cheery "welcome to the United States".

not this time.

I was accused of lying about my tattoos. seriously??? I have a tattoo of a maple leaf on my wrist. it was drawn by one of my daughters, based on a leaf gathered from under the beautiful Acer palmatum atropurpureum that lives at the foot of the Vallejo Steps in San Francisco. the officer asked me what the tattoo was, I responded with "it's a maple leaf, sir". whereupon he informed me that he was a patriot from Ohio who had seen plenty of maples in his time and that it was his duty to keep undesirable elements out of his country. and that he did not like to be lied to.

it IS a maple leaf.
(and my hands were squeaky clean at the time)

the officer continued to insist that it was a marijuana leaf (which, even if true, should not have mattered as Cannabis sativa is legal in California). he wanted the names and addresses of my friends in the US. he demanded to know if I were an activist or an environmentalist. I responded truthfully that I was a tree planter, then he sent me for "secondary questioning".  hours later I was released into the USA. if you want to know what those hours were like, read Mem Fox's account of her experience. it's quite similar, except that in my case there was no apology (and I haven't given any books to Prince George).

curiously, everyone else in that detention room was brown, too.

I wasn't even wearing my amulets, but clearly I look like someone to be suspicious of. 

happily I had had the foresight to book my onward flight to Canada for the following day, otherwise I might well have missed my connection. but as a result of this experience, and given the current administration's attitude to aliens sharing their skills in the USA (although apparently it's ok to have your hats, handbags and suits made in China and Mexico) I shall not be teaching there again for the foreseeable future which is ironic, given the number of people who have set up small businesses churning out ecoprint textiles, teaching workshops and e-courses; none of which seemed to be around before Eco Colour was published. I like to think that I'm actually making a useful contribution and doing a bit of good around the whirled. I could just be misguided.

enough of the sad ranting. I'll miss all y'all.

now back to the story.

having two blocks of five days to work together, with a weekend off in between was just marvellous. I was there to teach feltmaking, of the kind that doesn't require truckloads of soap (but DOES need a bit of stitching and is a splendid means of using up little scraps of cloth. I call it shibusa), but there was of course lots of other dyeing on the side, including in a deliciously fragrant banana-based indigo vat. 

beautiful student work, printing on (unscoured) linen

the students worked like beavers.

on my weekend off I was spirited away to the most gorgeous island , where I slept in a dreamtent

we all found it a wrench to part company on the last day.
happily I've been invited back for next year and the class is in June, so I can fly directly to Vancouver from Sydney on my favourite airline.

after a few other adventures, early June found me in the Netherlands, where I was included in the exhibition 'Earth Matters' at the Textile Museum in Tilburg. 

at the opening I met Christina Kim (whose work appears below). I'd visited her Dosa space in Los Angeles a few years ago going to cross paths, but she'd been out of town at the time. I also met Birgitta deVos and acquired a copy of her gorgeous new book. 

I am so very grateful to Iris de Voogd for organising a workshop at such short notice, which meant that my airfare was covered and I could attend the exhibition opening. also I had a chance to catch up with lots of people I had not seen for a long time, some (Geesje and Dorie) not since 2011.  Marijke (who joined me in Newburgh a few years ago) was there as well, and her daughter Caitlin (she's the one who led the singing in the riverbed) has woven me the most glorious scarf and given me permission to dye it! do stay tuned for developments on that front, we are now treating it as a collaboration!

anyways Iris and I had been having an extended email conversation for around two years about the possibility of having a class there and May 2018 had already been inked into place...but she enthusiastically leapt into action a whole 11 months earlier. (and even let me play her saxophone).

Dorie van Dijk's enormous studio amidst the flowerhouses is a fabulous place for a class. I'm already dreaming of a return, and Marijke has been kindly murmuring about organising something in her region too. 

the seeds are planted, we'll see what blooms.

one of my lovely students, Dajana Heremic, with her delicious apron

the ridiculously bright #nofilter colour from Italian eucalyptus, a surprise delivery at Dorie's studio.

what's in the bag, indeed

having very publicly condemned the transport of bio-hazards around the whirled i thought i would share with you, for your amusement, the pre-flight clearing of the lovely Whipping+Post tote that carries the bits and bobs i seem to need each day

what the picture doesn't show [because i took them out already]

a journal [stuffed to the gills with scraps]

my passport

stones from Baker Beach, Lopez Island and Willunga Beach 

a seashell from Port Elliot

my SilkyMerino infinity scarf

my batfone

a lot of pencils and a small watercolour set

my trusty raybans

a couple of tsunobukuro shopping bags 

a rusty nail from New Orleans

and also a fan from the above

the bombay sapphire bottle i carry water in

several messy notes on the backs of envelopes

and the dress i was finishing while waiting somewhere

there's a reason this tote is called the Swiss Army Knife of bags!

and what got tipped onto the blanket

moo cards

a star-spangled baci wrapper

a lone gingin [thankyou Christine]

Aesop deliciousness

several buttons from a thrift store coat

random coinage from several countries

ticket stub from the fabulous Mr Laurie's concert

an empty Altoid box [in which i put water for painting]

a marquisite pin from St Thomas' thrift store

a pod from a gleditsia tree at Flinders University

lovely black felt pens for drawing

an Ikea pencil and others

the stub from a plane ticket

a drinking straw in a paper wrapper

several rubber bands

some string

and rather a lot of dry crumbled eucalyptus leaves

+  +  +

it's all clean and tidy now

lots of space for stocking up on Altoids

in San Francisco later this week.

and i think i might allow myself a new journal.

even though i should probably just make one.

the weaver of grass

since coming to Newburgh i've hardly been able to tear myself away from the river

but i went to Perth for a day

to see an exhibition at the Perth Museum and Gallery

'the weaver of grass'

the work of Angus McPhee

whose sad history can be read here

the works speak for themselves

 

there was a "touchable" sample at the exhibition

made by Joanne B Kaar

whose own work is also fascinating

i'd also like to add a virtual bouquet for the kind gentleman on the desk at the museum who, when i tottered in and inquired about the exhibition practically took me by the hand to lead me thither. what a sweetie.

making for Hay while the sun shone

on my day off between the class in the mill valley

and pootling northward to Bonny Scotland [it is]

i was taken under the wing[s] of my friends Sally and Ben

and spirited in a magical four-wheeled jellybean

to Hay on Wye

described here most succinctly by someone else

and below in pictures

you can turn your whirled upside down

or

buy a basket full of bambis [eek]

or beetle time to the music

while wearing a crown of light

find a treasure in one of the bazillion bookshops

 and if you are hungry

eat lovely tapas at Tomatitos on Lion Street

and then pootle along a skyroad

for a quick photoshoot

with garments from "now" and "then"

thank you Sally for your patience!

then

it was nose for north

and now

i'm off to work

carpe diem and a mailbox mystery

when i was much much younger

i thought that 'carpe diem' meant 'a fish a day'

[a bit like the doctor-deterring apple]

now i know it means something else and is quite Sagittarian.

[that Nike slogan 'just do it' sums us up quite well

and though it can sometimes lead to trouble

most times i find it a good plan]

anyhoo

when the Dogs Above were having me land stateside a couple of days early next month

i took it as a sign that they wanted me to do something there.

and when i floated the idea to my friend Claudia at the GrauHaus

she thought it showed signs of promise as well.

which means that if you're in Hollywood and at a loose end on the solstice  

you might like to join us for a day of play [and delicious lunch]

[if you're in Australia earlier in June, your playdate could have been found here, except that i just checked and it looks as though it could be booked out]

and thank you so very much to all those who took the time to comment on the previous post

especially if you had trouble with google and had to resort to trailing through the contact page on my website to encourage your pigeon to fly - it means a lot to me

awaiting a few more quotes from printers and then i shall be taking that big leap off the diving board

[fingers crossed no-one takes the plug out of the pool]

finally

i do love getting stuff in the mail

but

this one has my grey cells morris-dancing [with bells on, in nineteen different positions]

.... why is it that i can think of at least nine people whose hand-writing is just like this?

+

+

+

wash test

rummaging for spare samples that could be used for mending my increasingly threadbare clothing i found that one of the cats had "forgotten itself" and anointed this one with a particularly pungent and unpleasant emission.

i could have hurled it onto the compost but it seemed a good opportunity to do a wash-fastness test

so

i put the sample into a jar with very hot water and a bit of "Sard wonder soaker" just to see what would happen

forgot it overnight

rinsed this morning

and discovered that

rather than the colour being removed

it actually seemed to have been enhanced

[the brown of the onion having deepened with added reddish tones]

was it the cat pee [ a known mordant] or

the Wonder Soaker

or

a combination of the two

usually i would simply have used eucalyptus oil in water

but younger generations have stocked the laundry with the soaking goo

to get their shearing dungas clean

so i helped myself to a little...all in the interests of research.

wade in the water [or maybe not]

i'm here in New Orleans as the happy guest of both NOCCA
and the kindly folk at the Joan Mitchell Center
developing work that i hope to include in my solo exhibition 'muddy waters'
opening at the Murray Bridge Regional Gallery in March 2013

whilst our mighty Murray is a mere rivulet by whirled standards
it's the most significant river in Australia.
the Mississippi is America's Big Muddy and like the Murray has been used as transport system/water supply/agricultural drain/convenient disposal unit.

and water is of course a vital ingredient in making dyes from plants.
water quality [and i suspect, the invisible presence of substances such as sodium compounds] is one of the reasons it's so difficult to make a natural green dye
[unless your water is rich in either copper or calcium]

so how do i test water before i dye ? [note spelling of that last word]
easy.

i take a shower.

if the water feels slippery and makes my hair feel silky it's probably acidic *

if it feels slightly sticky it's probably alkaline *

if it feels itchy on my skin then it certainly contains dissolved salts

and your nose will be able to detect chlorine [a "colour eater"].

these are all useful things to know before you begin dyeing [again, note spelling...according to many writers i have died several times and yet, surprise, here i am still churning this earth]

water quality differs from town to town, whether reticulated as a community supply, harvested from the roof or a river
or
drawn from a well, which seems to be very common in rural America.
[septic tanks close by are also common. think about it]

anyway what this means is that unless your water supply and your plant supply are identical to those of the authors of all those lovely dye books that contain colour swatches alongside their recipes you are highly unlikely to achieve those exact same colours.

this is not a criticism of those pretty dye books.

merely food for thought.
and if you were wondering whether i am now going to apply my skin+water theories by immersing myself in the Mississippi
the answer is no.

* if my skin begins to dissolve then acidity/alkalinity is probably extreme and it's time to get the hell out of Dodge.

the TSA had fun

 

the TSA certainly had fun this time

they left two notes in the leather hold-all that is my portable studio

took the gaffer tape off my jar of maple syrup

[guess who will be experimenting with maple syrup stains on cloth as pre-mordant]

and i can't work out whether they kept my nice silk nightgown

or whether i foolishly left it behind at the last helltell

but

at least my crown

[thank you Sally and Ben]

arrived home intact

tucked safely inside my North America 110 volt dyepot

[thank you Monika, the little sputnik is travelling well]

the story so far

reboiled the dressBundle with a handful of fresh eucalyptus tossed in the pot as an "anti-microbial" and decided it was time

there was a lot of string to unwind
revealing

the front and the back
there was a lot of stuff stuck to the surface
notably many pohutukawa stamens
and
bay mud

so i decided [in the interests of science/curiosity/the need to see the bottom of the marmalade pot] to sling the dress into a washing machine to see what if anything would be retained underneath

observations :  and questions

+ most of the brilliant onionshell colour on the applied sample pieces had dissipated. could this have been related to the seawater dip? previous experience has shown seawater to be a "colour enhancer".

+ the Bay Mud had turned black in some places, bluegreen in others

+ where egg had been used as pre-mordant, the original sample colour remained true

+ the mahonia berries made brown marks on the cotton of the dress  previous dyeing with mahonia [on silk,  using seawater from the Bay as opposed to Baker Beach] has resulted in purple and blue

+ the splodges of milk applied to the surface prior to dyeing [of the attached samples] retained their colour [while "unmilked" areas lost solid colour and gained other marks


conclusions

applied mordants in order of effectiveness    Bay Mud [thank you Nikki], whole egg, milk   note:no iron was used

+ wrapping the whole around a steel pipe would probably have resulted in a darker colour [and made the tying much easier]

+ i have my suspicions that the bundle may have become overcooked [in the mould-killing process]


where to from here

while the results so far might not seem all that spectacular i am happy to have introduced some colour to previously snow-white cotton

for now i'm going to dry the dress [it holds water really well] and add a lot more stitching to the surface

and wait for it to tell me  

where it wants to go +X+ what it wants to do next