Did you make any resolutions? Mine was to do more art in any medium. We have been away since 27/12/12 and I packed my threads, sketch pad etc and, true to form have not done a lot but sit and stare out the window! 2012 was a busy year.
Amongst my planned activities was some bush dyeing.(I have seen some beautiful pieces of cloth dyed and embroidered by the Wagga Wagga Group of the Embroiderers' Guild NSW). I have been at my sisters in Central Victoria for the last week and natural resources are at my finger tips. This also the view from the deck!
It's no wonder I have been sitting looking. The water attracts no end of bird life and it has been a joy to sit and watch them fly in early in the morning and in the evening:
The heat has been punishing and I haven't really ventured out to collect material - not to mention that I was going to conduct this activity outside and it has been way too hot to do so. However, I collected some back which had fallen at the base of a Red Gum and allowed it to steep in the sun for a day or so and put a bit of unbleached calico and some silks in to the solution and here is what I ended up with:
I also bundled a piece up like a sausage and got what I thought a better result:
I also threw in some Jap silk, something called craft silk and a couple of old place plats my mother had tucked away.
I also put some beetroot peelings in a pot and, after boiling it up for 30 mins, threw in a bit of unbleached calico. I think I would have got a better result with bleached calico. I ended up trying to over-dye it with some of the bark solution out of the dye pot.
I guess the challenge is now to do something with the pieces of fabric ...
Cheers for now...
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