Marigold Dye Results

Here are the results of the dyeing I did with marigold (Tagetes sp.) flowers:

                                                                    

Top Left: alum mordanted cotton 

Middle Left: alum mordanted linen

Bottom Left: alum mordanted cotton in 2nd use of dyebath

Top Right: copper mordanted cotton

Bottom Right: alum mordanted cotton dyed with marigold leaves

(the colors are greener and brighter than they appear here on my computer monitor. the photo was taken under fluorescent lights. I will take another photo in natural light then swap it if it turns out better.)

I also did some eco-bundles with fresh marigold flowers and leaves. These are the results:

Marigold flowers

Marigold leaves

Opening Reception for Inspirations Silo Gallery Show

Here are photos of the Opening Reception of Inspirations at the Silo Gallery, Hunt Hill Farm Land Trust, New Milford, CT.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/susanernst/sets/72157631128050928/

Marigold Dye

Today I dyed cotton fabric with marigold (Tagetes patula varieties). 

 I used flower heads that I gathered and froze last summer and fall as well as a few fresh flowers gathered today. I also made a dye bath with the frozen leaves and stems.

I simmered both for a half hour, let it sit for an hour, then added the fabric.

In the marigold flowers bath are copper-mordanted cotton on the left and alum-mordanted cotton on the right. A better look at the different results from the mordants:

 

with copper mordant

with alum mordant

The marigold leaves yielded a soft green which is difficult to see in this photo. This is on copper-mordanted fabric. I neglected to take a photo of the alum-mordanted.

These are the color results after immediately immersing the fabric in the dye baths. I left them to soak in the baths for a few days to hopefully produce a more saturated color.

Eco Bundling - OMG!

Now that I have completed the work for Inspirations, my first art showing at The Silo Gallery, I have moved on to other projects. Namely papermaking and continuing to experiment with natural dyes and dyeing.

On Sunday afternoon, I mordanted two of the four batches of cotton fabric (old bed sheets) which I treated with tannin back in March (see post here), one batch with alum and the other with copper. I let the batches sit in the mordants until yesterday when I wrung them out, rinsed the copper and half the alum- treated pieces and hung all to dry.

I cut up some of the rinsed, alum treated cotton to experiment with.  I am testing "cold water dyeing" with walnut hulls and oak bark, so a piece of fabric went into a small dye bath of each. Will let those sit for a few days to absorb the most color.

I have been wanting to try "eco-bundles", which India Flint describes in her book on natural dyeing, Eco-Colour.  Now that the fabric was ready, I was able to do so.  I rolled fresh flower petals from Othello roses, pink Pelargoniums, Tithonias, petunias, cosmos, rudbeckias, salvia and catmint. Leaves of woad, orange mint, lemon balm, broadleaf plantain, Lysimachia, sage, beet stems and leaves were also rolled and all were bundled with rubber bands.

These were then steamed for one hour and left to cool overnight.





 India suggests leaving the bundles for a week to let the colors fully develop, but I could not resist taking a peak of each today! And OH MY GOSH how gorgeous that peak is!! I unrolled a few. Here are some photos. We'll see if I can wait a week to unroll the rest!

Othello rose petals

top layer: rudbeckias, cosmos, salvia, catmint (see above)

bottom layer: rudbeckias, cosmos, salvia, catmint

Pelargonium petals

beet stems and leaves

tithonia flowers

As a papermaker and printmaker, you know I will be experimenting with achieving these results on paper!

Inspirations - Opening Reception

Here is the invitation to The Silo Gallery show, Inspirations, of which I am a part:

I hope to see you there!

Papermaking Adventures: Water Retting

Back in March (see post here), I set out several fibers in buckets of water and wood ash to ret for a few months. Today I strained the fibers and and thoroughly rinsed them with the power wash setting on my garden hose.  To my delight, three of the four had broken down to form a wonderful pulp. Here are the before and after photos:

               Gampi

             L: before

             R: after

             Kozo
        L: before
        R: after
 

              Mulberry
    with bark attached
         L: before
         R: after

                Willow
           L: before
           R: after





The only unpleasant part of this process is the foul smell of the pulp, though that is to be expected. The kozo is the most smelly and the willow has no foul odor at all, in fact it has the same pleasant, aromatic scent it always has. To help mask the odor, I added lavender essential oil to the pulps. I am storing the gampi, kozo and mulberry in the buckets and hope to make paper with them in the next few days. The willow I laid out to dry. I will try cooking this with lye to see if it will break down.

To be continued...

Getting Ready for the Show

Daucus in the Garden

Last year I received an invitation to show my work in the New Talent Gallery at The Silo Gallery at Hunt Hill Farm Trust in New Milford, CT. The show date is swiftly approaching (August 11th) so I have been busy framing the prints and creating a list of titles. I don't know yet what the name of the show will be. (The show is being held in conjunction with a group show, in a separate gallery.) A fitting title for my work might be Seasons In the Garden.  I've got work entitled Blueberry Summer, Summer Morning, Summer Leaves, Summer Series, Springtime in My Garden, Garden Beauty, Autumnus tempestas and more.

If you are free, please accept this invitation to the Opening Reception on Saturday, August 11th from 3 to 5 p.m. I will post more details once I receive the invitations.

Muscari botryoides - Grape Hyacinth Silkscreen Print

Muscari botryoides

This past winter while perusing past issues of Victoria Magazine I found a photo of potted Grape Hyacinths. This inspired me to gather other images of Grape Hyacinths I have filed and create a sketch for a silkscreen project. A month or so later I came across an old Cornell University Extension Bulletin #1190, Sequence of Bloom of Perennials, Biennials and Bulbs. The charts would make a perfect back drop for this print! I selected the page that listed Muscari botryoides and had it photocopied onto a transparency sheet. During the silkscreen class at Creative Arts Workshop, I used the photo emulsion method to burn the chart onto the screen. I printed enough of these backgrounds to create a series of three prints.Next I used a combination of photo emulsion and the block out method to create the Grape Hyacinths. I plan to create two additional drawings of plants from this chart and make silkscreen prints of them.

Details

This print is available for sale, double matted in a 16"x20" bamboo frame. Please send me an email if you are interested.