Mail Art Project - Week Thirty Eight

Brook Trout
hand painted cotton, screen printed

Today's quote:

"If the fish had not opened its mouth, it would not have been caught."
-Proverb-

My Bloomin' Iris

Wench

War Chief

Unknown

Sunset Sky

Flights of Fancy

My Iris Garden

These two iris (above and below) came from my mother's house. They don't have names that I know of.

These iris were already planted on the hillside when we moved into this house 8 years ago.
They have never been watered and they bloom beautifully every year.

This iris (above) is also unnamed. It came from my mother, as well.

This one is called Stop the Music.

Iris Garden

Local Color

Last summer, I planted 60 new varieties of iris. Many of them are blooming now.

Lightening Streak

Pagan Dance

Elizabeth Poldack

unnamed iris I got from my mother

Crystal Ring

Flights of Fancy

Solar Dyeing with Wild Bergamot

Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa L.)

This wildflower is in the mint family. It grows wild in a ravine near our home.

This plant has many medicinal uses and my first introduction was as a flavoring in black tea.

Wild Bergamot is a pretty good plant for solar dyeing, also. I used iron in all my jars with the Bergamot, since this was recommended in my reference book.
As you may imagine, I tried a lot of plants for solar dyeing. I have just shown you (over the past several posts) the best local plants in my experiments from last summer. This is an easy thing to try, and I encourage this line of exploration. If you do it - please let me know your results!

Solar Dyeing with Sunflowers

One of the better local native plants for solar dyeing turned out to be the sunflower.

Here, you can see some of my containers filled with fabric and plants. They sat for the entire summer until cold weather threatened. My sister, who was visiting from Connecticut told me it looked like a 5th grade Science Fair project!

The raw silk (above) was dyed using leaves from sunflower plants. The fabric was presoaked in Alum / Cream of Tartar solution and a piece of copper tube was tossed into the jar.

The raw silk (below) was dyed using flower buds from sunflowers. The fabric was presoaked in Alum / Cream of Tartar solution and a piece of copper tube was added to the jar.

(Above) Cotton fabric presoaked in Alum and Cream of Tartar solution, with copper tubing added to the jar. The leaves of the sunflower plant were used for it.
This cotton broadcloth was also dyed with sunflower buds and the same Alum / Cream of Tartar solution with a copper tube in the jar. Interesting how different the fabrics can look from one jar to another with the same ingredients. This darker one did grow mold, though so that may account for the variation, at least in part.

Mail Art Project - Week Thirty Seven

Mountain Majesty

This week's Mail Art is made of hand painted and hand printed cotton, rust dyed cotton, and shibori dyed cotton.

Today's quote:

"There are many paths to the top of the mountain, but the view is always the same"
-Chinese Proverb-

Solar Dyeing with Wild Sumac

Skunkbush Sumac (Rhus aromatica Aiton)

These bushes grow wild all around our property. Although this plant is closely related to Poison Ivy and Poison Oak, apparently the berries are edible and have many medicinal uses by Native Americans. I wrapped the berries and leaves into bundles of habotai silk and cotton broadcloth.The fabrics had been soaked in Alum and Cream of Tartar solution, and this was also poured into the jar to submerge the fabric.

Since the sumac berries come on rather late in the summer, I didn't have a lot of time for Solar Dyeing. These jars only sat in the sun for about a month - and the weather was not all that warm for much of that time. Nevertheless, this is one of my favorites.There is quite a bit of color variation and patterning - especially on the silk.

Solar Dyeing with Mexican Hat

The Mexican Hat is not actually blooming here yet, but since I am sharing the results of last summer's Solar dyeing, I will add this plant to the group.
For the Mexican Hat, I decided to separate the flowers, stems, and leaves.



I got my best results with the flowers from Mexican Hat. This is raw silk that was presoaked in Alum and Cream of Tartar. Again, the color is quite beige, but the patterning is nice.

Marigold in Solar Dyeing

One of my more successful Solar Dyeing plants happened to be the ordinary marigold. I didn't plant many marigold plants last summer, so it took several weeks for me to collect enough dried petals for a reasonable effort at Solar dyeing. Above, you can see how I scattered the petals across a vinegar soaked length of raw silk.

I really like the texture and color variation achieved by the individual petals / seeds.

Sky Over Pueblo in SAQA Structures in Cloth

I am delighted to announce that my quilt, "Sky Over Pueblo" is part of the Structures in Cloth exhibition sponsored by SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Association). The show opens today in the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities in Colorado. The show will hang through August 28, 2011.
I am so honored to have my work included in this wonderful venue!

Solar Dyeing with Wild Mint and Hyssop

Last summer, I did a number of experiments with Solar dyeing. In these images, you can see the fresh plants I wrapped in vinegar soaked raw silk - Wild Mint, Hyssop, Marjoram and Burdock.

This is not one of the better colors I achieved, and the picture certainly does not show much - sorry. the color ranges from a dark grayed tan to a very pale yellow green. If I had not used silk - I doubt it would be interesting at all, but the weave of the silk is really nice, and the shading is very delicate on these fabrics.