Our merry band of dyers reconvened, armed with the bounty of the season...
solidago (goldenrod), spent blooms of deep purple hollyhocks,
madrone bark, perennial sunflowers,
the last of the red carrot tops,
and a sumptuous, aromatic pile of wild blackberries.
Cooked to (hopefully) perfection.
Finally, I was able to attain two of my favorite colors on the same cloth...sage green
and purple.
I almost fell into a swoon.
Of particular interest was the mottling effect caused by
the resist marks of the blackberry seeds.
As it happens, I am nearing the end of this very good read...
along with the "heroine" of the story.
Nearing her end, that is.
After finishing Ahab's Wife (also penned by Naslund), I was craving more by this author
and although I have not been quite as captivated throughout this one,
it has been a fascinating walk through the decadence and royal life of 1700's France nonetheless.
I don't know what has happened to me.
I hated Chemistry in school and never before have I been attracted to *historical* books,
even fictional ones.
Now, I seem to be quite obsessed with both.
I found myself pre-mixing a copper mordant
to see if the carrot top bath would become an enhanced shade of green,
and today I'm contemplating the best method to perform lightfastness strip tests
on the cloth life of a blackberry!
When I gaze at this portrait of Marie Antoinette, I barely notice its finer attributes
such as the delicately honed lace detail or the luminous quality of the skin.
Instead, when I look at this scrumptious painting
painted by Her Majesty's most beloved court painter , Elizabeth Louise Vigee-Lebrun,
in 1783,
I wonder about the color source for the blue dye of that silk dress...
that green and purple piece is gorgeous. and such healthy looking berry plants.
ReplyDeleteThat purple, as its oxidized, has gone quite a *navy blue* purple...extraordinary how air keeps altering color. Thanks, deanna, I'm happy with it ;>]]
DeleteHa! I knew the beginning lines were an intro to dying. I must admit that since I don't dye I would have been eating those beautiful berries!!
ReplyDelete[ chuckling ] Carol, you can be sure it was pick-one-eat-two the whole way down the hedgerow.
DeleteI'm excited...we're coming into blackberry season here (I will have to make sure that hubby doesnt get rid of all of them as I *need* them for dyeing. I love the colour and effect you got. The sage green is beautiful too. Is that just from the blackberries also or copper mordant?
ReplyDeleteIt bet you are itching to stich these new pieces.
Must look up that author too. Sounds like an interesting read.
Jacky xox
Hi Jacky! The sage green came from (as far as I'm guessing) a hot bath of chopped up carrot tops with some copper mordant thrown in the brew. Good luck saving some of those blackberries for important dye matters ;>]]
Deletethose bundles make me swoon. they almost ...almost... make me want to create something to hold them. ;)
ReplyDeletehave you tried elderberries as a dye source? I ask because our's are reaching ripeness and as I picked some to taste yesterday I was left with purple streaked hands. I thought of you. :)
part of this aging process, these diversions down unexplored paths is the delightful (re)discoveries of cast aside "things I don't do". lovely!
Jen, the dang tweeters got ALL my elderberries this year. They are fast. Lesson learned for next year = must cover them early. I'll just have to be content with me blackberries....
DeleteSo happy to have you stop by. It's almost d-day ~ the 1st of October ~ when your blog will go poof.
Are you shure you want to break my heart like that?!?!?!?!?
Elderberries are a great source of dye for me. I use them bundled with my rust work which is done cold. But it takes a while to cure the silk. I presently have a piece curing in a tin lined box (It will be a year soon, only one more year to go before I wash the piece). I covered my elderberries this year in an attempt to keep the birds out. I couldn't prop the net above the berries as the branches were already over 10 feet. The dang birds just landed on top and ate through the net--then to top it off, perhaps because of the drought, the berries were dried to a powder by the time I got around to harvesting. I saved them in hopes of reconstituting some color in bundles that I'll cook.
DeleteThe initial color of the elderberries is magenta but it oxidizes to a blue or blue violet color, although I've used leaves for resist (against the rusty pipe) and kept the magenta color in those areas. I'd love to get my hands on some blackberries. Think I might have to go visit a friend of mine...
Interesting re: birds eating elderberries. Our's are heavy w/berries and no birds. Not sure why because we totally have'em in abundance. Perhaps waiting for some crazy dying folk to descend?? ;)
DeleteI'm still *here* ... http://thisismyworldwelcometoit.blogspot.com ... but being branded is going away. hopefully no broken hearts. xo
Thanks so much for all that info on elderberries, Pat ~ very helpful. The whole subject of oxidation is another level to all this, isn't it? I notice some semi-dramatic changes from just dried to several days later. Dunno what to do about the dang tweeters :>/
DeleteJen....whew....I was confused, thought your blogspot was going poof as well. I'm calmer now & will put you back in my sidebar ;>]]
Oh boy - Christmas is around the corner as I wait for you to unwrap all these gorgeous bundles. Love the green and purple! Were you also wondering what you could do with those rose petals that Marie was holding? *smile*
ReplyDeleteSince I dislike the actual yearly Christmas immensely, this is a rewarding substitute! To be corny, the gifts that keep on giving, too. Seriously tho, its presents year round with bundling...no wonder we all get addicted. And Marie's rose? Too pale for dyeing purposes ;>]]
DeleteLove those bundles, and your story of being attracted now to things you never (thought you) were in the past. and what lovely green and purple colors!
ReplyDeleteMany thanks, Ayn. I hope I can replicate the purple/sage marks...definite swoon-makers for me.
DeleteSo happy you stopped by.
Love your purple/sage green cloth. I picked up a copy of Adam and Eve by Naslund but haven't started it yet.
ReplyDeleteooh Deb, let me know how you like it (if you recommend it), as I finished 'Abundance' last night...
DeleteI find myself enjoying things I never used to like as well!
ReplyDeleteThe beauty of aging, perhaps!
I'll wager woad is the blue of Marie's beautiful gown.
OH, to find MORE beauty in aging, Nancy...I'm going to keep looking (very fervently)!
DeleteWoad?!? yes, that's sounds extremely probable. Have yet to try it. Have you compared it with indigo and if so, what were your findings?
Looking back in time to pre commercial dye process is something that I had not thought about. But you have brought this to my attention. Yes what were all those extraordinary coloured dresses dyed will....
ReplyDeletethat bluish purple in your cloth is stunning.
xt
...could be a long line of study, T, but I find the whole subject fascinating. Especially since so many of the dyes have held up well for centuries. They certainly knew what they were doing. Or not, I guess, but stumbled upon some persistent formulas. I hope my purple lasts. Tests forthcoming...
DeleteArtists will always try to find connections... you are thinking more about colors and HOW to get the colors you are looking for and so of course you would wonder how clothing was dyed way back when.. I love the bound looks and would have a hard time unbounding the bundles... but the anticipation is probably very strong.. to see what colors and patterns nature produced.
ReplyDeleteDonna, I am chuckling..."the anticipation is probably very strong" is putting it a wee bit on the mild side...it makes one CRAZYCRAZYCRAZY with anticipation and every *bundler* I talk to seems to feel the same way. An affliction!
ReplyDelete