Minding my maps

Merriam-Webster defines  map :

1 a:  a representation usually on a flat surface of the whole or a part of an area

b:  a representation of the celestial sphere or a part of it

2 :  something that represents with a clarity suggestive of a map

~ the Freudian 'map' of the mind -- Harold Bloom

so I got to thinking ....

could photographs act just as easily as maps of a  life?

If I mapped myself, what might that look like?

And if I focused on, say, my creative life, would it be telling?

Could I show the route from back there 

to here?

So I gave it a try & here's where it led me ...

To the convergence of paper and books

to beads on cloth with an uncertain latitude

towards an elusive north star

with an ever present guiding light

and a dear navigator who teaches all the compass points.

Just a small smattering of map pages - old directions & new ...

so yes,  I can see how I got here

but perhaps the more important question is

just where am I going?

[ this is where a hushed voice offers, "Only the cartographer knows for sure..." ]

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Considering a world view

There are many ways to say a thing.

For those of us who don't feel particularly eloquent in the political arena and

are far more comfortable with other forms of expression,

perhaps we can look more closely

at our other ways of speaking.

Because it is my opinion that now, more than ever in my living memory,

we somehow MUST keep speaking  out loud.  It's of critical importance.

So we don't feel lost.

So we don't feel helpless. 

Even the quiet work of hands and heart is not to be underestimated during this time ...

this time of which  -  to some of us  -  is looked upon

as a frightening & uncertain period in our world's history.

Again, there are many ways to say a thing....

and I think we can be a mighty choir if we don't feel so afraid.

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Introducing 'Dear Flora' ...

To all of you who visit here

and who may also be on Facebook,

I have recently launched an artist page :

Dear Flora

I hope you'll visit me there!

Come have a look-see, maybe take part in the conversations
or just say "Hey"...

What's in a name?

Dear Flora  is my open love letter to the world of plants & my relationship with her ...

and it isn't a name only for Facebook

but one I'll be putting with the things I make as well.

Its flight time.  I need to share this evolution that's so astoundingly

taken my heart by storm.

I think I've been kin to that wrapped up, tied tight, bundle above ....

and yet what I really need to do is let loose some.  Sway with those breezes

that do such fine things with silks when they're out in the open air.

Silk -  strong and soft at the same time.

:::

See you soon.

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Riversong :: Being (t)here, again ... with India Flint

I've had trouble writing about my recent time in Scotland.  I've been home

well over two months and I'm still struggling to find words

to explain that place, the people, and what happens for me when I am there.

It's proven difficult to describe how completely that country has stolen my heart.

Yes, the breath-taking scenery is a huge part of the equation, but all told
it is the breath it gives me back that keeps the calling acute.

When the thought first came to return this year and re-enroll in the 'Being (t)here' masterclass
tutored by India Flint and offered at Big Cat Textiles, I wondered
if maybe I was being a bit looney ...

yet in the end I felt I wasn't anywhere near done with spending time by the great River Tay.

So much good came from slowing down there, wandering along her banks with an eye
to detail and a heart set on paying attention.

I knew that although I'd be repeating a workshop I'd just recently taken

there was no way it would be the same.

By the completion of day one I knew this to be fact, for India
had taken what I'd thought was already a perfect course and bumped it up by a couple
dozen notches. This time around was going to be altogether different.

This little bell nudged us to attention innumerable times over the

five days together - I grew very fond of its sound.  Although I wasn't expecting to have
the company of so many pleasant classmates again, just like before these gals
were a splendidly supportive group who shared, inspired, cajoled, laughed
and even splashed about in a great deal of river mud,
all with immense amounts of joy ...

and this time there was also a great deal of singing!

A tidal river seems to me to have its own particular song, rising & retreating
as it does, like clockwork.  Add the voices of women who are happy to be (t)here
and the effect is close to sublime.  I'm not blessed with a singing voice
(those who know me well will know to find me singing in the car)
so I was especially moved by these impromptu choirs taking place
(even in the classroom).
Thank you all for that!

Hear for yourself.
Tracy McConnell-Wood made a lovely three minute video of our group mudlarking
and breaking into song:
Tay Tide Cairns

Newburgh is such a beautiful locale for giving oneself the permission to take time
for personal work.  There are ample opportunities for scenic walking ...

and for me, studying the ways of water ... exploring edges as I like to do.

Looking for ways to translate a notion of distance
or interpret a sensation of walking ...

You are a sage,

a river at its deepest

and most nourishing.

Sit by a river bank some time

and watch attentively as the river

tells you of your life.

~ from Lao Tzu ~

We ebbed and flowed in & out of the classroom not unlike the river's currents.

  Days were intense in meaningful and productive ways: Poetry was read and written,

bundles wrapped & dyed, mark-making explored & discovered, stitching techniques shared,

and all the while India responded to a thousand questions with patience & gentle humor.

We took breaks as we needed them. One of the delights was 'local shopping' ...

Alison & Jeannette, owners of Big Cat Textiles and Hat In The Cat (in Perth),

 look after the students in countless ways and I must admit

one of my favorites is all the lovelies they keep on hand for purchase.

That's the entry hall above which is chock full of vintage linens & clothes, 

baskets of hand-dyed yarn, roving, bits of this & that - everything useful for workshop supply needs

or to bring back home.  Some may have jumped into my suitcase.

There's even more in the adjoining studio ... racks of pre-loved clothing, beautiful finished

knitwear including cowls & socks made from local wool, countless notions

including buttons, trims, threads (many repurposed), even feathers; every kind of embellishment for

textile work that one might imagine.  I discovered last year that the displays can change daily

which makes it quite the dangerous place to wander through.

Sorry, is a wee bit blurry, gals ... sure we were giggling

and I shook the camera.

There they are - the special ladies who look after everyone so well.

Alison (on the left); thank you again for the glorious & nutritious meals;

Netti, thank you again for loaning the dog-less aunties your sweet Jazz

and for the comfy night's sleeps and car taxis ... and ... and ......

To you both: I sincerely appreciate the environment you've created that's so nurturing

and encouraging and filled with both of your good vibes - it doesn't get better than you two!

In the span of a week there were many walks taken down to the river

& ofttimes our dog pal led the way.  I'm quite fond of this image of India & Jazz

having a saunter one evening - one reason is that it shows off the quite incredible apron 

India wore to class.  If I remember correctly, I believe there was a collective gasp

when she first put it on ....

Look at the magnificent detail. 

Such a fascination has grown surrounding this garment, including a general clamoring to learn

the construction techniques, that now a workshop has been formed around it:

The Amuletic Apron

October 8-10, 2016

All the details over on the Big Cat Textile Masterclass Schedule

Student tables were looking more like museum collections by week's end. Some of the found

objects developed deeper meanings after being immortalized in poems or

used as utilitarian drawing tools.  Objects buried in the river scooped up at low tide

became special keepsakes to all of us.

~ student work ~

Perhaps because I'm in my 'older' years now, I'm especially appreciative of a tutor

who guides rather than directs; who presents options & inspiration rather than 

written in stone how-to's.  The voyage of discovery then becomes no one else's but my own.

It's more personal because I've found my own way of stepping through a process,

one that suits my own hands, my own particular way of seeing, and my own heart.

Thank you, India, for that freedom.

So it went.

(t)here on one of my favorite seats in the entire world I whispered a farewell

to the Tay ... "See ya later, my friend."  I always say it that way when I don't want to say "goodbye"...

always to people I'll miss and I guess now, even to rivers.

   

Then I photographed the lichen patch growing on the wall just off my right shoulder

so I could compare the growth rate from now to when next we meet.

I won't be away for long, Scotland.  You have my heart.

:::

Night and day the river flows.  If time is the mind of space, the

River is the soul of the desert.  Brave boatmen come, they go,

they die, the voyage flows on forever.  We are all canyoneers.

We are all passengers on this little mossy ship, this delicate

dory sailing around the sun that humans call the earth.

Joy, shipmates, joy.

~ Edward Abbey,  The Hidden Canyon - A River Journey ~

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Studying the ways of water ...

A few experiments from my last diving session with paper

[ see previous post ]

These entailed using several varieties of watercolor & printmaker's paper;

frozen and fresh gleanings from the garden & hedgerow;

a steam bath, an onion bath, a mixed willow bath

and another that bordered on sage green;

alum pre-mordanting;

iron dipping & not iron dipping,

wrapping around pipes & layering between tiles.

The language of plants on cloth is certainly related to paper.  But not distantly,

like a 3rd cousin of your brother-in-law ... much closer, like siblings

who just don't live in the same state.

Water seems to me to be their shared vehicle

and I find it utterly fascinating how the exact same leaves can print

one way on cloth and another way altogether on paper.

: : :

"You don't have to be fully formed to get started on your work.  If that were true no one would ever start anything. But we live in a society were everyone wants to be a superstar and often find it difficult to be a beginner.  Think of all the great people and of their amazing journeys to reach the tops of their profession.  They were beginners who took action."

An inspiring quote by Terry Jarrard-Dimond

from her blog post,  Act On Your Ideas

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Seeing thru paper

When the Lopez Island natural dyers gathered for this season's planning meeting

[ however wine-laden or deliciously food-laden the "meeting" may have been ]

there was a unanimous & resounding desire to next delve into experimentation

with paper.

We meet tomorrow for what we are calling

our 'Paper Dyeing Extravaganza'

I've got loads of prepping to do but as I sat at the computer this morning

looking over my past - and very few - experiences with this material,

I came across a bunch of Diana Photo app composites I'd made a while back.

They provided a bit of inspiration.

Admittedly, I feel awkward & hesitant with paper ...

while cloth feels familiar & welcoming, with paper I'm standoff-ish.

I love its qualities but I don't know or  understand  its workings yet.

Well, we all know the only way to get over that.

Dive.

Then keep swimming 

& let nature work her very particular magic.

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Alchemy in the pantry

It all began 423 days ago.

I gathered together these assorted fabric scraps [once all white] and without pre-mordanting,
rolled, bundled, squeezed and cajoled them into glass jars along with pieces of metal
and handfuls of vegetation.

Following the protocol within this little gem of a book,

'stuff steep + store' by India Flint,

I began a very  LONG  and interesting canning experiment ...

not only an experiment in patience [wasn't sure I could wait this long for the reveal!]
but in the science - and art - of preserving.

What would grandma say?
Go peek at what these jars looked like when I first put them on the pantry shelf
February 4, 2014 ...
over here

This is what they looked like right before I opened them two days ago.

The liquid had long since turned almost black.  They each contained iron bits 

so that made sense, but I wondered if I'd made a mistake & added too much.

Also, two of the jars had slightly rounded lid tops ...
were the contents rotting, or worse - putrefying into some gads-awful mess?

I need not have worried. And I should certainly know by now
that India speaks true words when she repeats, "Trust the process."

I flung them on the rosebushes in the hedgerow to dry.

There's often great changes between wet and dry so the short wait

to see that happen was almost worse than the entire previous year's wait.

Here they are dried and pressed.

Front & back views of 60/40 cotton/silk blouse remnant,

bundled with rose leaves & metal bolts

with 1/4 c. aged copper/vinegar modifier added to the jar.

[above on far right]

What amazes me: true spring green leaf prints, the smokey black-on-black tones

from the string marks, and that the liquid from the jar smelled faintly of rose petals.

Scraps of two cotton shirts each bundled with dry purple Norway maple leaves

and metal bits - nails & screws - with additional leaves packed around the edge of the glass.

The jar was then filled with leftover - very stinky - lobster mushroom dye bath.

[jar above in middle]

What amazes me: although the jar lid was "puffed up" there was nothing growing inside ...

no bacteria, algae etc. and the smell of lobsters had almost completely disappeared,

replaced by an earthy scent; the cuff, which took color like a sponge.

I've left my favorite jar for last ... although in my earlier post I forgot about

this linen hankie entirely because I stuffed it down the side of the jar

at the last minute as there was plenty of room left

next to the ripped up linen shirt jacket.

[jar above on left]

As for my favorite - the jacket piece - iron bolts

went into the jar bottom, then the cloth was bundled

with purple-black violas, madrone bark & 4 rusty landscape pegs.

Taking a precious cue from the book, I sprinkled a teaspoon of fireplace ash

into the mix.

What amazes me: navy blues from the violas, strong distinct graphics, heavy

saturation of color.  This is a very dense linen that was not pre-mordanted and I venture

to say with a great deal of certainty that I would not have been able to

achieve this result with a one hour boil-up and a bundle opening 3 days later ...

Alchemy in the pantry.  I am smitten.

: : :

There's a wealth of jars awaiting their openings over in India's virtual pantry ...
see everyone's experiments there
Click on 'The pantry' to view the collection.

So, WHO is next?
I'm so excited for the reveals!

Have been kicking myself that I didn't experiment with whole items of clothing
for although the wait was definitely worth it, the 'time price' we pay is quite hefty
and may as well yield more of a product than a torn sleeve & a color swatch, wouldn't you say.

Ah well.  Live & learn.  All valuable, all good.

But ... I'm off soon to find some large pickle jars!

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