Indigo Dyeing - Continued

Next time around, I decided to not use the blender, but go back to the more time-honored cutting up method.  I used an old "mezzaluna" from my husband's Italian grandfather and the leaves were cut into fine pieces in a few minutes.  This made sieving it out much easier.  I found a source of cheap silk scarves for dyeing online and used those and a cotton t-shirt for dyeing this time.  Silk and wool take dyes better than cotton.  The photo of the scarves doesn't do the colors justice - they are really lovely.  I did a bit of resist techniques such as tying knots at intervals on a few also.  When the plants grow up again , I'll be harvesting more in September and will be prepared with more silk scarves and more Japanese resist patterning techniques to try!

Playing with Plants - Blue Magic

It has been quite awhile since my last posting! It is now summer and I have returned to an interest in fibers ( as well as continuing painting in the studio).  I have been wanting to grow and dye with Japanese indigo, a plant that grows easily here (a non-invasive knotweed) for several years and finally did it this summer.  With the help of friends with more garden space, I planted four seedlings (in early June) that came from a farm in the midwest.  By the end of July, they were ready to harvest and I clipped two trash bags full of leaves to use for dyeing (see first photo).  I then blended them up with a little water and let them soak for 1/2 an hour with a few tablespoons of vinegar and some additional water, and oxygenated the mixture using a whisk. The color the blender turned was a very hopeful expectation of what might happen to my textiles! Next came the hard part - trying to sieve the fine pulp out to make a clear dyeing liquid.  Even with a fine cheesecloth, not all the particles came out.  I  then immersed two different pieces of pre-soaked material, one rayon and one linen and cotton, into the dye baths and let them soak for one hour (see last photo).  The material was then rung and hung out to dry.  The further contact with oxygen in the air completes the dyeing action and the material turned  beautiful shades of turquoise.  This was my first experimentation and deeper colors can be achieved with more repeated soaking and airings and a more concentrated dye (more plant material in the water).  See my next posting for the dyeing with the second bag of leaves!

"Water" regional juried show at SUNYUlster

"Hudson River Ice", oil on canvas, 2010

This painting and one other of the Hudson ice series, from a past show of mine entitled "Breaking the Ice", will be on display at the gallery at SUNYUlster in Stone Ridge for the month of March. This is a regional art exhibit, juried by Portia Munson. The gallery is open weekdays until 3 p.m. There are many varied artists in the show and it's definitely worth a visit!

Holiday Sale

I will be participating in the Arts and Crafts Sale Day at The Shirt Factory on Nov. 26, with a sale and open house to welcome the holidays. The building-wide sale will be from 9 - 6, but I will be open from 1-5 p.m. that day. Come in and enjoy a glass of wine and see a wide selection of my smaller works -a gift that will be a lasting source of pleasure for someone special.

A Peek at the Show

Here's a glimpse of the show I just put up at Columbia Greene. Hope you can stop by on your way to a visit to other Hudson galleries - it is open weekends.

Show at Columbia Greene Community College

I am currently having a show of winter landscapes at the Columbia Greene Community College's Kaaterskill Gallery entitled "Hudson Valley - Off-Season". Little did I know that the winter would be making such an untimely start just as I was about to hang this show! This is a selection of paintings from the last few years with winter themes, including a few of Hudson River ice. So, let's get into the season and enjoy the special light and this quiet contemplative time of year. The show will be up until November 29. Contact the college for more info about hours.

Open House at the Studio

This Saturday, Oct. 8, from 3 - 6 p.m., I will be having an open house to show my new work. I have a series of large paintings of sky and cloud studies and also a series of small works from our spring trip to Greece. The cloud paintings are a slight turn in direction for my work, eliminating the land altogether and focussing on color, movement and light. Hope to see you there - #203 at the Shirt Factory.