summer has arrived, feels like i'm on holiday already


yesterday was HOT, deliciously so, apparently it all became a bit too much for the camera; the red fruits come from the garden: red currants from a bush that was planted here over twenty years ago by the previous owner and wild strawberries, growing in huge quantities all over the place as there is a lot of shade in our garden

the beginning of a single-layered cloth

i love the lower light half, the pale colours and am not too happy with the darker patches, however I am going to leave them in it, perhaps if i sew a tight running stitch with white thread they too might 'lighten up'
and/or i might add darker bits of fabric for balance; i mistakenly thought this was going to be an easy cloth.....just adding piece by piece and not evaluating, ha



bought this fantastic book and almost immediately set about making a clay pot with river clay; i know it'll crack in the fire, but it was just too much fun to get cracking straight away

 
as for these two: in the flesh they are absolutely gorgeous; i laid one flat covered it with dead peonies, avocado peel, onion skins, laid the other one on top; rolled them together into a bundle, into the ole copper/brass dye pot with a mixture of ?-dye-leftover.....a couple of very hot days later and you get this: mirror image singlets




once they're dry i will attempt another picture of me wearing them and hopefully you'll see the true colours




the depth of colour and detail is amazing, alas I cannot manage to capture this on camera
leek imitating a snake and yes the shell has hair (honestly i found it thus) owl wants bigger feet and cactus gazes at the wonders of our world

Comments

Anonymous said…
working with the dye pot it clears up the mind and haert , so it works for me , august will bring you more dyed rag they wait for you
lovely work nature have made in your copper dye-pot
Oooooo i'm so glad the heat is less and the wind feel like a sweet refreshing hug , the wether is like a teachter to me , still learning
hartelijke groeten M.
Mo Crow said…
warming my hands & heaert on your summer vibes in the coldest hour just before dawn here in the Land Down Under
Anonymous said…
the struggle around the supposedly 'struggle-free' large cloth. I recognize that. I used to do ANYTHING to avoid unpicking. Now that's in my repertoire. You COULD take out the dark patches and replace them is what I'm saying. Not a recommendation based on what I see, but rather on one of the ways I've dealt with this very struggle.
Nancy said…
There is so much goodness here...all awash in the sweet paleness of your watercolor world, after a burst of red to pull you in. Beautiful. In photo #13, I see an ancient mountain dwelling in the upper right of the shirt.
As far as the dark portions...I like the idea of leaving them and finding ways to work with that. Sort of a be in the moment and accepting of 'what is'. After all, aren't there a bunch of meaningful quotes out there about life holding both the light and the dark? Metaphor stuff like that ;) (wink)
The last photo...makes me want to be there to sit a while and stare at all of your treasures!
jude said…
seems like summer here.
Dana said…
What wonderful marks you have achieved on your singlets...I could get lost in them. The "unplanned" cloth reminds me of Korean bojagi patchwork. I marvel at how difficult it can be to let go of control. Our eyes are always wanting to find pattern.

tungsten

tungsten

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