“Like A Garden for my Eyes” – April, 2015

The last six days have been filled with  the heady scent of eucalyptus,

beautiful marks on wools, silks and papers,

smiles, laughter and chats with amazing women,

(and other beings like Zola).

Stitch time gave way

to a bit of glorious beach time,

followed by a larger sit and stitch gathering,

that filled the soul’s need to just BE

with like minded people in a safe and creative space.

        My dear friend Sherri has provided such a space for creative people to gather at her

art studio, Art More Place, in Melbourne, Fl.

And we have provided one another with a deep, rich and oh so comfortable friendship that makes me so very grateful !

Love you, Sherri !

 

I arrived home yesterday, happy to see my honey and my own furry creatures.

This morning I took the time to work in my art journal,

something I have been missing a lot and

a wellness tool that I am determined to pick up again.

  Pumpkin was determined to sit and purr on the journal instead !

 

So we compromised. ;)

This is what came through this morning.

   

I can see the influence of stitches, gathering, friendship and a garden of color from my trip.

Can you ?

Hope this month of April is filling up your Soul, beautiful Ones !

Big Love !

Orange Art

Orange Art Vignette

(Eucalyptus and sari silk dyed fine cotton knit tryptic, sari silk rope, Rock my World rock, orange felt square and Monarch butterfly remains.)

 

Orange Art Vignette Detail

I once asked a dear artist /mentor/friend who had the same impulses as me to create these carefully placed vignettes of color, shape and texture

whether what we were doing

could be considered

Art.

She decided that it definitely was, especially when it was photographed.

I agree.

Carefully placing bits of beauty together in a puzzle-like process until they just click in my eye, mind, soul.

Art making at its most simple, and infinitely satisfying.

Especially when captured through my lens.

 

Happy Monday, Beautiful Ones !

Get your Art on !

 

hosted by Susannah Conway.

Mellow Yellow Inspiration

I am a part of this great little stitch and swap group hosted by my friend, Deb Taylor.

Our next stitch theme is the color scheme of turquoise, coral red and yellow.

(image by Sarah Hearts)

Yum !

I don’t have a lot of yellow fabric

so I decided to try out an eco-dyeing technique that I have been wanting to try for awhile.

I researched dyeing cloth with turmeric, knowing that I would achieve some bright and cheery yellows.

It was a fun and easy way to spend an afternoon.

First I gathered some bits of different fabrics, including wool, silk, cotton, and even a few crocheted circles in bamboo.

I chose mostly white or natural fabrics but also included a couple of rust and eucalyptus dyed pieces that I had around.

In preparation, I did some stitching here and there on some of the pieces and also did some tie dye knots, or shibori techniques, if you want to use the fancy term !

Then I got a pot of water with turmeric and salt simmering on my handy dandy hot plate out on the lanai.

The turmeric has a pleasant smell but it gets over powering when its simmering,

plus having the heat outside helped save my ac a little indoors.

I just guessed at amounts of water and turmeric, using the info. I read on-line. I think there was about 10 cups of water and 3 tbsp of ground turmeric. I added a 1/4 cup of salt to set the color.

Once the pot had simmered for about an hour, I added in the fabrics.

I was not worried about perfectly even dyeing as some might be, so I packed the pieces in there, just making sure it was all covered with liquid.

I stirred them around occasionally as well.

The yellow color appeared pretty immediately ! Especially on the silks in the pot.

Chica and I waited as I  left the fabric simmering on low for about 20 minutes.

Then I rinsed out all the pieces in cool water until the water ran clear.

I used some mild dish soap as well, to get any of the powdery residue off and to take away the turmeric smell.

Then I used my make shift clothes line to dry all the pieces in the sun.

I am pretty thrilled with the results !

The cotton stayed a nice mellow yellow, and took the tie dye marks beautifully.

The silk definitely became the most saturated with the bright yellow, almost golden color.

The previously dyed wool, silk and cotton bits turned this lovely warm brown color, and I love how the eucalyptus details still remain visible.

 

And I now have a great stash of mellow yellow fabrics to play with!

Quite rightly !

I hope you have a creative and sunshiny weekend, Beautiful Ones.

Sharing the Joy–What energy creates…

It’s been a grey day.

I am still pretty low energy but feeling so much better.

I joyfully spent the day streaming movies on the iPad and happily stitching away.

And seeing what today’s energy creates…

I hope your Thursday was full of quiet joy, Beautiful Ones !

 

Head off to Meri’s Musings to witness more joy sharing.

Magical time…

A marvelous week was had by all at the Lake House in Charlotte,

as e.b. shared her magic making skills !

Miss Luna watched over us all and ate many a carrot rolled in cheese !

The magic makers in training,

Linda Lovely,

Judi, Wendy, and Linda Charlotte

dove right in, rusting up a storm…

There were a multitude of bundles of eucalyptus, wool and silk,

that, once opened up, filled the clothes line with textile treasures !

My own favorite new discovery was the purple, grey, silver wonders

that came from dyeing with spring time smoke bush leaves from e.b.’s garden…

Luscious !!!

And of course, the lake provide us with magical golden hours to savor a day of hard but satisfying work…

and our beautiful hostess with the mostest, generously shared her home, art and magic with us, with a happy twinkle in her eye and a full heart.

e.b. immersion, Lake House workshops…

ah…