reflection

There are times when moving forward is difficult!

Lack of motivation, panic, self worth, outcomes, feedback and the future are all impacting on my ability to progress. Also outside factors have meant that my time has been limited to half days and I know that I achieve more when I can allocate at least 2 day periods of time to my project. I really admire the students who complete a Masters and keep working. However it may be that the limited time makes them more focussed and achieve more in a limited time??!!
So what HAVE I been doing? Coping with technology! After updating to Windows 10 I have discovered that it isn't compatible to the University system, to my version of Photoshop and has led to a complete shut down of the system because it hasn't recognised the password. My computer guru has sorted the problems but it has just added to my negative state!
Doesn't the weather affect your outlook!
Today the sun is shining after a day when the rainwater levels were so bad I had to get bags to fill with sand and keep the water out of the wood store!

 Positives??? Well I have continued to use inks and masking fluid to explore the images of the field in the snow.

The furrows of the field were partly covered so the masking fluid was ideal to interpret the 'patchy' snow.
But I think these lines could be stylised further and so I revisited the images of the tribal textiles I had seen in the British museum.

 The patterns of the tractor tyres between the furrows added interest so I explored the pattern of the treads as well as combining them with the converging lines into the horizon.

                                                                  I  will scan these drawings/images into Photoshop then explore wax to develop a design which combines some of these patterns. It will be good to return to the designing process that I used during undergrad work. Indigo and blackberry dyes will give me a palette for snow so I need to make up my indigo dye baths. I want to extend my research into colour ranges from one plant source to woad and restrict the use of chemicals.                                                                                                           

                   

 The remains of last years crop as stubble is emphasised by the covering of snow but I haven't been able to work out how to make the negative image. By concentrating on the structure of the individual stalks and the remains of the layers around the stalk has made them look almost bamboo like and Japanese.

So now I need to allocate a 3 day period of time to really get back on top of my work and try to generate some motivation!!

Ploughed Field - the Bishops Prize

So it is finished after dipping, dyeing, over dyeing, rust printing, foil printing and hand painting. This may seem a lot of processes but when you consider that I had intended quilting  and hand stitching as well in Nick's words 'the sweetie shop has been reduced'!!
So here are some images of the process -

The first dye was in Red onion which I dipped into a hot dye bath. The wool had been wetted to allow the dye to filter up and create an uneven line which I wanted to use as layering of the fields and to use to reflect the changes over time.

 You can see the line on this image. Here I am dipping the bottom part into a hot walnut dye bath to make a darker contrast for the foreground.

Now the rusted blades from my father (and grand father) workshop. Their shape gives the impression of the furrows ploughed in the field. But ....

when printed over the Red onion dye the iron partly oxidised! In the workshop I used the footprint screen that I had designed and used gold foil onto a paste to represent the footprints of 'the meek who will inherit the Earth'. Originally I was going to add stitch but  

 

 was pleased that the footprints over the 'furrows' were enough.  The top of the piece was dipped into Indigo several times but I did not achieve a contrast however it seems to work as a paler blue.

I added hand painted trees using oak and walnut paste

to represent the pine trees which were planted to stop the wind blowing the sandy soil and enabling man to cultivate the land. 

It has been a challenging project and I have learnt a lot not only about composition with natural dyes but also about the history of this piece of land.

Eucalyptus Dye

I have been using the Eucalyptus tree as a dye source since my early days of using natural dyes but never achieved the orange tones in Jenny Dean's Wild Colour or India Flint's eco-printed orange leaves. So I'm going to follow India Flint's method to the tee having read her book, made notes and gathered fresh leaves, dried leaves and bark so here goes.

The fresh leaves from Stowmarket were soaked overnight in rainwater, the SS container heated until it was just below simmer for 45 mins. I made sure that the water did not heat above 'steaming' then sieved out the leaves.
Eucalyptus is a substantive dye source ie does not need a mordant and I am beginning to focus on this as an asset. The research into nettles has made me realise that I can achieve a range of colour tones by using parts of the plant, seasons and use of a hot and a cold dye bath. The dye baths made so far are from 2tree sources and 2 parts of the tree ie leaves and bark.
I am using silk scarves for my trials as well as wool delaine to record the narrative of the dye bath. The wool samples are a very different colour range and the results make me reflect on their application. Anyway there were 3 outcomes from my dyeing session because I also used the bark from the West Stow tree which had been soaking for several weeks. But I made sure that India Flint's method was followed closely.
There were 3 shades of a creamy orange which were quite pleasing but still not a distinct orange, I may post a comment on the Wild Dyery site to see if anyone can suggest how to achieve an orange.
Unfortunately the images do not do justice to the colours but when I researched blackberries the colours were very pleasing ........

From left to right : Frozen berries with no heat

                               Fresh berries hot

                               Fresh berries no heat

                               Cuttings of leaves and stem soaked for a week hot dye bath

These colours have related to some shots of the ploughed field after a fall of snow and I want to work an developing images/designs from these photos and use the blackberry colours. I think the snow images would also work with wool and indigo.