Oh NO, not again!

February 2, 2014 | JP Dawes Artist

You know that rare heavy snow storm that kept those of us in north central Arkansas holed up for days because the highway dept. couldn’t seem to get roads open? Well, it looks like we are going to get it again. The snow is coming down in sheets already. It isn’t a gently falling snow for a winter wonderland. It is coming in sideways and wet.

The prediction is for 2-4 inches accumulation but it wasn’t to start for another couple of hours. I hope the early start isn’t foreboding of more inches.

BUTTTTT…..just in case the snow builds up; yesterday and this morning I have been scouring cottons and making pearl cotton skeins for some more exciting snow dyeing. It isn’t exactly making lemonade from lemons, more like the joy of creamy vanilla ice cream from the snow. Hmmmm…I wonder what pure vanilla would do as a dye? I still have large bottles left over from Mexico…..

My Dye Spot 2014

January 26, 2014January 27, 2014 | JP Dawes Artist

Here is where I have tried to organize my natural dye stuff. My sweet DH is so understanding,

This used to be the office as you can tell by the real wood blinds and Ralph Lauren paper on

the walls. The Oriental rug has been taken to storage leaving the concrete floor.

Old Patron liquor bottles make wonderful dye extraction jugs. These were put together

this morning with acorns, the one on the left with ammonia and the right with alcohol.

I love that the extraction was almost instantaneous and you can see the dye coming off the nuts.

This is a tray of lichen we gathered on our walk the other day. After it is dry, I will crush it to extract the dye.

The color will depend a lot on the mordant I use.

I hope you enjoyed this little peek inside my spot. We have our eyes open for an old kitchen sink and cabinet to make a wet area.

Ironed Snow Dye Fabric….WOW

December 10, 2013December 13, 2013 | JP Dawes Artist

Who knew that the simple act of ironing this fabric would make such a difference. Each piece was better than the last. I am showing a few photos of some of my favorites. I really like the way the colors crack and separate. As a side note, the middle 2 pieces were on a pale taupe fabric and the bottom one was a pale mauve. Like under painting a watercolor, the base color gives an overall glow to the fabric.

Linked up with Off The Wall Friday!

A Dyer’s Garden

November 27, 2013 | JP Dawes Artist

I am nearly finished with my Master Gardener classes with the University of Arkansas. I feel official since we all got our engraved name tags yesterday…that’s in case we forget who we are when we are out and about with people in the gardens.

I’ve making an effort to plan and organize my small garden spaces around the house. The vegetable garden will remain, as will the large plantings. I am going to add in plants that make good dye material. I’ve been using the woods for my plant dyes and want to expand a bit more.

We are on the border of zone 7 and 8 so it will depend on where something is placed in the yard whether or not it will grow here. After some research I discovered that I can grow 2 kinds of eucalyptus here by either letting it die back in the winter or taking it inside for the winter. I can also grow woad for that lovely blue that is a little less bright than indigo. I’ve ordered my seeds for these and can’t wait to start them on the road to germination.

Anything worth having is worth the effort it takes to get it.

New Eco Bundle steamers

November 18, 2013 | JP Dawes Artist

Last year I bought these wonderful shallow stainless steel pans at a church garage sale for 50 cents each. I had no idea what I would do with them at the time but they were just too good to pass up. They have lounged in the far back corner of the bottom cabinet since they came home.

I was cleaning the cabinets and rediscovered them! I was so pumped that they are just what I needed to steam my eco bundles. I have 2 of these and the lid fits super tight so there is no steam escaping in the kitchen.

The bundle on the left is a long pink scarf that is getting recycled with eco prints. The right bundle is a sleeveless cotton tee that is just my size. The silk is sandwiched between two metal plates that Ron drilled steam holes into. I love how they make marks on the fabric. BTW, these were mordanted in alum and cream of tartar before bundling. Then they were sprayed with vinegar water. I’ll show the reveal in a few days.