A little blue?

I'm feeling a little blue today, knowing that I have to leave in the (early!) morning, to make that damned long journey to the city again. Another 8 hours on a stuffy coach. I'm thinking about what stitching to take along for the ride. I never like to have to leave my little home and the boys. This is a quick one. I hope to be back on Wednesday. We have guests booked all of next week!

I've been playing with the fruits of Conostegia subcrustulata (Melastomataceae) again. The last time I tried to solar dye with these, I used too few fruits and it just turned the small scrap of cloth a slightly tan color. So yesterday Nilo and I gathered more fruits for this small experiment. We have alot of these shrubs in the garden and the great thing is - assuming that this dye is ever going to work for me - that they fruit and flower constantly throughout the year. Discover more about this plant here















Thought you might like this image of buds and immature fruits of Conostegia subcrustulata and a visiting grasshopper. The image was taken by Reinaldo.

So... on with the show!



















First I masked a small square of calico, leaving narrow spaces between each strip of tape.



















Then I started to smush the berries with a wooden pestle directly onto the cloth.



















Doesn't that look yummy! Actually, you can eat these berries, they're sweet and gritty because they have so many minute seeds (which you can see in the images).




















This is how it looked when I had done that with all of the gaps.

Next...















A random berry smushing! Pour the berries onto the cloth, place a sheet of paper on top, and roll over it all with a rolling pin.



















Hmmm... interesting! Love that vibrant blue where the light shines through. It reminds me of...

When I was a child I was fascinated by the color of the jars of Vick's Vapor Rub when held up to the light. It was the only bit of entertainment one got when sick. I have a love of Bristol Blue Glass, especially that which comes in the form of a bottle of Harveys Bristol Cream, which, sadly, I can no longer drink :( I went to the Bristol blue glass factory on a school trip once. It was very cool! My (other) home town is about 40 minutes drive from the city of Bristol.

Moving on...















Some very random strokes made with a paint brush, with concentrated berry smush juice,painted direct onto the cloth.















A close-up...















I especially like this section.















And here they all are, hanging out. I'm leaving them there... because, let's face it, it is never going to rain!















And here is a new solar dye experiement, this time using a much higher concentration of these fruits and a piece of rolled calico.















This morning it looks like this... I'm optimistic! I will leave it in the sun soaking for a week.















I had to put a rock on the top to hold the cloth under!

Coming soon!...















Reinaldo came back from the field with several of these yesterday... Genipa americana (Rubiaceae - that's the coffee family). But more about that later!

My posts seem to get longer and longer. Thanks for your attention span!

Jaded

For those interested in culture and history, I am also now onto uploading my images from the national Jade museum, San Jose, Costa Rica. If - like me - you thought that Jade was a specific shade of kind of woodsy-minty green, then you - like me - were quite mistaken! I was amazed by the sheer range of colors and shades that these pieces displayed. From blackish "meconium" green, to an almost lapis lazulae blue. And I can't imagine how heavy some of these pieces must be. Take a look at this! A choker!



















I will continue to add to these images for a while longer.

Feel free to browse my Jade album here.

Even better than the real thing

I'm really enjoying working with synthetic suede. I bought a small scrap from a fabric store in Boquete, Panama, when we were there a few months ago. Its skin-tone, and super soft, and although it's synthetic, it looks and feels like the real thing, but is maybe a little easier to manipulate.















I had an idea about layers.















Hand stitched layers.
















I found that I could strip threads out to create a more dynamic surface texture...















... and added that idea to the idea of layers.















I added some simple beadwork and some colored stitching.



















And here's the finished piece, "Kaluto", which has been added to the other Indie-pendants on the Bainbridge&Houseberg photostream at Flickr

I'm excited by the fact that these are completely handstitched, using small fabric and fiber scraps. Projects that, a) I can make anywhere (including in the hospital, if necessary!), b) are unique and very eco-friendly, and, c) finishable in the short term. The latter being imperative, as my interests always have had a habit of flitting from one thing to the next... like a butterfly passing from flower to flower. And I think that's maybe a good thing? Feed... and move on!

Emergence

Here it is... this is what's emerging from out of Megan's package. I thought that it was cacoon-like (although I think it's usually moths, that spin cacoons). This is something quite new from me.

I was drawn immediately to the 100% flax linens that Megan has sent. I love the roughness of these textiles as well as the colors that she's chosen. One is a fresh spring green, and the other is verging on what I would call bamboo green. I have started working with the latter. It's a hand-emroidered native butterfly motif. The species is Baeotus baeotus (Nymphalinae) and this is the male and it ocurrs here on the Osa Peninsula. I have always loved the form and the colors of this particular species. I'm working this piece as an applique on denim from an upcycled denim skirt. Originally a dark blue denim, I discharge dyed it, and then gave it a good scrubbing. It's lovely to work on, as it's now very soft. I'm enjoying the softness of the base colors here, verging on pastel, which is rather an unusual choice for me. I'm very excited about this new direction. The rural/nature element fits perfectly where I'm coming from and with more recent trains of thought. I'm not entirely sure what this butterfly will turn into next... a purse for the 2010 design collection? Maybe! I'm also not sure how complete the embroidery will be, because I'm rather liking at this stage the unfinishedness of it. I"m thinking about how it's unlikely for one to see all of the detail of a butterflies wings in an instant. Usually only a fragment. The camera helps with that of course.

On Dying

What kind of dying?... Both! This past week was tough. Monday the 9th of November was the 8th anniversary of my Mother's death. Friday 13th of November, a dear friend died after battling against Leukemia for the past three years. Tuesday the 17th of November my maternal grandmother died back in the UK at the ripe old age of 89. Deeply sad time, but also filled with some very wonderful memories. And the great cycle continues, already bringing about positive transformations. A quiet, slow turning.

With this I have decided to take my interest in natural fiber dying more seriously. During the past few weeks, Nilo - my soon to be 7 year old son - and I have dabbled abit at this. But now I'm going to make an effort to document, share AND use the results. I like more and more the subtleties of natural dyes, and with a 2 acre garden out front and a 6 acre rainforest out back, I think I really should have some interesting things to try and to tell of. This afternoon, we gathered from the garden. Flowers and berries. Since we are only planning to dye small amounts of cloth and fibers at any given time, we don't need to gather *that* much. Nilo helped to mash it all with the wooden pestle that we bought a few months ago on a trip to Boquete in Panama. I love these experiments in color. One never can tell just what will happen! Today's little bonus surprise... flowers (from the genus Stachytarpheta, probably S. frantzii) that we have growing in the garden here start out yielding a glowing purple tone, but then add a drop of boiling water and this immediately turns a wild aquamarine-blue. This fits well with my blue-green theme. I can't wait to see how the cloth turns out!

Blue and Green

It's a beautiful Summer's morning here in the Tropics. The sunlight still low, yet intense, embracing and transforming. Dark to light. It's worth getting out and exploring one's surroundings early in the morning, the day lays waiting with gifts renewed! I've decided to explore light and the combined effects of blue and green, which seems to me to epitomise the flow of creative energy, and to define our planet. Blue, a first order or "primary" color, color of the heavens and of life-giving water, usually restful and passive. Green, a second order or "secondary" color, also usually restful and passive, and the most dominant color in the plant kingdom.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." John 1:1.

I think he forget to put the "L" in "Wor[l]d"?























(Top L-R, Mora tintoria, vine (undeter.sp., leaves of Papaya, Center L-R, Carludovica druedii, Los Charcos de Osa entrance sign, Melastomataceae leaves against blue plastic tarpulin, Below L-R, Cecropia peltata, insect herbivory on leaves of Heliconia wagneriana, fern (undeter.sp.)