Monday, November 24, 2014

Coaxing color and prints from plants today.


This year the Japanese maple in my little urban backyard garden was absolutely brilliant. Today with cold frost and snowfall the tree let loose her leaves. I can't resist a dye pot and printing on silk with the windfall. I added "old reliable" onion skins and black walnut hulls from Ohio for burnished golds and bronzes.





Bundled and bound, India Flinty-style, with silk thread on stick and small rock. I sprayed the bundle with vinegar
and tossed it in a soup pot of water to steam for an hour. After draining I'll let it sit undisturbed for two weeks while I fly to Florida for a visit with my daughter.


More small bundles of walnut hulls in cotton gauze and silk. With a little alum and cream of tartar in the soak water the hulls are so willing to share their color.  
Slow soak and steep until I get home.  Happy Thanksgiving!