Raven and Sparrow

Summer tests

Lockdown days are busy, but somewhat blurred and similar, and I have come to feel a little blurry and indistinct myself. I don't have much to say to anyone.  Krista Tippett in her On Being podcast did a little riff this week on the energy we absorb physically from each other and the effect the separation is having on our vitality, and I feel like that provides a key to the slow and low tenor of my days. I'd be interested to know if others have noticed this too.

I have been working on my patchwork base, so cutting lots of blue squares and sewing them into nine-patches has taken some time. I am almost ready to join them into a long table runner about 15 inches wide and...how long? I'll lay them out and see what works best.

Bringing up an indigo pot was the next thing for Lisa's summer cloth tests, but when I went to make the base stock I found that my chemicals had spoiled (or, in the case of lye, hardened into an intractable ball) and so I had to send away for fresh ones. For a moment I considered trying a more natural method, but decided that my heart isn't really into the process so much as the outcome and I know how to bring up a chemical pot quite reliably, therefore why change? One Dharma delivery later my pot was on and I was able to dip my myrobalan-painted test pieces in blue. 

The results are interesting. The three examples are the same pattern drawn in wax only, drawn with gray fabric marker and waxed, and drawn and then painted and waxed, with wax finally taken off them all. I am pleased with the way the painted example came through the processes of indigo and wax removal. A little freshness was lost, but the paint is well integrated into the cloth. I like the delicacy of the gray outlines, but they may not be enough to bring the gray plates into active conversation with the design. I meant to keep the background green as light as possible so the first two trials were in the indigo for the shortest possible time. On the last one I doubled the submersion time and got the darker background. At first I thought it was too dark, but it is growing on me. I like the teal quality of the color. Of course, this is all just approximate....when I stuff a full size cloth into an indigo bath it could turn out quite differently, but at least I know what ballpark I'm playing in. The next step is to paint the two without color and refine my skills and color choices before going on to the big cloth.

Picking up pieces

Back before Christmas I mordanted three test pieces for Lisa's summer cloth. One has a fragment of the proposed pattern drawn on with marker and then painted with fabric paint and waxed, one
has the drawing without the paint, and then waxed, and the third is just the pattern drawn on with wax. They have been waiting in the fridge for me to clear a space to work on them, and finally I have. Today I took them out and painted over them all with the same concentration of myrobalan, which gives a buttery yellow. When it has had a chance to soak in (three days or so), I'll dip them in indigo and then remove the wax and see what survivies.

In the evenings I have been sewing my blue and black squares into nine-patches as a way to ease myself into the project prompted by Jude's blog. Since she has put her tutorials back onto her blog I have been watching two or three posts a day and marveling at the ease with which she amalgamates her vast scrap collection into compelling "stories", using the fabric like paint. (Hazel is also a master combiner....check out the pink ground on her latest.) Watching Jude and then actually taking up fabric scraps in my hands with the intention of making them into a picture reminds me of how literal I am. When I think back over what I have made I see that I always want to make my point clear. My method of working usually requires a fairly detailed plan and pre-made pattern (see Lisa' summer).  My stuff definitely evolves as it forms, but always the idea comes first and I judge my success by how well that idea comes through. I think being a designer drilled into me the necessity of clear communication, but I see Jude communicating clearly but much more organically and I admire that. I will not be able to replicate her delicacy because I am not her and I am working with much heavier, stodgier material, but I am trying to imitate her more open way of working, always wishing for the depth of feeling she is so good at expressing. Whether I will be able to maintain my enthusiasm in the face of the discomfort of this new path remains to be seen.

Finish and start

My computer problems in January prevented my posting of Lisa's finished autumn runner. It is hard to capture its golden shimmer in a photograph. (Click on it to see the whole thing.) It is also proving to be hard to find accessories that work well with it. It is so low contrast that most of the vases and candles that I have tried have been too harsh. I am stalled at the moment while I look for what I need, online of course, and who can really tell that way?  

I was making good progress on cleaning up my studio when Jude's large cloth musings struck a chord. I decided suddenly to make a runner from my scraps (of which I have many, mostly heavy linen in solid colors) based on the comforting light shining from the house to those coming home on a winter evening. That is all I know right now. I usually plan my projects way more thoroughly than this, but I have decided just to start and go where I am led. I turned all my scraps out onto my recently emptied table and picked out everything blue, black, gray or purple. I have cut out some squares and that's where I am.