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.