Raven and Sparrow

An empty place

Farewell Michelle. We will miss you very much.

Dye painted on

After a day in mordant and two weeks holding in the refrigerator, the foxglove tablecloth has been painted with myrobalan, a natural dye made from trees that grow in India. I tested this a while ago and followed my notes from that experience, but the test was on an eighteen inch square and this is fifty-seven inches. You wouldn't think that keeping the proportions the same and changing the volume of dye would yield different results, but sometimes that happens. The gold color on this cloth seems quite a bit darker than my test squares even though the formula was the same. I am reminded that testing is never as precise as I expect it to be. The next thing is to let this set under plastic for three days or so to allow the dye and the mordant plenty of time to lock into the fibers. Keeping it damp helps that bonding to continue. Afterwards I will let it dry and see what value I actually attained. Then...into indigo.

RIP RBG

I am so sad that Ruth Bader Ginsburg has died. I am grateful for all she did and symbolized as a woman pioneer practicing law at the highest levels, and as a justice on the Supreme Court. I am sorry she had to work even as she was dying. I dread the vicious fight that will undoubtedly be enjoined around her replacement. 

Thank you for your service and your example Justice Ginsburg. Rest in peace.

Baby days

For this past week we have been entertaining our granddaughter Sophie and her parents. It was a great to have them here for a good long visit, as we see them so rarely now. (Thank goodness for FaceTime). At the beginning of the week the weather was perfect and we imagined spending lots of time outside, but then the smoke came and every day was worse, so we had to think of indoor amusements. It was lucky that we got Sophie down to the beach while the sun was out. She threw rocks and walked on logs, attended closely by her ever-faithful Papa.

 

Fox wax

Lisa's summer foxglove table cloth has been waxed and is now ready for mordant. It took a long time to wax over the previously painted bits. It might not be necessary because the paint will shed the dyes that are coming next, but after much thought I decided I liked the way waxing over paint helped integrate it with the colors to come on the trial piece I made. Other trials that got painted after the wax had been removed seemed more garish. The paint looked uncomfortable amid the dyes.

The waxing went pretty well, but there were a couple random drops that I couldn't integrate into the design. That is totally normal and usually I just ignore them and go on, but this time I wondered if more dots would help. I ended up adding semi-random dotlets around the flower stalks, just for fun.