Out of the pot ...


Today I rushed home from class to unroll my most recent eco-dyeing attempts.
I have entitled this one "dance of the sugar plum fuchsias"


These are pot boiled plants from my garden with iron sulphate as the mordant.
I am hoping some of them will make great grounds for my tiny Roman graphite calligraphy.




This is half of the following full sheet.  I like it!



One full sheet of hahnemuhle 300gsm white



Rose petals 1/2 sheet




Rose leaves 1/2 sheet



Rose leaves 1/2 sheet - mirror image of above






Comments

ronnie said…
you and I are on the same page at the moment girlfriend ;)
December 6, 2013 at 10:58 PM
ronnie said…
(oooooo and it s beeee-ute-eeee-full page too wouldn't you say?)
December 6, 2013 at 10:59 PM
Unknown said…
Very nice Gemma. Did you know that onion skins also make a fantastic dye. Not my favorite color, musty yellow/brown, but might be good for your work.
December 7, 2013 at 10:24 AM
Gemma Black said…
Thanks Ronnie! :-)

Thanks Bec! Yes re. the onion skins ... red onions are the best. My friend Simon Imagin has just recently dyed his white overalls with onion skins and they are now that very colour!!!! x g
December 7, 2013 at 10:09 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Onward to Bloemfontein, South Africa

Image
From Cape Town I moved onward to Bloemfontein in the Free State where I met another wonderful group of talented calligraphers.  Everyone could speak English of course but their first language was Afrikaans. I enjoyed listening to the classroom banter even though I had no understanding whatsoever of what they were saying. I am enjoying trialing SA cuisine in particular melktert and bobotie. Many thanks go to my host family Willemien, Franna, Dian & Mika Kruger for their hospitality and warm welcome.


The subject for our three day workshop was "watercolour cut-back technique using Trajan letters".   Please enjoy these wonderful outcomes.



















Read more

Trying for the Glover

Image
I have boldly taken steps to enter these two works into The Glover Prize here in Tasmania. Oh how brazen I am. I'll report back after 7th February 2020 when I'll know if I have been shortlisted. Fingers crossed everyone!




Silent Landscape
52cm x 95cm 




LISTEN 2020
52cm x 75cm





Read more

Nib sculpture

Image
Pen Nibs, Sculpture by Anne Neil 2005







Can you believe these nibs!!  I was excited when my host Barb King, who was looking after me for my recent versals workshop for the Calligraphers Guild of WA, said I must see these nibs. Barb was right!  This nib sculpture is in Barrack Street at one of the entrances to the Supreme Court gardens.  There was no plaque to tell me the sculptor, nor it's name. It may well be "somewhere" on the work.   Makers ... please insist on leaving your mark!

I have done a little search and have come up with a couple of explanations to their significence. One is that scriveners worked nearby at the courts for the past two centuries ... but another says they have nothing to do with the courts at all and that they are related to the gardens and were a tribute to the far-sighted planners who established the gardens over a century and a half ago.

I took these photos obviously in the evening, lit up, as well as in daylight.

Thanks Barb! More on the works…
Read more