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 7, 2013 at 5:58 PM
ronnie said…
(oooooo and it s beeee-ute-eeee-full page too wouldn't you say?)
December 7, 2013 at 5:59 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 8, 2013 at 5:24 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 8, 2013 at 5:09 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The story of a painting ...

Image
   Gemma Black: maker of written artifacts with pen & ink-stone  Artist: Neville Dawson   I met a man on a bus   I arrived into Hobart Airport from one of those long haul trips that I have taken from time to time. I was exhausted after an enjoyable teaching tour. I boarded a mini-bus to take me into the city centre as David was working in Orchestra and had taken the car. A gentleman asked was the seat next to me taken. It wasn’t, so I said he was welcome to sit there. Invariably a small-talk conversation started though I could hardly keep my eyes open with the tiredness. Suddenly my senses piqued when he said he was an artist and all my concentration was suddenly focused on this quietly spoken man sitting next to me … "An artist? So am I” , I said … “ well sort of” . The gentleman, whose name is Neville Dawson, turned out be so interesting and charming that our trip into the city ended so very quickly. It saw us swapping names as he exited down the st
Read more

Pencils Workshops ASC & CCS

Image
Just recently I taught two workshops on Purely Pencils II. One in Sydney for the Australian Society of Calligraphers and the Canberra Calligraphy Society. Here is a selection of photos from both of those workshops:      My in-class demonstration. My morning walk It is always a pleasure to teach for the Australian Society of Calligraphers as well as visit Sydney my hometown on 19 years. The venue Primrose Park sits in tranquil setting down on the harbour edge at Cremorne. The following exercise is called "From Nature to Paper" Using watercolour pencils to choose, as well as mix and match, the colour depicted in the flowers.  As the class skill level varied I chose Charles Rennie Mackintosh letterforms to use depicting the initial letter of the name of the flower.  The class enjoyed this project tremendously. Sadly I did not have my camera for
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! Mor
Read more