Long story short; a dye bath for fabric or fibre is dependant on having either fabric or fibre ready to dye which makes it not worth doing when you don't have fabric or fibre you want to dye. Further complication is that when you are dyeing cellulose fibres with plant based dyes you may end up with nothing other than boiled cotton fabric which has steadfastly refused to take up even a smidgeon of colour from the dye bath !
Make Ink A Foragers Guide to Natural Ink making by Jason Logan had been mentioned on Instagram & as it piqued my interest but wasn't available in NZ, I requested it through our local library & waited patiently for it to arrive. I knew it would be full of plant references which are pretty much useless in NZ & especially useless for me as I'm still far more curious about the potential of what we have available here, particularly in our own native plants.
That's ok. I'm used to that.
I was not expecting magic.
I was expecting a very beautiful book with a few tidbits of useful information.
It is indeed a very beautiful book.
It is an absolute pleasure to read & it does contain magic.
The magic it gave me is freedom.
It gave me a reason to make colour for the sake of making colour.
It gave me a water based process which, for the plant based explorations, has it's origin in natural dyeing.
A process that is very familiar to me.
This particular ink making process removes the stumbling block.
It reduces the colour making to it's simplest form & the end point is when YOU get the colour YOU want.
"What distinguishes ink from other art supplies is its use as a tool for communication."
I could go on & on about how much I love this sentence.
I'm going to add to it.
Making ink is about communication.
Foraging is about observation.
Observation is about being attentive to your surroundings.
Being attentive to your surroundings is about developing a relationship with place.
It's about the unspoken dialogue you have with your surroundings which informs you of the health & well being of place.
It's about sharing.
It's about reciprocity.
It's about acknowledging & honouring place through the language we use as writers, artists, stitchers, weavers or spinners.
Now off you go.
Make Ink my friend & let's get this conversation started.
Sal xx
Make Ink A Foragers Guide to Natural Ink making by Jason Logan had been mentioned on Instagram & as it piqued my interest but wasn't available in NZ, I requested it through our local library & waited patiently for it to arrive. I knew it would be full of plant references which are pretty much useless in NZ & especially useless for me as I'm still far more curious about the potential of what we have available here, particularly in our own native plants.
That's ok. I'm used to that.
I was not expecting magic.
I was expecting a very beautiful book with a few tidbits of useful information.
It is indeed a very beautiful book.
It is an absolute pleasure to read & it does contain magic.
The magic it gave me is freedom.
It gave me a reason to make colour for the sake of making colour.
It gave me a water based process which, for the plant based explorations, has it's origin in natural dyeing.
A process that is very familiar to me.
This particular ink making process removes the stumbling block.
It reduces the colour making to it's simplest form & the end point is when YOU get the colour YOU want.
"What distinguishes ink from other art supplies is its use as a tool for communication."
I could go on & on about how much I love this sentence.
I'm going to add to it.
Making ink is about communication.
Foraging is about observation.
Observation is about being attentive to your surroundings.
Being attentive to your surroundings is about developing a relationship with place.
It's about the unspoken dialogue you have with your surroundings which informs you of the health & well being of place.
It's about sharing.
It's about reciprocity.
It's about acknowledging & honouring place through the language we use as writers, artists, stitchers, weavers or spinners.
Now off you go.
Make Ink my friend & let's get this conversation started.
Sal xx
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