Eco dyed pieces

My first pieces for our exhibition are the results of a walk through the gardens and estate of Newark Park collecting leaves. I used the leaves to ecodye silk noil and raw silk fabrics, then pieced them into long thin hangings, representing my walk. My first attempts at Eco dyeing with the leaves were disappointing, but the addition of iron water has helped revealed leaf forms that were not visible, creating beautiful layers of leaves; reminding me of the leaves lying on the paths as I walked.

I'm now starting to develop a larger piece using more of these fabrics. The leaves of autumn conjure up images of a comforting blanket for me, helping protect the earth from the harshness of winter, so a comforting quilt form, which brings warm comfort when we're cold, seems to be the best way to illustrate this thought. 

workshop

An inspirational day at Newark Park, investigating the grounds and working with found objects to gain a sense of place. I love the combination of textures between the mushroom, feathers, leaves and wire. Working with my initial interests of the people and animals (hunted and eaten) that have passed through the house I feel I can start to capture their fleeting presence. Steph

Newark Park

Here's the results of our day spent at Newark Park, exploring the garden and estate. Carla sent us out into the gardens to collect 6 objects, on our return we spent time looking at our collections, before selecting  3 with which to make a 2 or 3D object. Then we threw a dice to select the next process. 

Leaves stitched and wrapped, mounted on a stone, moss attached to a twig.......

A beautiful sculptural piece of fungus, stuffed with feathers & leaves, before wrapping with thread.

A bottle found in the undergrowth stuffed with leaves etc, with a woven fence of wire and thread. 

A wonderful creative day spent in the Clutterbrook room of the house, immersing ourselves in the history and nature on Newark Park. 

All of us left with our heads full of ideas to develop further for our exhibition next June.

Recording my autumnal walks

Steadily stitching marks on this roll of Terracota Mud cloth, varying size and colour of my marks. All my marks representing leaves in the canopy of the trees or the blanket of leaves on the forest floor as I walk. My first piece for our exhibition at Nature in Art. 

Enjoying the meditative rhythm of the needle and thread through the cloth as I stitch, thinking of my favourite time of year surrounded by the comforting colours of Autumn, helping me forget the greyness of January.

Ecodyed fabric & papers

Windfall leaves collected at Nature in Art, wrapped in silk noil bundles.  The start of my pieces for our exhibition INSIDE:TUO recording the seasonal changes in the garden. 

Really pleased with the results, especially the pieces dyed with birch leaves. I'll be joining them to create a long thin hanging. 

My steamed papers were even better.

Summer Play Day

Unable to attend our summer play day due to illness, I thought I'd try Eco dyeing a few leaves from the garden. Using Acer, Geranium & Oak leaves placed between folds of Khadi paper, with cardboard on the outside tied with string, then steamed for an hour under a weight.

Looking forward to unwrapping my parcels later.