Natural Impressions Exhibition

Hi everyone. It has been almost a year since I last updated my blog. It has also been almost a year since we moved to Canberra, ACT. If you have relocated your home, you can imagine how busy life can be as a result. 

Before I retired and moved I was invited to exhibit at the Toora Village Studio Gallery in South Gippsland, VIC. I accepted the invitation because I didn't want to have nothing to do! Haha, that was very wrong of me! I also knew that I would have more than a year to prepare. As from today I have less than 3 months before the exhibition opening on 7th September 2019. 

The first 6 months after we arrived at our new home we spent most of that time to settle and to buy furniture and other items that we needed. I also joined a local health club, quilting guild, basket weaving group and lawn bowling club. Helping out with our grandchildren is also a regular task on a daily basis. I'm glad to report that we are well settled and very happy in our new home and new city.

I told myself that as soon as New Year arrived I would start preparations for the exhibition. I didn't actually get to start until February 2019 however. I had rough ideas of what I was going to do, and that was a start, at least. 

I'm delighted to invite you to my exhibition 'Natural Impressions'. The details are on the invitation brochure above.  My daughter Kitiya Palaskas will officially open the exhibition on the 7th September at 2:00pm. If you can't make it to the opening, the exhibition is going to be on for 2 months. 

Looking forward to seeing some of you at my exhibition.

Nat

Second Half of January

Second half of January found me cruising into 2016 and getting back to my old routine. Getting back to work is good for me. It creates a good routine through the week and lets me be free in the weekends to play. I visited the art galleries both in Melbourne and Canberra. We do have great exhibitions here in Australia. Every winter there is a travelling exhibit of masterpieces. This winter we are expecting work of Edgar Degas. I have seen many on our trip, but you never have enough of the great things! 

I was itching to get back into dyeing as well. The opportunity came last weekend when I had a free Sunday afternoon. There was so much I could do around the Treehouse studio, but dyeing was calling me louder so that is what I did. I must say I missed dyeing with Eucalyptus leaves.

For my craft related activities I did a quick change over in the Treehouse. I put my eco-print fabric on the old ladder. It looks great as well. I will think of something else to put there later on in the year. While I was searching in the Treehouse I came across the mini Christmas star quilt I started a couple Christmases ago. I'm determined to get it done this year! Quick as a flash I started working on a journal cover for another textile trip back to Vientiane, Luang Prabang, Chiang Mai and Bangkok at Easter. I also got a lucky find to share with you. So please read on...

Vintage summer yukata at the NGV,
Blue Alchemy exhibition.

The Treehouse with eco-print fabric.

Gathering dyeing materials

Ready to roll on vintage silk 

Resting the rolls after steaming

Hanging them outside to dry

Some really vivid colour from blue gum leaves

Mini Christmas Star quilt in the making

Journal cover work in progress 

The front of the Journal cover complete

Back of the journal

Part of my job is to decorate this display
cabinet. The boss only wants to have handmade
and recycled items in there. Everything here
is from my Wednesday Craft sessions! 

Lucky Find: Here is my lucky find in the holiday. A felt hat made in Melbourne. In Melbourne there are many famous hat makers because of the Melbourne Cup event that is held on the first Tuesday of November of each year. The tradition for Melbourne Cup is to wear a fancy hat, even for men. So I found this hat at an op-shop when I was in Canberra. It fits me perfectly, but the band needed replacing. So a bit of my dyed fabric is perfect for it!

It looks a million dollars, I think!

I had a day exploring Melbourne Lanes at the
weekend.It was a hot day so my
hat came in handy.

I must tell you a bit about the journal cover. I found old woollen vest from one of my op-shop visits. It has woollen embroidery in the front. But there were also moth holes in places. I was planning to mend it, but when I was looking for fabric to make the journal cover I thought it would be perfect for it, so I used it instead. Giving new life to old things is now my passion and it gives me lot of pleasure!

Hope all is well out there. Is everyone cruising back to life beautifully after the holidays? Thanks for dropping by. Please do leave me a comment. I'd love to hear from you!

Until next time

Nat

The Gallery of Dye Stuff

I come to the conclusion that winter (our winter) is the best time for eco-dye and printing. Either there is something in the leaves plus water (not sure yet!) or it could be my over five years of dyeing experience, but who knows? Whatever it is, I'm happy with the results lately. 

You should always do what your heart tells you. My love of nature draws me to everything natural, handmade and home-made. Natural dye is so natural for me to get into. I still have long way to go. I really love to try more natural dye instead of just eco-dye, but that will come when I find more hours in my already busy life. It's okay though, because I'm happy with what I'm doing at the moment. 

Enough rambling about me. In this post I will share with you all sort of dye results I have been playing with. I've discovered new leaves (to me) all around me and I am trying them out. I dyed with a wool and silk blend scarf. Vintage wool fabric, vintage silk and even cotton that I'm so excited about! Please read the captions for details of each one. 

 Eucalyptus Amygdalina (peppermint)
on silk and wool blend scarf

Eucalyptus Nicholii (Narrow-leaved Black Peppermint)
on 100% vintage wool

Mixed Eucalyptus leaves on vintage wool!
Can you spot the face peering at you? 

Textures and seeds on vintage silk. Gorgeous prints!

Something green on vintage wool

Testing different leaves and fabric

Trash for some, but a treasure for me!
Maple leaves soaking overnight.

Mixed Eucalyptus leaves on 100%
cotton (exciting!)

I have recently been taking some time to photograph Eucalyptus leaves and trees for my own reference. It's possible with my iPhone always on hand wherever I go. I just put branches against the trunks so I can recognize them in the future. You love so you learn! I have also been taking before and after shot of the bundle wrapping process of each piece. 

Lemon scented gum. Eucalyptus Citriodora

This is the famous E-Cineria (Silver Dollar)

E-Sideroxylon (Black iron bark) and blue
gum on vintage silk

E-Nicholii on vintage silk

Lucky find: I found a couple of things that I consider to be lucky find. Not the usual lucky find from antique malls or op-shops, but from the garden!

Wild baby nettle plants I found near a construction site.
I've transplanted one into my garden. The witches garden.

Benches are my favourite objects to photograph.
This one was next to an E-Cineria tree and overlooking a pond!

I thought I didn't have much to blog about today, but in the end I do have enough fill a post!

It held another eco-dye workshop yesterday. It was partly cloudy with a little bit of sunshine, but it was very cold. I had warned the participants to wear something warm. It wasn't too windy! Wind is not dyeing friendly. It blows the leaves off the fabric! I will share the day with you on my next post. 

Until next time

Nat

Leaves Worth Dyeing For!

In this post, it's mostly about Leaves Worth Dyeing For! Since the eco-dye workshop a couple of weeks ago. I got all inspired and motivated to try more plentiful Eucalyptus leaves all around me. I was searching and learning names of some of the many Eucalyptus species growing in Australia. In doing so I came across a great and inspiring blog called Local & Bespoke. With my new found knowledge of the native trees I discovered that they are available right around me! So I'm having fun photographing and smelling them. 

Naturally in this post I have some new leaves and names to share with you. In the process of searching the web I came across another useful website Green Fingers: Australia Plant Society where I can always visit for more information. 

Following on from the last eco-dye workshop. Another date is now set for the next workshop on Sat. 25 July. I also have been thinking of offering a stitching workshop using dyed fabric. I'm working on piecing simple little stitch blocks for my next exhibition in 2016 (maybe!). So I thought I will use  the same techniques to teach in this workshop. 

An example of a simple little stitch block

With the new found leaves all around my neighbourhood I have tested them out. Some mixed results, but the main thing is I'm having a lot of fun doing it!

Image of Eucalyptus branch on the inside page
of my new Australian passport.

Extracting colour from various plants and flowers.
From top clockwise, Camellia petals, Rose leaves,
Mimosa buds and Ferns.

Extracting colour from Cedar autumn leaves.
It gives silk a lovely deep yellow!

A few more jars of various pods, barks and leaves. 

Some bundles soaking in a cast-iron pot

A tint of blue from one of the above bundles

Purple carrot and rose leaves on vintage silk. 

Eucalyptus Scoparia on Dupion silk

Eucalyptus Nicholii on silk/polyester fabric

Dyeing on paper is a new craze these days. I thought I would try and see how it will turn out! I only used recycled photocopy papers that I had on hand. When I stuffed a bundle I would do the same to papers as well. I steamed the paper in the same way as I did with the bundles. Below are the results I got from paper dyed.

A sea of papers laying out to dry

Outside page with string marks 

Eucalyptus leaves imprint

Rose leaves imprint

Another Eucalyptus imprint

Below are some photos of different plants/leaves I have been taking through the week on my daily walk. Some of you may have seen them on Instagram this last week. 

Winter Oak leaves

Eucalyptus Nicholii. A beautiful tree with reachable branches
(no, I did not break off the branch from the trunk)

Eucalyptus caesia flowers

Rusty tins from a road side, lucky find!

It's in the middle of winter here in Australia, and this weekend it is cold and wet. Good weekend to be indoor and that exactly what I'm doing, but I have something to look forward to. Our DS and his family are arriving this weekend! 

I hope your weekend is enjoyable whatever you are up-to. 

Until next time.

Nat

Textiles Books and Historic Tree

Not many creations in the last couple of weeks. The shorter winter days make me feel like snuggling in and get comfy in the evenings instead of being active. I have a few projects on the go that I should get on with! Ha, but I'm just too lazy! 

I did make a trip to Kazari Ziguzagu last week to check out for some vintage indigo fabric that my friend asked me to get for her. It was a lovely visit as always. I found some great textile pieces that I took photos of (not bought!). 

While I was looking for vintage indigo fabric for a friend I found some for ME (naturally) from an online shop KimoYes as well. 

I did put some stitching on my swirling cloth I'm making into a blog book cover. The problem with working without pattern is that I sometimes get stitcher's block so I have to leave it for a while. Does that happen to you too? Anyway, read the captions on each photo to see what else I did. 

Leaping bunny on Noren, indigo Katazome

Vintage Japanese textiles from KimoYes

A hemp Yukata is ready to be de-constructed, Kazari Ziguzagu

Swirly weaving with added stitching

Naturally dyed samples pieced into Bojagi cloth

Ayako's crochet blanket displayed by Cobie Lee.
Wednesday craft

Another Coptic binding book

Books and friends. Dot Christian, Ro Bruhn and Jacky Williams

Colourful Eucalyptus leaves found on a windy day

Lucky find 

I'm excited to share my lucky find with you! It's not like any lucky find I've shown you before. This time it is an historic Eucalyptus tree (Eucalyptus Camaldulensis). It is approximately 400-500 years old so it predates European settlements in Australia. River Red Gums can live up to 700 years or more. I discovered it on the campus where I work. When standing next to it, I feel like standing next to those movable trees in 'Lord of the Ring'!  

After 10 years of working here I thought I had discovered all the gardens and trees on this campus, but when I found this grand old tree I couldn't help but get excited. I have organised to take my colleagues to view the tree next Monday. A real treat for us all. 

Until next time.

Nat