Saturday, 31 May 2014

evidence of a hare-eating wild snail

remember I left several cards for the snail to set his/her teeth into: the snail has eaten the hare! the dog is highly amused...the birds have survived the assault, by that I mean the printed cards are only damaged in the white areas, maybe the snail doesn't really like the taste of ink 

still lots to do here (sigh) feel kind of stuck

  I got impatient: after three weeks of solar-dyeing I unfolded the three strips of fabric, that held the rose petals and stems I brought back with us from Morocco (a farewell token on our last evening in the resort, so instead of chucking the roses in the bin where I imagine most of them ended up, I wrapped mine in a tissue and they traveled back home in my toilet bag); the rose petals were frozen before being wrapped in the cotton: India Flint's ice-flower technique. The blues in the middle piece are from the stems and leaves, there was nothing else in the water apart from the elastic bands holding the bundle together (or if there was I cannot remember) all fabrics were soy-mordanted

 growing and already so elegant, I love his shiny black fur; he is a curious dog, playful and very cuddly

 another good result from the solar dyes: a strip of coin clamped moons, again started off with cold water and here of course the metal of the coins and the clamp produce colour together with time; I might have added old tea or an avocado peel to the water, again I forget, ugh the dyeing process is an intuitive thing for me, rather than an organised pursuit...I do like that about India Flint's book (not that her work isn't organised, structured and far better researched! but it has an amazing intuitive quality to it as well, an openness to all kinds of experiments)

we've had a lot of rain this past week, the days were grey and drab, the result of which can be seen and enjoyed on a sunny day like today: a kind of miniature rain forest has sprung in the flower bed; here we see the 'grote kaardebol' or common teasel (Dipsacus fullonum or Dipsacus sylvestris) which is I suppose an invasive weed (aren't they all) but I find it such a magnificent plant plus it attracts gold finches and bull finches

July 23: now that they are blooming, they have shown themselves in fact to be small teasels/kleine kaardebol = Dipsacus pilosus;
Dipsacus from the Greek dipsao (I am thirsty), as the leaves catch the water; pilosus meaning hairy.
Dipsacus komt van het Griekse dipsao (ik heb dorst), hetgeen slaat op het verzamelen van regenwater in de bekkens, die door de stengelbladen gevormd worden. Pilosus betekent "harig of behaard".
the photo's below were added after having read and commented on Marti's and Grace's comments

 I saw the puddle, clear water, why did I notice? and then decide to take a picture, from being stuck I became unstuck on this walk; vague ideas of what I wanted to do became distinct images and I could suddenly see where I was heading, Grace.......
 I stood at a particular point where I often just stop and look at the fields; this evening I took 4 photo's: of the fields to the north, the path facing west and east and the bridge, which takes me across a 'vliet' back into the trees, along another route back home - I like to imagine I was standing there as Marti placed her comment 

I guess I owe these woods and fields a great deal


Marti said...

Intuitive process, that is what holds me over and over, time and time again with dyeing cloth. Saskia, your cloths have such a wow factor, can't take my yes off of them. What better remembrance of Morocco than to bring back something of beauty (rose petals) and mark it on cloth. The three cloths and the moon cloth are exquisite but my eyes keep going back to the grouping of solar cloths, the third cloth with the remarkable imprint at the top, could be a huge flower, could be an imprint from a piece of metal, a trivet? How did you come by this magical design?

And Django, his shiny black coat against the green grass, a "riff" of color and joy to brighten up the day.

Marti said...

Yikes, meant to say, can't take my eyes off of them, not yes but really, they are all Yes cloths!!

saskia said...

hi Marti, boy are you quick! the imprint is from a stencil, we (my friend Marjan and me) spent an afternoon experimenting with flour-resist and stencils last summer; the fabric was dyed in, if I recall correctly, a black bean dye, which alas soon faded and so I decided to over dye it with the ice-flower/solar dye technique. I am glad you like my dyed cloths, as I was walking just now (as you were reading my post I imagine) in the woods I was pondering on how to use them and all of a sudden the idea of how to use these fabrics (of which there are many) in combination with the lino-cut printing and 9-square patchwork popped into my head: I now know where I'll be going with soon as I have something to show, I'll post about it;-)

grace Forrest~Maestas said...

this MUCH, so RICH
with so MUCH
and there , in the oh so FULL
studio, the words
"feel kind of stuck"
there was such a flood of the
familiar. i have had to look again and again at the whole post and again and again at those words.
How that happens...the appearance of the stuckness...
long long ago i might have looked for a new "love interest", maybe even a new lover. then years going by, it might be a whole new area of learning, midwifery or something, years more, stretching what i'd learned so far into teaching it somehow, years more going inward and Buddhism, years more, well, More. Pulling it, shaping it different. but it was that small feeling of stuckness that was at the beginning of it, always.
Recently, i began looking online at sources for Cray Pas....and
suddenly knew. it was the stuckness again.
am looking at the phenomenon of Stuckness without mercy right now.
thank you for this post that added some light....

saskia said...

hi Grace, I think I've come unstuck happens frequently and I kind of know things will be okay, but when they're not moving I am restless and not able to be in the studio or anywhere for long, drifting....I have to make a conscious effort and force myself to stay at home on my off-days (i.e. not in the office-days) and gradually the dust settles, the muddied water becomes clear again, in the act of mowing the grass, or walking in the woods, being by myself !! the ideas come to me and I know where I'm heading once more and then all I have to do is DO.

it is weird, because your comment and Marti's echo my walk in the woods, i will post the pics

jan said...

Saskia these cloths are simply wonderful. I so look forward to what you'll do with them. Stuckness; yes Grace; a good, thoughtful point. Part of creativity IS the stuckness, I think. That space of unknowing; the questions of 'where; how?' Then following the path to who knows where. And making, again. A place we couldn't have got to, without, the stuckness.

Marti said...

Stuck? It can be an evolution as it was and is for me. Don't have a studio, just a little outdoor space with all of my pots, cauldrons, a tiny little table and one of those plastic three drawer shelves that contain string, rusty bits, rubber bands, a strainer, an old toothbrush for getting out plant material, binder clips for clamping and two chopsticks for stirring cloth in my pots.

I stitch outside mostly in the early morning and I stitch sitting on my bed and in my comfy chair in our living room. One corner of the bedroom floor holds my dyed cloth in a large basket. The recycled thrift store cloth waiting to be dyed is stored in a bottom dresser drawer alongside a very small round wooden box that holds my stitching supplies. I do not have lots of cloth nor do I have lots of thread but it always seems to be enough. So it is easy to not be too concerned when inspiration does not come because I don't have a big space to begin with!

I work so narrowly,nothing but plant materials or bark or rust bits, bundled, dyed, sometimes steamed, mostly solar dyed, dried on the line, stitched into my wall collages. Sometimes a vision comes immediately to me and the cloths are barely dried before I begin stitching. Other times the cloths sit in the basket.

So the DOING comes easily at times and other times, it takes some time but through it all, I like knowing that the cloths are resting in the basket, getting ready to tell me a story. Sometimes I take them out and fan them out all over the bed, airing them out, letting them know that I am waiting and so stuck hasn't really come back since I first realized that I could do something with these cloths from the land besides just dyeing them.

saskia said...

Jan, yes the stuckness is part of it all....I too wonder where these cloths will end up;-)
Ha Marti, not having a studio, where would all the beings go?? In fact a lot, if not most of my stitching is done in other places than the studio and the dyeing's done outdoors as well, so why the studio: 'cos it's there and also it's good to have this room for self and all my clutter, the dog on my days at home and as a place where my friends and I can get together and experiment...or just sit and drink tea when it's cold and raining outside, ah what would I do without it??
the being stuck's a useful phase, I think I need it to gather thoughts and review what I have done and where to next??

Patty: apologies!! I inadvertently deleted your comment as I was trying to click away a small screen whilst opening my comments page, I do apologize and thank you for your kind words!!