tatiana and frank

on our first day we prepared two traditional japanese dyestuffs, a leaf, and a bark. 

i learned about making two extractions, then mixing them together before they are used for dyeing. tatiana ginsberg straining dyestuff.

the amazing bill drendel.

brushing dye on kozo. dye-mordant-dye procedure in this case. melissa jay craig demoing.

drying mechanisms, lotus dyed kozo.

frank brannon pulling a sheet of overbeaten abaca.

one of the sculptural forms we experimented with.

i have already learned so much, dye practices that i can take to my own natural dyeing. new learning includes the use(s) of starches, mordants, dip and brush dyeing techniques, layering, drying techniques, over dyeing. this list continues. and then frank has some ideas about using pulp in three dimensions, an area i haven't been very successful with in the past. i made shapes as muslin armatures, and made shapes by inlaying plant parts in wet sheets and air drying allowing the pulp against the armature to form the shapes. i worked with overbeaten abaca, flax, hemlock spruce, and alabama kozo. i'm guessing hemlock spruce, which is dying out in the south, is just hemlock, but i will do a bit of research when i get home.