another little piece of my heart

this drawing was on ian's table when i visited. 

he has had much interest in it, 

and many agree that it should be a marketable graphic

i did like the good life of boats

 ian did catch the trash

 and i did get a better shot of this cool sign

 ian's wonder cabinet

and his dirge-maker

 

above which hangs this drawing

usnia and lungwort

i love this forum for all kinds of reasons. 

in the last post i mentioned dyeing with lichens. 

at catherine and bill's the trees were shedding lichens. 

usnia, what i learned before as old man's beard, and lungwort 

were actually falling out of the trees, lungwort especially.

 india asked me about the dyeing process (and the sustainability of) lungwort. 

well, it had been long since i dyed with lichens, over 20 years, but i thought 

since the yard had these gifts, i might as well try them. 

the usnia did not work in a hot bath, but the lungwort did a bit. 

ammonia brought out a little color. 

but i didn't have my casselman or memory enough to remember the bleach test. 

so we tried them anyway. 

bill taught me that usnia is a medicine plant.

 records from 1983. 

yikes!

these two were the record for a large wool singles twill shawl i dyed 

and wove in '83, and sold to a friend years later.

two pieces of lungwort, pressure printed.

 lungwort pressure printed by catherine in a teaching session. i love this technique.

and a little shibori, cotton with onion skin, 

dyed by bill (which did not photograph accurately). 

somehow, ahem, bill, this made it home in my bag...

more of what i did there

i flew into seattle, where catherine picked me up, 

without baggage, which got lost.they delivered it the next day, 

while we were sourcing supplies from elspeth pope at hypatia.

mesmerizing moss, giant maples and cedars

that night i gave a talk for the BAG at the university of washington, 
odegaard undergraduate library in seattle about my work. 
this audience was full of professional artists and teachers, 
including textiles and book people. 
they asked me some hard questions. 
i felt welcomed by their attention and enthusiasm. 
this guild has been around for a long time, 30 years or so. 
the library purchased three of my books, for their teaching collection-
my books will be used by students! i LOVE this!

then i went to visit ian in portland. 

rode a big boat, visited powells, and drove back to shelton.

on the weekend i taught an experiential/experimental dye class at catherine's house. 

her husband bill joined us.
his interest and commitment to layering dyes on fabric lasted throughout my stay.

we dip dyed in indigo, made some bundles like india teaches, 

sighed as our lichen dyes didn't work well.

we layered indigo with onion skins, finding a few greens.

~~~~~~~~~

the next talk was for the PSBA, a new group, in tacoma. 
they were enthusiastic and asked lots of questions.

and my final bit of work was a two day papermaking from plants workshop 
with PSBA folks.

pulp

drying on boards

drying

the psba papermakers

we met each morning to talk over the day's plan, then got to work

lucia made excellent muffins each day!

this strange glove is full of kisses

thanks to rochelle

lignon berries? cloud berries? i forget--

and then there are these

fascinating. and i heard one of them (i found five one day) eating.

lungwort
which catherine printed...

wow

all about sex in the garden.

a hidey hole

and when you're ready for bed...

leaving magic behind

bowels of bull's eye glass. 

this is what the first born does five days a week.

holding up a stack of books at powell's

i'm not sure which part i will write about first--meeting catherine and bill, giving a talk for the b.a.g., teaching natural dye techniques, giving a talk for p.s.b.a., teaching plant papermaking... but by far seeing my firstborn was a high point of this trip. ian called once i returned to catherine's saying he has four pieces in a show in san francisco! great news!

 this photo is for all of you glass addicts (mary!)

ian's empty bowl
so, i'm in the airport, waiting for the red eye to nyc and then to syracuse, 
and sometime midday tomorrow i'll be home.
~~~~~

ian's sneeks 

ian and me on a boat

the captain
(thank you, travis)

we travelled under all the bridges in portland, 
a wonderful way to see the city! 
wearing ian's plaid jacket.

it did NOT rain 

the pirate was not at home
(i think) 

wow  

 wow

he  

caught 

the 

 trash 

just in time 

portland from her river