left: wild grapes and some vine and leaves on thick silk,
dyed two days ago
right: indigo leaf prints...pounded onto the same silk.
the prints were washed after a week
no color loss
hand made paper, shifu, artists' books, north country living, and some words
Those leaves look amazing - do you literally pound them with something to transfer the colour and then leave them for a week? Intriguing!
ReplyDeleteLove the leaf pounding; cannot remember Japanese name for the process. It is mentioned in India's book.
ReplyDeleteoh, velma! such wonderful work you are doing. the best part being that it really is work, joyous work, and then the end is a little rest with a big smile.
ReplyDeletewonderful colours there, i think India calls the flower pounding "hapazome". very strong leaf colour, you must have pounded well, good for frustration release.
ReplyDeletetee hee...told you it was addictive, didn't i? and Diana, the Japanese name 'hapa-zome' [which is "kitchen Japanese" for leaf dye] was given to the process by me in 2006, after spending several days in the green room at the Yamaguchi Performing Arts Centre beating leaves into a 6m x 6m floor cloth
ReplyDeletethe process has probably been around forever, but the name was something i pulled out of the air...
Since I don't teach printmaking anymore, I miss doing collographs with leaves and such, I've often toyed with the idea of driving over my paper sandwiched between boards to make pull prints... I mean I know I can hand burnish, but using the leaf and the leaf only gave me great results with a press before. I do love leaves on cloth - and the wild grape color is beautiful.
ReplyDeletemore rain, ugh.
Oooh! Love the color of the wild grapes, and the detail in the leaves. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteGorgeous silks-I love the color from the grapes and vines, and the leaves are astoundingly beautiful.
ReplyDeletelove the clarity of the leaves and the grape colour is to dye for! wonder if the silk is responsible for the intense colour?
ReplyDeletefiona, i sandwiched them between a china silk and the silk you see. i pounded gently with a hammer. opened, and let dry. the indigo blued some.
ReplyDeleteaimee, you are so right
d, k, and indie, i love it in moderation, my arm gets weary! the process i first learned in an outdoor education class, but india made me PAY attention to it, and first tried the indigo leaves
v & m & m & j, the wild grape is amazing on the silk. i used a slug of copper pipe in the hot vat.
Leaf pounding is one of the traditional crafts I teach my Appalachian Arts students most years. This years students are currently working on quilted wallhangings with a leaf pounding center panel and shibori patchwork borders. I have been posting their projects on my blog. They loved the leaf pounding. It tires me, but they are young and resilient.
ReplyDeleteV- nature offers such great gifts of colour and texture> B
ReplyDeletein love w. leaf pounding. clever use of indigo too.
ReplyDeleteGorgeous, and beautiful together, too!
ReplyDeletejust fantastic..as India says it is addictive!x lynda
ReplyDeletebrenda, i am happy to hear of your work, i looked at your blog and will return
ReplyDeletebarry, yes, sometimes it's amazingly abundant, like this time of year, right before locking time
neki, india's idea and it's cool!
kit, i like them so much
lynda, yep. do i hear pounding on the wind?
beautiful rich color!
ReplyDeletetoday i'm using playground plants to bundle w/2nd graders and next week we're planning to pound them as a part of their plant study, also sun printing. we're creating plant collage cloths.