I’d be lost without my lists. My brain seems to be going in so many directions most of the time. My lists are my anchors in the sea of chaos. Especially this time of year, with the holidays approaching and 3 shows to prepare for in the next 2 months, my lists will keep me on track.
I like to see other people’s lists – it gives me insight to what they’re thinking. To share more of my process of how I keep organized, juggle priorities, and get things done, I’m going to share some of my lists.
The one above is my guide for this week, and into next. I’ve got deadlines for the end of this week when my show at Gallery 360 opens, and then a lot of work to do for 2 more upcoming shows, 1 at the end of the month and our Hanna-Hooly open studio holiday show in early Dec.
My Fall Eco-Dyeing continues
This past Saturday, I spent the day in an Eco-dye workshop taught by Susan Brooks in Louisville, CO. It was a great time learning and sharing experiences – Susan is a really good teacher and had several dye baths already prepared and waiting when we students arrived. At the end of class, we each got to bring some of the prepared solar dye baths home with us, to allow our bundles to “cook” awhile longer, and to add more bundles to (hence my plan for “bundle-rama” over the next couple of days).
(Top, L to R) Onion skins, avocado pit, sunflower dye baths from the workshop. My bundles from the workshop (bottom).
We had the option of onion skin, red cabbage, and walnut dye pots to simmer our bundles in at the workshop. I’ll be waiting a couple weeks before opening these bundles to see the results.
During the next couple of days, I’ll be adding some new bundles to the solar baths above, as well as some new dye baths I’ve made (below).
My dye baths are ready and waiting.
While we are still having some reasonably warm weather days, I’m trying to get a few more silk scarves made to have a variety to offer in my online shop as well as to have some available at our holiday party.
And it will give me the satisfaction of being able to mark something as “DONE” on my list.
I do lists too – they help me stay motivated and moving forward!
Question for you……how do you mordant your cottons? I’ve been experimenting with Alum but I’m struggling to get clear imprints. I get colour – but imprints are not easily come by.
Thanks!
Hi Kris – Great question, thanks for asking! Like you, I am experimenting to try to get good results with cotton and as you know, there are several variables.
Regarding mordants with cotton, I have so far only pre-mordanted with soy milk, but have a batch I’m working with now that I’m using alum as a pre-mordant on. I too find it more challenging to get good imprints on cotton, and am experimenting with pot-as-mordant and trying some post-mordant techniques as well.
I think other variables (such as type of plant material and time of year it was harvested, length of “cooking” time, tightness of the bundle, length of time the bundle is left to rest) can all affect the imprint quality. Lots of variables = lots of experimentation to find what works best.
I’ll keep posting results and noting the processes in hopes that my experiments can provide some insight.
Thanks Ayn. I’ll keep posting my process too…..today I am making a potion with banana passion fruit skins as my starting point. 🙂
Hi, Ayn. I’m impressed that you can think that far ahead! I manage to do a list in the morning, most days. But then, my days resemble each other, so sometimes I wonder why I do a list…LUV your eco-dyed fabrics in the previous post. Very lovely.
best from Tunisia,
nadia
Hi Nadia, thanks for visiting. Some days when my thoughts are flitting around so much that I find it hard to concentrate, if I write a quick list it’s like downloading my brain and freeing up space to be able to focus better. BTW, I admire your applique work and your stitched sketchbook pieces are very inspiring, love the drawing in those!