Gathering–Gathering Thoughts–Gathering Leaves

My freezer is full of leaves.  Last night I inventoried my stash–low on white oak but tons of sourwood from a downed tree of a friend.  Could stand more sweet gum, butterfly bush and sumac–but for now I’m just fine.  So far, these are my go-to leaves for printing.  Leaves that will probably do  something.  Or not.

A thought came to me this morning while I was gathering wet white oak–a memory.  A memory of years ago gathering red maple leaves with my mother.  During her last few years, when she was still able to get out, we would take a drive every Sunday.  And in the fall, there was nothing she wanted more than to drive up onto the mountains and either peer down into the New River Gorge or collect ruby-red foliage.  It was amazing watching her while she was still able to ambulate–bending over and picking up her treasures–and then when she became too tottery–she’d point with her cane–a cane I found in an old secondhand store–a strong stick probably from rhododendron–with a gnarled handle that fit perfectly into her hand (and my own).  I painted it up with an old container I had of interference purple, hot-glued shiny glass beads and stars all over it–stuck a skid proof stopper on its end–and presented it to her one year at Christmas.  She loved it.

But back to the leaf gathering.  When she was no longer able to stoop, she’d simply point with the cane, pin a leaf down and tell me in no uncertain terms that she wanted “that one.”  And “that one–and yes, that one, too.”  This could go on for a long time.  And I think of this now and wish that after the ten thousandth leaf, I had been more patient.  Because really, I was only patient for a while. The leaves were taken home–many of them ironed in between waxed paper and I’m wondering what happened to them.  Wondering why I didn’t keep them when we cleared out her house.   That’s what I remembered this morning gathering leaves.

So–back to now–Joaquin may be on the way out but it’s still gray, windy and wet.  Leaves are coming down like crazy and the poplars, sumac and sourwoods are yellowing and reddening up.  Seems kinda late to me–but this is new–this obsession with ecoprinting–so I can’t rely on memory to tell me what last year’s trees were doing.  Anyway, last year at this time I had sold my house and was getting ready to move.  So I don’t know.  But I do know this–I’ve never, ever seen seed pods sprouting “on the vine.”

I was letting the spent blossoms stay on the flowers as long as possible before harvesting them–but look–the marigold  seed bundle in the foreground is sprouting–and in the upper right hand corner?  Dyer’s coreopsis sprouting before it even hits the ground.  Seems strange.

And the palette is changing now with the season.  Blue from sourwood.  Yellow from sumac turning.  Brown from acer.  Some times I over-dye but this one will stay as is.  It’s beautiful when the light hits the silk.

But now I am going to reprint this a.m.’s scarf.  Trusty sourwood pulled an “or not” and simply did not print.  Left only a ghostly ever so faint yellow. Kinda like memories.

Eco printing : And Learning to Sample

I tore through a lot of silk scarves before it dawned on me that I could just as easily make samples and avoid the disappointment of experimenting with leaves that don’t print.  So that’s what I’ve been doing–even taking notes.  I’ve pretty much honed in on the leaves that want to give up their color and leaves that just leave ever so faint images on the cloth to the cloth.  Here are a few samples from today.

I’m not sure the name of the tree these leaves come from. It’s on the corner near the driveway and when we were coming back from feeding our neighbor’s 10 pound goldfish–seriously–the yard was covered with these leaves–fresh from today’s thunder storm. Wet leaves. Precious as jewels. The one bluish leaf in the first pic is the tree I adore–SourWood. And the circle shape was cut from a eucalyptus leaf which is more precious to me than gold. First cloth is habotai silk. Second picture is raw silk.

I’ve planted a tree–eucalyptus neglecta–it’s supposed to survive in zone 7 where we live. And should be a fast grower. OK.

 

Silk Scarves and Crow

I have a need for magic. For the mysterious. The unknown. A need for serendipity and chance. And I’m getting a huge dose of it. Eco printing. Doing things–things I often can’t repeat because even though I tell myself I’m taking good notes, when I refer back to them–well, let’s just say they don’t tell me much. But that’s the nature of a certain type of magic–it happens by itself.

I don’t know how long this phase will last–this passion for imprinting nature onto cloth. But right now I’m in the throes of it. A freezer near full of leaves.

Witch Hazel

Saturday night I was visiting with friends–and had been asked to bring my current work. Scarves. Had no idea really how they would be received. Was hesitant. But the response was amazing. Three women of the three women there each bought a scarf. After much looking and deciding. Nothing I’ve ever created before has EVER been met with such enthusiasm. Yes, it was just three women — not a broad cross-sampling of the population–but for me it’s a sign and I’m taking it.   Items listed in Shopping Place.

Sourwood

Peony

But for me the blessing–cloth has called me back. Crow surrounded by magic from the dye vat.