Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Shades of Brown


Mclaren's falls. The islands are a haven for all sorts of ducks, especially paradise ducks and a family of black swans.

It's the time of year for all of us in the Southern Hemisphere when things are turning various shades of brown. The grass on my lawn is most definately brown and only the strongest pieces of green remain.It's a pitiful sight and the hills and fields around as are all various shades of brown too. Quite a difference from the many of you who are seeing most things in various shades of white! Tomorrow is the official start of a fire ban in our area, the land is just to dry and with no decent rain forecast it looks as if it will be that way for a while! Lucky for me, I like brown!



Drying thistles. I thought of Debi in Texas when I took these shots!




Grass seeds of some sort and Dock (the red plant bucking the brown trend.) Dock is poisionus but pretty. I contemplated cooking some up to make dye but decided that I probably shouldn't play with the poisionus ones! The spiders don't seem to mind though.

 Just for the record, these photos arn't the hardy bits of green from my lawn!


I think this plant is commonly known as biddy-bids. The little seed heads attach themselves to anything that brushes them, making them unpopular with most people and that probably contributes to their weed status. All of the plants I photographed are weeds, no surprises there!



Last but not least, here are the initial results of the nature experiements I've been doing.

Left to Right: Nest paper #1 which had nesty bits sprinkled into the pulp
Nest paper #2 had the nesty bits mixed into the pulp(by putting it through the blender)
Handmade paper dyed with onion skin dye and a very strong tea brew.
Top Right to Bottom Right corner:
Onion dye on watercolour card, Nest dye on w/c card and a wash made from dried Autumn leaves on w/c card. The colour change is very subtle with the last two!
Fabric dyed with coffee, tea (middle sample) and onion skins.

As you can see I've been having a play around and I have learnt quite a lot in the process. I hope to be doing something useful with my new found knowledge soon!

10 comments:

deb said...

I recently dyed some paper with tea and cinnamon together, it came out a really beautiful deep red-brown, it was accidental, but it worked so well I am going to try it again, and teh paper smells delicious too!

Lisa said...

Such lovely photos..fall is my favorite season! Love your updated blog...i need to do the same!

Mick said...

All came out beautifully ... um, can I borrow a piece of paper? :)

Caterina Giglio said...

yes, we have a brown season here in Colorado too and fire bans, living near the foothills, we are always watchful when the summer storms roll in.
your papers are so gorgeous! do you sell them? or would the postal police snag them? xo

Debrina said...

We're still quite green (I say that with tongue in cheek, of course, lol!) down here in the Manawatu, Lisa!!! I LOVE, LOVE love the photography! Geesh - you are good!! I'm supposed to be in bed - like an hour ago and I'm so tired ... but just had to comment. Love the paper too, btw! Goodnight hun...

Jasmine said...

Your paper is wonderful. I'm always looking at weeds and wild growth wondering how to use it as a dye for my ool, ut to make paper ith it too is brilliat.

John M. Mora said...

"Paper nest writer," to quote the fab four - the top picture is a great panorama and your weed shots are all so so so solid. Coplors just pop, mum.

I really like the rolling papers.

My best - great to see this.

Mandy said...

Love your papers! I remember my Mum used to dye sheeps wool for spinning. I used to help her collect lichens and stuff to experiment with. The birds nest papers are awesome, what a great idea!

Debi said...

Dear Lisa, thank you for the shout out. I think of you, too: every bird's nest I see reminds me of a certain artist and mother bird. ;)

One of the things I love about the so-called dull colors is that it gives us the chance to appreciate form and texture, instead of being so smitten with color. Maybe like grasses and weeds, our eyes need some rest, to rest upon a more quiet, but equal, beauty.

But look who I'm telling this to!

Kim Palmer said...

The pics are beautiful Lisa, great colour! Your papers are looking great too! Love how you incorporated all those nest bits!You have been busy!