Misc.ICE # 10, Crazy Swap, Vegetable Dyes...

Misc. Miscellaneous. A word to describe a mixed bunch of things that don't neatly fit into one catergory. It's been a miscellaneous kind of week.This blog post certainly is. ICE, Natural Dying, Paper swaps, Paper -making. A miscellaneous collection of things that describe my art. I ramble.It's been a rambling kind of week.So many things have happened here lately that have really sucked my creative time up, my time when I connect with myself and with nature.How did that happen?Well, I know how..but why? I don't know. It just did. Now I feel all dried up, ideas without motivation to carry them out. The TO DO list getting longer and time just tick, tick, ticking away. I finally realise that my art is connected to my emotions and that one does not thrive without the other being totally in tune...I realise that by allowing situtations to affect my emotions I also allow them to affect my art. I said in my last post that 'quietly in the chaos' I had made progress with an ICE collage and that there'd been some exciting Pulpy happenings.The latter is still in progress, I am expecting Alicia's book to arrive any day now and I've just posted on Lisa J's to Debrina. Round 2! I can't wait.

ICE 2010 collage # 9

Series: Chain Reaction

Title: Urban Suburban

Owl book image, handmade paper from Danit, handmade paper dyed with onion skins (mine) painted paper scrap, old bridge pad paper, thread.

Above is my 9th ICE collage.. it should've  taken 1 or 2 good days has taken me about 10! It's been completed in small steps and stolen moments! They're precious moments arn't they? The difference between progress and standing still, the difference perhaps between being alive and simply living? Sounds dramatic I know, but as I said- it's been one of those weeks!

I don't quite connect with this piece the way I did with some of the other collages, I think it's because the main image is not mine. It does express what I wanted it too though, the crossing over of urban and suburban. Wild birds in well populated areas, still free but modified to suit their new environment. This is the chain reaction created by human's moving in and taken over their habitat. We either force them to move out or force them to move in.  Ever noticed how many sea gulls live a long way inland? How many predator bird species dwell in cities? How fuzzy the line between urban and suburban has become. A bird can build a nest without leaving a negative impact on the space in which it has chosen, why too don't most of us?

I think my vege dye experiments are a result of this awareness. An effort to keep my own footprint on this earth down. I'm also curious about the cause and effect created by different plant sources. Red cabbage makes a beautiful, deep violet colour until you add fabric to it. The fabric is much paler. I would have thought that the violet would overpower the white but they seem to have met each other in the middle. It's completely different to mixing paint when one teaspoon of violet would have a big impact on 4 or 5 times that amount of white.

The paper is of course, hand made. I saw the resulting colour from the cabbage and cloth experiment and didn't want the same shade of paper so I decided to add a really strong brew of tea (about 7 tea bags to 250 ml of hot water) and tip it in. The resulting dye was black with a slight hint of purple. The colour when the pulp was added was a really exciting shade of stone grey. The result when dry? Light grey! My hands while mixing the pulp? A strangely coloured tea and cabbage smelling mess! haha. Good thing I was outside. The cabbage smell took a while to go...

Below: Crazy Swap items from Carla in Canada...

Isn't it amazing how 2 artists who've never met could send each other such similar things?

My partner also sent me some lovely, lovely vintage postcards (1926) and a vintage valentines card...they have real messgages on them and deserve their own post...so their own post they will get!

LaWendula of Woven Letters organised a crazy paper swap. Participants had to be brave and sign up for the swap without knowing what we'd be swapping...a fun kinda crazy! The top 2 pics of the 4 below show what I sent my partner (who is dosn't have her own blog..sorry) and the bottom 2 show what I recieved. I am very happy and will make very good use of it all. Thanks Carla and LaWendula!