Category: clothing design

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Basket Gathering odds and ends

Before moving on to my adventure in Papua New Guinea, here are some bits and pieces, odds and ends from the Basket Gathering that I didn’t mention earlier:

-I got to hold a baby wombat!  So cute and furry. Rosie was her name, 8 months old. She will eventually be released back to the wild.

-The guild from Canberra made a pitch to host the next Gathering in 2013 – and got the nod from the group. Lots of exciting plans in the works for that. Now, how can I get back for that one?!?!?

-I taught a small group how to do jiseung – Korean method of handspinning hanji (Korean made paper). Some caught on quickly, some not so quick, some decided this was definitely not something they would do again, others were delighted.

-Anne showed me how to do the wire technique from Africa – it is like doing row after row of simple rims, just very tight and close.  Kinda cool.

-Had a  laundry routine for the week – wash/rinse out while taking a shower and then let the breezes do the drying.

-One thing that they have in Tas is kelp! Lots of folks were trying their hand at using bull kelp to make containers of various sizes (necklace to table).

-The Gathering typically holds a basket exchange for anyone interested in doing it. Anne talked me into submitting one of my little twined sculpture class samples – funky looking, but kinda cute.  I was delighted with the hanging kelp piece I got in exchange. The gal who got my piece wasn’t quite as sure… LOL

-A wonderful range of basketry techniques and materials on display in the ‘gallery’ – really quite inspiring.

-I used some New Zealand flax in a couple slapped together baskets with the hope that the customs folks in the US wouldn’t mind baskets coming in with me. The official didn’t even ask to see them. The intent is to cut them apart and use the material for papermaking!

-One of the Tasmanian members (Karen G) did  a presentation on her work with school kids in Sikim (sp?) in India near Bhutan. The most inspiring part of it all was that she is retired and on a whim clicked on a website ad for ‘an adventure helping others’ (or something like that). Her family was aghast but she goes to Sikim for three months at a time (visa restrictions) teaching English and then has been doing some fundraising when she is home. She raised enough at the Gathering to put in windows in the new school being built – a terrific response from the group.

-I hitched a ride with Karen back to Hobart at the end of the Gathering and found out that she plays violin and viola professionally in local orchestras. Coll lady!

-Reunited with Beth from my trip to New Zealand in 2004 – great fun!

-Had a chance to get to know Tasmania Di (a friend of some of my other US basket friends) – what a hoot! And a hard worker.

-Connected with Suzie, Carolyn and Genease from Sydney – they will be waiting for my return from PNG!

-Had trouble getting an internet connection: the local internet cafe had a new owner and was just getting in service the Monday right before we were to leave.

-Native chooks (hens) roamed the camp grounds regularly. Bright green poop in  the grass!

-Love the range of ‘arty’ clothes in AU – lots of slanted hemlines on tops and skirts, layers and leggings.

-The other US attendee, Sandy W, was on a hunt for colors of dirt – which was right up my alley! We drove out one day with Di and Tracee, finding a local young farmer, Ben, who thought we were quite daft but gave permission to roam his property. Collected five different colors of mud.

-Karen had a cushion from her ‘family’ in Sikim which she presented as  challenge one evening: how was it made? A half dozen people with about as many bottles of wine and we came up with a very plausible solution to the technique challenge. No one actually did more than a start, though, which was probably a good thing! I MAY give it a shot, now that I”m home…

-The last day of the Gathering dawned with a storm warning for the east coast – which we were close enough to worry about. Lots of rain and wind but nothing more. It did make the clean-up rather soggy.

-A truly wonderful experience at the Basketry Gathering – many thanks to all the hard working gals and guys! It was lovely to just attend!

-Di and Chris came by for a late dinner (pumpkin soup and veggie tortellini – yummy) at the Airport Hotel in Hobart when I got in – and another round of good-byes.

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Day 2 of 2011

Already one day gone in 2011 – how time is flying by!

 

I spent the first day of the year making a travel top. Not sure what else to call it.  I’ve got a big trip coming up soon and having enough pockets is always a problem for me. So, I took a vest pattern that I’ve had sitting around, did a little tinkering, pulled out some cloth that has been waiting for a purpose and created what I hope will work for the trip. Will give it a couple of  practice runs to see if it really does the job while not looking too dorky.

 

I’m hoping to keep excess clothing to a minimum on this trip. Too often I come home from traveling with items I haven’t even taken out of the suitcase. Really don’t want to do that this time. I figure that I may get tired of seeing me in the same clothes, but none of the folks I visit will have sight of me for more than a week. And if they do, I’ll just have to smile brighter to distract them from what I’m wearing!

 

Sure  hope everyone had a lovely holiday season for whichever holiday you celebrated. Looking forward to a great year!

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Sunny day play

I’ve been using these hot days lately to do a bit of solar dyeing. Some of it rust and some of it naturals.  Picked up some appropriate fiber (cotton/silk)  items at the local thrift shop last week and have been enjoying the surprises that arise when you open up a dyed bundle.

On some clothing I used some of the wild black  cherries that have been dropping onto our deck for the past month. They have been super abundant this summer (what does the tree know that we don’t?) – we’ve been squishing them underfoot a lot and some little critter/s have been gnawing them to bits, including the tiny seed inside. I’m assuming it was a raccoon that overdosed on the cherries last week – a couple interesting piles of scat were left.

On silk and with vinegar, the cherries produce a lovely deep

Osage Orange (Maclura pomifera) bark
Image via Wikipedia

blue-black which stays after washing.  On cotton, the cherries leave a quite lovely rosy color with just vinegar and a more ruddy color with tannin (used some osage orange tannin I had on hand).  Both of those shades faded to  predictable grays in the wash water, but still lovely.

Some of the thrift shop items were just rust dyed mostly using steel wool. And I  have some thrift shop items that I want to mud first before dyeing.

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Rainy week

It’s been a rainy week. Temperatures on the cool side, overcast skies, water leaking out of the heavens as though someone was trying to fix the faucet (sometimes a downpour, sometimes just drips).

I look back on the week and can’t seem to find any major work accomplished, but I know  a lot of minor stuff has happened: daily pressings of handmade papers to encourage them to lay flat, coaxing a blouse to take on a new role as a vest lining for a collaboration piece, guild organizational meetings, creating lengths of ‘plastic yarn’, surface studio clean-up, a crocheted patch for a friend, butternut squash soup and prepping for a visit to Cleveland.

My godmother is celebrating her 90th birthday this weekend and I’m going to help her! I’ll also spend some time with my ‘kids’ while there. A two-fer trip!

Some interesting contacts were made this week, too. More on those as they develop.

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Variety show

I’ve been remiss in posting this month – sorry about that!  A variety of fiber projects have been keeping me busy:

– Spinning for a contest project for Schacht Spindle’s 40th anniversary. Started out doing four different colors of wool on Navajo spindles (which are Schacht-made) and have since switched to a Louet wheel once I learned that any spinning to be submitted as Schacht-spun needed to be done on one of  their WHEELS – which I don’t own. Oh, well. The wheel does goes faster than the thigh spindle. Plus my hand and thigh were starting to feel the effects.  I can at least do the weaving on a Schacht loom – my Baby Wolf.

– Taught two library-for-kids programs and had all the accompanying prep for them. The morning downtown program was mudcloth – prepped for 60 kids and 5 showed up!  The afternoon Westwood program was gut masks for teens – teens and summer don’t mix well for adhering to schedules and/or commitments although we did have two show up.

– Did a bit of sewing on a bicycle project for my love – he wanted a waterproof pouch for his Garmin that could easily attach to the handlebars and be visible while riding. He supplied the waterproof map case and I modified it. He is all set now for RAGBRAI.

– Had a friend over to do some gut play – was supposed to have two friends show up but the one who had been after me the longest to do this passed away unexpectedly last week. I’m hoping Sharon can play to her heart’s content now.

– Using up the leftover soy and mud mixtures from the kids’ class and the extra silk scarves I have had on hand. Trying to duplicate an effect I got on some scarves this past winter, but so far no luck. Of course, I did not make notes on what I did the first time through and my memory of events is obviously not on the mark. Either that or it was only a fluke that will never happen again in the universe.  (Or as my mom would say, I didn’t hold my mouth right.) Anticipating these scarves will find their way to either the Weavers Guild Fall Sale or up the Indianapolis Art Center’s gift shop.

– Working on using up some yarns for the Weavers Guild. Two scarves down and a hat in process. Diagonal knitting on the scarves. I expect these will be in their Fall Sale in November.

– Visited the Cincinnati Book Arts Society’s exhibit BOOKWORKS 10 at the main library. My “Gourd Book” is in the exhibit. Nice to have a piece in such good company!

– Submitted – and was accepted – several outdoor installation ideas for the “Earth” exhibit coming up at the Kennedy Heights Art Center. I’ll be creating random woven orbs on site this coming week and installing in time for the opening on Saturday, July 18. Maybe even have a bit of hands-on orb-making during the reception.

And I’ve started to think about a redesign for my website. Will need lots more thought…….and then the effort……..