Hegira: A SHIFT dress

 
Hegira

He·gi·ra

hiˈjīrə,ˈhejərə/ : any flight or journey to a more desirable or congenial place. 

Usually an exodus or migration.  C16: from Medieval Latin, from Arabic hijrah: emigration or flight

This is the sisterdress to Migration.  I wanted to take the wishbone sculptural elements and use them in larger, more transparent forms.  An individual path compared to that of the many in Migration.

  Hegira was a watery dress from the very beginning. The large sheer panel in the middle of the dress, both front and back, illustrates a journey, broken at times, and coming from or starting with a fork or confluence...Rivers with portages, canals with locks, seas with storms...this was created with layers of silk gauze, with resists to prevent the one superfine merino wool layer from obscuring the path.  This dress is lighter than light.

 

  Different materials mirror the motif; resists, 3-D sculptural elements and silk organza.  The journey can look different but we can arrive in the same place....some are more obvious than others...The forms are like tracks...not continuous...they would take great observation and patience to find and follow.

  This dress was dyed on a full moon dyeing day this summer, which makes it feel just right to tell it's story on another full moon indigo dyeing day today. It is always a wonder-filled to experience to pull the textiles from the indigo vats...

  Hegira had many dips into the indigo vat....developing an intense deep blue...
I added pathways of stitches...but I think there are still more to come ....

  This dress looked wonderful exhibited as a scuplture, but it's story feels even more complete when shown worn on our beautiful island....reflecting the journey by water we all take to get here...

  How can I resist adding more pictures...so beautiful....shades of indigo captured by Amy Melious...(and the model's name is Indigo also)...created and engaged with water...and the moon and some ocean stars....

  Hegira....the lightest definition of this word sums up this process...a journey to a more congenial place....
Warm wishes, 
Fiona

Family Visits....

 We have just had some precious visitors that we just do not see often enough. My sister in law and my lovely nieces and nephew came to stay for a few days....on their way to a wedding in Vancouver...Mostly we visited the beaches, and ate blackberries and bounced on the trampoline....and chatted endlessly...all good summerly things....and of course we had some creative time together....

Terri Bibby of Saori Salt Spring had organized a workshop on Bengala Dyes- a form of earth pigment dyes created in Japan. This, of course, was irresistible! My two nieces and I attended and had so much fun....The colour potential in these dyes are incredible.  They seem to produce more intense colour on cellulose fibres like cotton and hemp and linen. We dyed several lengths of a delicious hemp/organic cotton blend jersey that I have in the studio, planning on going home and sewing up some simple T-shirts with the fabric. We also dyed a selection of silks using itajame shibori techniques....My nieces are bringing these home to flutter in their forest home....

 The dye baths are created with cold water, and the pigments need to be kneaded into the cloth. As a long time plant dyer, I was interested in the process. I've dyed with earth pigments a few times in different parts of the world and understood the naturals tannins and oxides of the soil to act as the "mordant".  It is one point I have with the Bengala dye literature that it does not use mordants in the process- it feels like an unnecessary differentiation. Really, as with many plant dyes and natural pigments, the "mordants" are inherently part of the chemical makeup of the pigments, allowing it to act as a substantive dye. These dyes are very fun and easy to use...with beautiful results.

After the wonderful workshop we came home, stopping at a few of Salt Spring's roadside farm stalls to collect of bounty of freshness for our lunch. We played around with the fabrics in the studio and with some simple cutting and stitching created a dress, a skirt and a T-shirt....We were all amazed at the stunning range of colours the earth and these pigments provide.  A great day....and an interesting new dye process....

 Although my nephew did not come with us on our dyeing adventure, I can't miss including him here....

They are all so dear...and such sweet company....
Happy travels, happy dyeing and happy summer days...
Fiona

Spring Holiday Camp

The week after getting back from FibresWest, I hosted two fibre art camps for children in the studio.

It was great fun, and such a pleasure to share my passion for fibres with enthusiastic young people and get to know some of the island's children a little better. They are just so sweet....and sometimes left me nostalgic for my own boys younger years...

We did some plant dyeing on silks, making a mystery bath from the children's garden collections, and then  eco-printed them with golden rod, rose leaves and petals, carnation flowers and cinnamon sticks (deliciously scented bundles!).... left to age until the last day of camp...

 We felted, of course! Needle felted figures and animals...wet felted flowers and pictures....experiencing some roving, batting, prefelts and inclusions, like magic mirrors! Which made for fibre adventures to try and find them and make them shine again!

 

  
One of the groups also made fine nuno felted scarves, sharing the rolling process....we also did some sewing, wool fiber paintings...and on the last day we opened our eco-printed bundles, and the children danced under the plum tree blossoms, flying with golden silks behind them....

 The days were glorious and sunny, and went by so fast. It is a nice balance to have some time working with children, in amongst all the more adult fiber pursuits....A truly enjoyable week... thank you all for joining me in my studio!

Warm wishes,
Fiona

ps..for those wondering...the rose leaves, golden rod flowers and cinnamon sticks all gave nice prints....the rose petals left no trace...but the red carnation flowers were a very pleasing surprise- the deep purple marks on the silks above are all from the carnations....

Fall Happenings....

   I'm immersing myself more and more in my creative journey...more and more into exploring feltmaking and dyeing in my own way...exercising consciousness through the process and the artistic impetus within each method....Stretching into new ideas and finding my way into my full creative potential.... playing with words that have meaning in relation to the work I want to do...topography, terroir, migrations, entanglement, aspiration, permaculture and art....I'm very excited about some future plans and directions! 

  Top of the list is completing a felting book I have been working on for the last month, which I hope to have complete by the end of September. The focus of the book is surface design in feltmaking and includes every idea I can imagine, with step by step instructions and images, as well as project ideas.  It is based on the super popular surface design workshop that I've been teaching for a few years now, and gives me the opportunity to get into each technique in much more depth.....I'm loving the exploration....

 
And the realization of a beautiful vision- a felting retreat, scheduled for the second week of October, in one of my most favourite places on earth...a place I have a deep connection to that I can't wait to share with other creative souls!  The retreat will take place in a cottage on Meech Lake in the Gatineau Hills of Quebec, just outside Ottawa, Ontario, for very easy access. 

  It feels like another world, and this is my favourite time of year to be there.  The cottage will be wreathed in the gold of the trees, and looking over the lake through the Fall colours is a deeply inspiring and peaceful experience.  We'll have access to some local dyeplants, canoeing on the lake, hiking in the hundreds of kilometers of trails that start at the trailhead next door.....wonderful food....heaps of wool....plus three full days of feltmaking. I am so looking forward to creating a space that combines relaxation, serenity and beauty with energy, enthusiasm and the joy of making!   I'll post the details tomorrow.

  Yay Fall! Yes, I did just say that.  In the Fall we can wear wool with abandon!
And now that my Fall is all settled, I can relax into the rest of summer with my head and hands in the same place- in the studio creating new work for the book and the retreat!

  Warm wishes,
Fiona
  

Natural Dyeing with Lupines

Several years ago now, I had the chance to visit a place that was a sort of mecca for me....Taos, New Mexico, and more specifically, La Lana Wools.....a shop dedicated to plant dyed wools in all forms....I've been dyeing with plant dyes for 16 years now....12 years at the time of my visit, and I was awe of such a company that dedicated itself fully to this craft....While there I saw the most lovely yarn, dyed with lupines; a soft shade of chartreuse green...and since that visit, I've wanted to try a lupine dyebath...

This week on a wild harvesting walk....there they were....lupines in abundance...and so the dyebath was finally realized!

The organic merino yarn was first mordanted with Alum and Cream of Tartar....The lupines; whole flowering tops, chopped and gently stewed for a few hours...Then I added the yarn....sometimes I'm a lazy dyer and add the yarn directly to the dyebath without straining out the material....If it's an experiment and not yarn for sale....It sometimes takes longer at the end to get the plant material out, but it feels more wholistic to me....letting the actual plants and fibers mingle....and...after a two hours of gentle simmering, and another 48 hours in the pot sitting......

Green? no...Soft and lovely, yes.....The buttery tone would actually look beautiful knit with a purple blue like the lupine flower...The different result from what I saw at La Lana; different mordants? different time of year harvested? different soils? Any and all are possible...and that is what makes natural dyeing so delightful. I may not use lupine again as a dye...unless the receiver had a special connection to lupines.... like a lover of the children's book, Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney (as I am).....

I'm so happy to have had the chance to try it....and add it to my dye experience collection.... I've actually quite warmed to soft gentleness of the colour.

A realized dream, new information, some beautiful cut flowers for the studio, plus a pocket full of lupine seeds....I've travelled the world, found a little house by the sea, and now need to find my way to make the world more beautiful! I don't think it'll be spreading lupine seeds though! Grin!

Warm wishes,

Fiona

Full Moon Indigo Dyeing: April

Ah! Happy Spring!

It's been an absolute whirlwind of activity around here...I'll tell you more soon....maybe...unless better and more exciting things get here first!

I have been playing with shibori all week...some of you may guess what that means!

It is (also) featuring large in my new felt lines and some new organic cottons and linens I am working with this summer.

For my own work.... madder and cutch natural dyes.....

Then with logwod, greyed with ferrous, and of course-indigo...magical mystical dye pot, and my full moon favourite.  

This vat was revived after a few dormant months (kind of like my blogging!)...and quite happy to be enlivened once again. I didn't have much I needed/wanted to dye this full moon...an interesting change...I guess the regularity of the full moon dyeing sessions have caught up with the desire for indigo dyed items (no...not quite!)...

 Itajime Shibori...Green out of the pot and then the magic of oxidization....

 It was nice to dye just a couple of pieces...slowly....with pleasure....and then put the vat away...and know it could come out again anytime...such a treat.

 Arashi Shibori....the boys kept asking me what I was building-" a steam engine?" with my arashi pipe sticking up from my pot like a smoke stack....dyeing mysteries....

Lots more coming...I have 5 months full time in the studio...starting......NOW! 

So there will be lots of making...and blogging in these parts...

 A cloth eco dyed with big leaf maples...now overdyed and ready to be transformed once again...into a garment....

Hope you're having a wonderful Easter, if you celebrate...and a lovely weekend!

Warm wishes,

Fiona

Indigo Shibori at Maiwa Symposium

  I 've just returned from my mystery trip! And what an adventure it was! I had two events to attend- The Green Festival in Los Angeles with Living Crafts magazine and then an Indigo Shibori Workshop at Maiwa in Vancouver.
  I don't have any pictures from my time in LA, unfortunately. We did set up a wonderful 20 x 20 foot community craft space, and taught many people how to felt, weave and embroider, all crafts we feature regularly in Living Crafts. It was wonderful to spend more time with Pardis, the editor of the magazine, and fellow contributors, Christine Schreier, and Elizabeth Seward. And of course to share our crafts with some existing readers, and some new ones.      
  What a buzz of excitement to be travelling to teach in California.  The change was exciting....the United States is different from Canada in so many ways. The warmth, sunshine and palm trees were like a balm....

And there were some darker moments...grounding moments....I got lost in LA without a map, and without an address to put into the GPS in the car I was using. Using the "force" to find your way around LA is a very tricky business! I found myself in an a darker side of LA, driving under an underpass, full of garbage and shopping carts and people's homes...brings one down to earth. I had to get out of the car and find a payphone (I don't have a cellphone) and feel extremely out of place, and aware of the value of my life in certain neighbourhoods.  And then, several days later, I found myself walking the length of Hastings Street, in Vancouver's lower east side, arguably the roughest area in the city....and it was like nothing I've ever seen in my life...humbling, unsettling, and terrifying...and invigorating. All this while also exploring and playing with the beauty of natural fibers in both places...such a luxury...I loved the contrast....I treasure these experiences..It was truly a perfect balance in dark and light...or the shadows in between...and the epitome of the travelling experience....

Then, of course there was the fibre play! A wonderful retreat time with Akemi Nakano Cohn in indigo shibori dyeing, part of the Maiwa Symposium. The techniques she shared with us deepened my knowledge of clamp and resist dyeing, and added to my textile toolbox the classic stitch resist patterns of shibori. I learnt that I need to add more indigo when making my baths, to reach the dark deep midnights potential in indigo.  I also learnt that I know more about indigo and shibori than I thought...and this creative confidence booster came at exactlya most needed time.  I left inspired, and I believe to have a student leave full of ideas is a great credit to a teacher! 

I see using these pieces as "canvases"; foundations to be added to or changed through other textile mediums...Fractal building blocks....windows...a frame, or set of frames for future additions...

 

 One of my favourites...a canvas waiting for something....ferrous imprinted leaves? stitches? nuno felting? Mmmm....unknown at this moment...still immersed in moon/indigo relationships...

 

 Traditional Ori Nui Shibori..stitched layers...so contemplative in process.....I know I will use the clamp resist techniques more often, but this I will enjoy using for special projects....this process has such a strong meditative quality for me, less physical process than mental, and will be used as such, when desired or required..

Twice resisted and dyed...6 dips total resulting in deep indigo colour. angel/moth/butterfly wings....

 

Arashi Shibori, wrapped and tied around a pole then folded and dipped. Love this!

 A re-creation of a piece I made during my last full moon indigo dyeing session...moons are clamped CD's....I experimented with some different patterning above them...clothespins and tight binding with string, but got very different results than I expected.  Still a great base for adding more- layers of dyeing maybe?

And my line full of Shibori banners!  The blues a lovely contrast against the greens and yellows of our Fall landscape here.  Most of these pieces are done on quilting weight cotton for sewing...I'm going to cut them and share them....and then dye some more in silk and wool for feltmaking on the coming full moon this Thursday. I enjoyed the setting aside of this time for creativity with such talented fibre artists, both in Los Angeles and again in Vancouver and came away with great new plans and ideas....and the feeling of being grounded in our real world with an appreciation for this beautiful little island and the home our family is creating.

Warm wishes,

Fiona