Monday, September 28, 2015

Eco Dyeing and Printing

Being such a novice at surface design, my time with my fiber arts group is always enlightening.  Part of our discussion was about ecodyeing, or printing, or whatever one might call it.

In my definition (so far!) ‘eco dyes’ refer to the colours the plant can be induced to surrender, and ‘eco prints’ to the forms these dyes take on the substrate. 
https://wendyfe.wordpress.com/plants-for-eco-dyeing-and-eco-printing/

There is this whole new, fascinating world out there in using plants and their colors to treat fiber materials!  One book I may need to find:

   

So what does this all look like?  How could I NOT try this??

   


   

     



Monday, September 21, 2015

Finished Piece Plus Glamour Shots

On retreat this last weekend near Pt. Townsend with my fiber group, I finished a small wall piece of cedar, elm, seagrass, and copper.  I was feeling the need to get back to basics and just play with the materials.  (With thanks for the inspiration from Willie and Cass.)




The final "glamour shots" from my photographer of Dragons and Winds and Madrona Swirl also came in this week and are quite pleasing, even if I do say so myself.





All to say that while the last few months have not felt prolific, I'm still happy with the results.

Sunday, September 13, 2015

Magnetic Chalk/Dry Erase Board

Now that it's finally time to start moving into my studio, I've been exploring the possibilities for chalk, magnetic or dry erase planning boards.  The walls are covered with plywood, so I was hoping I might just be able to paint a board directly onto them.

First would be 3 - 6 coats of magnetic paint (I know, right? Who knew?)



Potential drawbacks:  the iron flakes in the paint produce a not so smooth finish.  Not a problem unless I also wanted the same board to be a chalkboard:

  And I might be able to mix up my own color?

Making my own dry erase board is also an option:

Using any of these methods, or a combination there of would let me create my own original and uniquely shaped planning board.  However, too many coats on top of the magnetic paint dilutes its already meager magnetic properties:

Pull Force, Case 1 of D82 Disc Magnet
Thick Steel Plate  6.44 lb
Refrigerator Door  3.40 lb
Magnetic Paint, 3 coats  0.25 lb
Magnetic Paint, 6 coats  0.52 lb

Then there is always the option of buying a steel plate, and painting part of it for chalkboard and part for dry erase.  Or buying a magnetic dry erase board and painting part of it as a chalk board.  And of course, then there are the choices of dry erase pens, real chalk, or liquid chalk pens (which also write on dry erase boards).
So many options - and all the time in the world to decide.

Sunday, September 6, 2015

Wins and Losses

Win:  Sally 1 :  chipmunks  0

  This tube finally defeated the little critters.  The birds are delighted.


Loss:  Canadian thistles  50:  Sally  10


This view of the Canadian thistle root systems tells the whole story of why it's so hard to discourage them in the garden.  You can't pull them out, which only stimulates the roots to send up 10 more in its place.  I'm gaining ground in the entire battle, but like some of our skirmishes in foreign lands, I'm not sure I will ever win. I may need to accept that it will go on for years.