I had a little theory.
I put it to the test.
(That sounds like the opening lines to a naughty limerick.)
Where is your HEAD today? Snap out of it!
(I'm giddy because it rained. I had abandoned hope of ever seeing it again. It's making me feel funny....)
Evidently.
Sheesh.
But then again... we ARE grateful for the first rains.
So, I had this theory that perhaps the reason I was getting such amazing colors and clarity on my eco-dyed papers was that I was simmering them in well water. Like maybe something in the well water was enhancing my process.
I was wrong.
I took my dye pot to my mom's house in town and used town water to make up a batch.
Magic still ensued.
So there goes my theory. But it was good to test it. It's a good thing to know. And I think I know where I got some of my proclivities to experimentation. My mom said... "Well, maybe you should collect some rain water and try using that and see what happens."
See? It must be genetic.
Sometimes these papers remind me of illustrations in books that I have seen... the kind of dark and scary illustrations... like this from a Grimm's Fairytale book..
This batch had a lot of 'flowy' elements on many of the papers....
My favorite of the bundle with lilac leaves in the middle there that had turned reddish for fall:
And in the middle of it all... there was a print with only a few colors. This one is very stunning in person:
I wanted to include a couple of papers for C. who is trying her hand at dying her own bundles, to show that not all of mine turn out bright and detailed:
This one is very subtle, but beautiful:
And finally, for the other C. who is curious about pen and ink
I wrote that word on a scrap of paper with a pen we have in common that uses carbon ink. That ink survived the two hour alchemical crucible absolutely unscathed. I was astonished to tell you the truth.
I'm really feeling a push to do lots of dying, as there are trees turning color all over the place and it does seem to effect the outcome of the papers somewhat. My curiosity has a fever basically.
(I'm glad we didn't have a naughty limerick after all. But it looks like more rain, I think I need to find a good book and a cup of vocabulary and find a cozy place to watch it come down....)
I think this is the most sensitive thing I have ever heard you say. I'm speechless.
(It's been a traumatic summer full of heat and fire and smoke. Rain feels like a miracle. And I'm not going pretend to be blasé about it. Even I have my sarcasm limits.)
Good to know... good to know.
Sometimes these papers remind me of illustrations in books that I have seen... the kind of dark and scary illustrations... like this from a Grimm's Fairytale book..
This batch had a lot of 'flowy' elements on many of the papers....
My favorite of the bundle with lilac leaves in the middle there that had turned reddish for fall:
And in the middle of it all... there was a print with only a few colors. This one is very stunning in person:
I wanted to include a couple of papers for C. who is trying her hand at dying her own bundles, to show that not all of mine turn out bright and detailed:
This one is very subtle, but beautiful:
And finally, for the other C. who is curious about pen and ink
I wrote that word on a scrap of paper with a pen we have in common that uses carbon ink. That ink survived the two hour alchemical crucible absolutely unscathed. I was astonished to tell you the truth.
I'm really feeling a push to do lots of dying, as there are trees turning color all over the place and it does seem to effect the outcome of the papers somewhat. My curiosity has a fever basically.
(I'm glad we didn't have a naughty limerick after all. But it looks like more rain, I think I need to find a good book and a cup of vocabulary and find a cozy place to watch it come down....)
I think this is the most sensitive thing I have ever heard you say. I'm speechless.
(It's been a traumatic summer full of heat and fire and smoke. Rain feels like a miracle. And I'm not going pretend to be blasé about it. Even I have my sarcasm limits.)
Good to know... good to know.