Silk Noil scarves dyed with Indigo and Cutch natural dyes. The Silk Noil has a lovely rough, nubbly texture.
Silk Shawls
Author Archives: mary
Pastel Drawings
Pastel Drawings of flowers from my garden.
Pastel drawing of Cyclamen
Silk Mokume Shibori
Silk dyed with natural dyes ~ Lac, Brazilwood, Buckthorn and Cutch. Printed using Japanese Mokume (woodgrain) Shibori stitching technique.
Blue and Pink
Silk devore, Linen and Cotton dyed with Indigo and a very pale Cochineal dye. I like the undersea, coral reef feeling when these fabrics are combined.
The Floating World
Oil on canvas. I’ve recently been thinking of how my Vancouver garden is so often saturated with rain, clouds, grey skies. With the increasing drought, nearby fires and global warming I am more and more grateful for those rainy days.
Hydrangea Drawings
Pastel drawings of Hydrangeas
Summer does seem very far away in these often bleak and dreary days of winter. So I’ve been enjoying drawing the dried hydrangeas from last summer’s harvest. Dreaming of another summer to come.
Merino Wool~ Logwood Natural Dye
These very soft, lightweight, Merino Wool scarves have been dyed with Logwood Natural Dye. I’ve added a touch of Lac, also a natural dye, to give a bit more of a reddish, more intense purple. The patterns are created using Japanese Nui Shibori stitching techniques. Very labour intensive but I’m pleased with the results.
Continue readingMerino Wool ~ Natural Dyes
These Merino Wool scarves~ very warm, but lightweight~ have been dyed with Natural Dyes. The orange scarf is a combination of Weld and Brazilwood. The pink scarf is dyed with Cochineal.
Merino Wool~Lac & Madder dyes
Merino wool is soft and lightweight but amazingly warm. These scarves are dyed with natural dyes. Lac dye (made from insects) produces an intense maroon dye. Madder (made from the roots of a plant) gives this bright colour.
Indigo with Weld & Myrobalan
The Linen Scarf has been dyed first with Weld natural dye and then dipped in Indigo. The Silk Scarf was dyed first with Myrobalan and then dipped into Indigo.
Hellebores
Oil Painting 18×24″
Hollyhock
I love the bright exuberance of Hollyhocks. It is always sad in September to watch the days getting shorter. I’ve just finished this painting, a reminder of sunnier, longer summer days.
The Blue Vase
Image
In this painting of a bouquet of tulips I’m playing with the vibrancy and intensity of the colours in the painting and the flowing intricacy of the various forms….the bright pinks and reds of the soft, flowing forms of the tulips set against the intense blue, quite rigid, sculptural form of the vase, the dark green, very pointy, forms of the leaves and the softer green of the background.
The tulip in the centre is the obvious star of this drama~ the diva surrounded by the adoring corps de ballet.
Broken Flowers
The Broken Flower paintings are about memory- the way we remember selectively, forget, blot things out, remember again, but differently each time. Each surface has been reworked….. painted, layered, blurred, scraped away and painted again….. and again. The focus of these paintings is often on their edges. I wanted to refer to the way that memories often come at us indirectly, appearing at the edges of our conciousness. Sometimes seemingly unimportant details, only seen in our peripheral vision originally, become the main and most important part of a remembered event.
Landscape Memories
I’ve just finished this new painting “Landscape Memories”, 4×3 feet. During the past months I’ve been longing to travel. The painting is about the layering of memories of landscapes I’ve visited, photographed, drawn. I’ve collaged wallpaper onto the surface. For me the wallpaper represents memories of/nostalgia for an earlier time.
Wearable Art
Nicole wearing my scarves made from natural fibres~ silk, cotton and linen~ dyed with natural dyes~ Indigo, Logwood, Persimmon and Clerodendrum.
Sustainable, ethical fashion. Natural dyes are kind to the environment~ a safe way to produce colour on textiles. My scarves are for sale at etsy.com/shop/NaturallyDyedScarves
Details of Silk Hangings
Some details of my recent hangings. A celebration of silk! Constructed using very transparent silk organza, silk cocoons which have been opened out and leaves from my garden. Dyed with Indigo and Persimmon natural dyes. I’m happy with the transparency I’ve managed to achieve looking through the various layers of silk.
Exhibition at Visual Space Gallery
Silk Hangings
Some new pieces for my exhibition, “The Density of Light”, at Visual Space Gallery. The hangings combine silk organza, silk cocoons and leaves from my garden dyed with Indigo and Persimmon natural dyes. These are the colours of my winter garden~ the soft browns of decay and the icy blues of winter skies. I love working with silk in all of its many variations and with these hangings I want to celebrate the luminous qualities of silk and its contradictions of strength and fragility.