why India Flint?

So I'm dyeing these bits of silk, and I assume it will yield improving results as I experiment more -- but I wonder what the purpose should be? As much as I love India Flint, I know there must be some observers who see only muddy clothes and yard-stains when they look at her work. That's unfair to her aesthetic, to her years of research, but I feel there must be some justification -- for my endeavor, this woman here in Minnesota (so far away from the eucalyptus of Australia). A rationale -- why should I go to the trouble of dyeing fabric with organic matter? Why should anyone care what it looks like when leaves mold on a piece of cotton? Flint buries her cloth in the compost heap and digs it up months later, to transform what must be a smelly rag into an amazing work of fabric art. Is that profound or just obscure? Is it too precious, too close to the trends of "green living?"
"India Flint is known for the development of the highly distinctive “ecoprint,” an ecologically sustainable plant-based printing process that evolved through combining Latvian dye traditions with Shibori-zome from Japan. She completed an MA researching eucalyptus dyes in 2001."  

I'm not a "biter" - not a person who is ordinarily susceptible to trendy ideas. But I loved the sight of those stained silk strips on the clothesline in my studio, and I totally fell for the look of Flint's "Landskins" when I first beheld their wholly organic, process-driven sensuality. I'm inspired by her, and everyone seems to love her latest how-to, EcoColour. 
If I mention onionskins in a dye class there are invariably a couple of people who will pipe up and tell me that they ‘did’ onionskins in the seventies and that they really weren’t all that exciting. I beg to differ. Onion skins are one of the most versatile sources of dye color yielding tones ranging through yellow, ochre, tan, burgundy, lime green, olive green and black depending on the water quality and the composition of the vessel used. Not bad for a humble papery substance casually discarded in the preparation of food. The traditional Latvian use of onion skins to color Easter eggs led me to the discovery of the ecoprint; a low impact ecologically sustainable dye method that imparts color to cloth by direct contact.
Terrific slideshow of her work here. It is gorgeous. And I am enthralled by the real-time, decaying, evolving nature of the work in all its impermanence. Is it rational? Is it important?
Click HERE for an interesting article in SDA's online forum about the world of natural dyes.  

carrot tops

Not that this picture near does it justice...But carrot tops used as a dye with a salt mordant in stainless steel = a delicate shade of green that is nevertheless distinct and evenly-toned.

first experiment in dyeing

Well. After something of a hiatus -- July was very busy with work, and I spent all last week divided between organizing a summer arts camp for kids K-6, and teaching said children how to machine sew -- and what with June having been so rich in terms of workshops and exhibitions (alas, so much I didn't see) -- I had a few hours today to experiment with natural dyes, India Flint style.

Mordant: Stainless steel pot, vinegar water. Taking my cues from Flint's "Eco Colour" I selected blossoms for dying/ecoprinting from the yard and garden that were relatively innocuous -- blue bachelors' buttons, violas, squash blossoms, tiger lily petals. Some fresh, some frozen in baggies as I collected them over the past few weeks. I added fine grounds of coffee and cardamon, and dried hibiscus. I used mainly fresh raw silk scarves purchased through Dharma Trading, in small sizes. I also used cotton and linen scraps, which didn't take dyes well and probably had some sizing or something in the fibers that retarded the process. But the silk was very sensitive to dyes.

I found in my first primitive experiment the following:
The squash blossoms did not release well, except when combined with hibiscus in larger quantities, and left in the bath at least two hours. Then the result was a delicate but pleasing wash of apricot hue.
Tiger lily blossoms stained reddish orange, though with fairly weak intensity.
Bachelors' Buttons release well, but have more effect in combination with onion skins and stems.
Purple onion skins and dark viola petals release well, and leave bluish-purple to reddish-purple markings.

I have not yet tried any greens, though an artist friend who took a full-week workshop with India Flint assures me that catalpa pods stain a lovely green -- and I can find those right at the end of my street.

I know I can have more fun with this. The trick is to be patient with the brewing, and I think to have greater quantities of blossoms.

trinity

workshop piece

untitled H