Handmade Paper with Sweet Corn Husks

The husks from sweet corn make lovely textured hand made paper. From a waste material that is usually thrown away this can be an added bonus.

I loved the way the fibres are so visible in the paper. I was wanting this paper to make Paper covered wire leaves so I only made smallish sheets.

The process is pretty much the same for all handmade paper. Cut the husks into about 2 inch sections and boil with a small amount of caustic soda for about and hour and a half. Then using my craft dedicated blender, I wizzed the mix to a consistent fluid. I transferred this into a basin with some extra water and them scooped out the fibres on a papermaking screen.

Once the paper was full dried, I used gel medium to adhere small pieces of the paper on either side of the leaf skeletons I had made by twisting wire into a leaf shape. When the medium was dry I then trimmed the leaf close to the wire.

The Girl With the Tattoo Face or It’s All About Identity

Most of my eco dying has used a tradition potassium aluminium mordant on cotton with the use of Ferrous Sulphate as a modifier but ferrous sulphate itself can be used as a mordant to create prints that will have a bluish grey tone. If using white cotton, the substrate will be stained ecru.

In my exuberance to create these prints I overlooked a basic concept. To get clear leaf prints the bundle that is being steamed must not be too wet. I dipped my cotton sheeting into a weak solution of ferrous sulphate and hand wrung the fabric, laid it out on the table with a plastic drop sheet to prevent transfer of the prints , rolled the bundle and steamed for an hour and a half.

Even though some of the pieces were too wet they created wonderful textural pieces. One piece was obviously drier than the rest, or maybe it sat on the top layer in the steamer so did not get as much moisture. The image of the foliage is much more precise on that one. One piece ended up looking like it had eyes looking out at me and it was this piece I decided to take to the next xtep.

I had been browsing through a book by Jean Draper, a UK based textile artist and she had a few pages dedicated to replicating a tattoo face so I decided to take one piece and use the printing as a basis for the tattoo. I have titled this piece a Sense of Identity.

Coiling is a Slow Meditative Process

Take Two Art offered an online course with Lissa Hunter. Lissa is a well known coiling artist in the States who has taken coiling way past the basic process of making a basket into an altered art form. She is the producer of the 100 spoons exhibition shown above. In addition to that she has promoted the changing of the coiled surface by applying various surface techniques including collaged papers, paint and looping.

The process is slow and meticulous. Akin to weaving it anchors the maker in the present as the winding of the inner coil proceeds slowly to extend its form to a 3 D item.

I used a seagrass core which was probably a bit thin and a bit soft but the result was still OK. To shape the coil place the wound core slightly outside the previous row. To go straight have the coil exactly on top of the previous row and to move inward (like the neck of a bottle), place the coil slightly to the inside of the core. It will take several rows of coil to alter the shape as this needs to be done in a gradual manner. I found about 8-10 coils of the polyester waxed thread I was using around the seagrass and then I need to stich into the previous row. I tried to keep my stich downs neat and in line but there was some variances as I shaped the form.

This form will be the bottom of a reliquary that will have a lift off top.

Embellished felted balls

Felt balls are very easy to make and embellishing them is fun. Take a handful of clean wool staple - any colour and ball in your hand. Tie it in the bottom of a stocking or tied in an organza bag. The finished ball will be about one third smaller than your original piece. Simply throw the ball into the washing machine with your general wash. The natural felting ability of the wool will create the felt and the tied shape will give the desired firm.

Now you can adorn with beads or embroidery thread. It is fun to try exaggerated thread experiments like elongated buttonhole or chain stitch

Making printing paste from Botanical Dyes and Inks

Once the botanical inks have bee made from the dyes - inks are a more concentrated form of the dye, they can be thickened to create paste for screen printing, fabric painting or stamping. Most cellulose thickeners will work but I have used gum arabic in the examples below. The example above used a thermofax screen designed by Jane Dunnewold and elderberry thickened dye on 100% cotton bedsheet (recycled).

Below is a gingko leaf from a commercially made stencil. This used elderberry paste and a stubbing brush used in a vertical up and down motion to created the imprint

Are My Botanicals Light fast

This ingenious little cardboard wallet can be used to check if your botanical colours are light fast. A test sheet of the dyes you want to check is prepared on water colour paper. The dyes are named on the sheet for reference. Half of the test sheet is inserted into the pocket and the whole is left if bright sun for several days - the dashboard of a car parked in the sun in a good option. The wallet is simply made from packing cardboard folded over and taped along one long side and the two shorter sides. It needs to be short enough that the inserted test sheet is partially in the wallet and partially exposed to the sunlight

A Visit to an Eco Constructed House

One of the unexpected joys of the Wild Studio Retreat was a visit to the eco house on the property that Sarah Nicholson co -owns with the owners of the eco house. This house has been constructed of hay and lime with very thick walls and a central cool store in the middle of the house that keeps food fresh by constantly bringing in air from outside and redistributing air from the cool room to the outside. This central system divides the house into a number of specific partitions with walls that have been constructed to take in shelves and interesting textural elements. The photos below show more of the interior of the house.

In addition to main house there is a circular structure made the same way for cool storing winter vegetable. Squash and pumpkins are stored on elevated bamboo platforms to keep them away from pests. in much the same way as the Maori patika would have worked. Modern appliances have been incorporated into the house but the heating/cooling aspect of the house is structural and integral to the unit.

Wild Studio - Using Modifiers to Alter Initial Colours

Once the initial ink has been achieved the colour can be modified by the use of common household condiments such as baking soda or citric acid. If these are not int the pantry they can be easily sourced at the grocery store and used without fear of harm.

In the example above the ink source was placed in each circle and then the appropriate condiment added to modify the colour. Some changes like the citric acid modifier are quite dramatic

Wild Studio - Making inks from Botanicals

We visited Sarah’s impressive eco garden and saw the huge range of produce that they produce there. While there we gathered marigold flowers and dark purple dahlia flowers to make ink back at base.

When we returned to base we pulled the petals off the flowers and made two dye baths, one of yellow marigold and one of purple dahlia petals. We also peeled and cut up a number of avocado pits to make dye from.

One complete the individual pots were covered with boiling water and put to simmer on the open flame. They would be simmered for some time and the liquid would become infused with the botanical dye particles from the host.

Like the charcoal ink, before using the dyes was added so the dyes would sit on the surface of the paper rather than sinking in

The gallery above shows our gathering baskets, foraging in Sarah’s prodigious garde, The petals from the dahlia, petals from two shades of dahlia and marigolds waiting to be processed, covering the petals with hot water - because we were away from electricity this initial hot water was supplied via a hot water flask, The last image shows the cut up avacado pips with water added ready to simmer on the open fire

Wild Studio Day 1 - Foraging and making charcoal and pens

The process order was very carefully thought out. The first day we foraged for alder and willow slips to make charcoal from. These we packed into tins with close fitting lids and a hole in the top so excess steam could escape. The tins were then immersed in a dry brush fire and fired for about an hour before raking them out of the first and allowing to cool. We also used some small pieces of driftwood in a tin treated similarly so that these could be ground down to powder, whereas the charcoal sticks would be used to draw direct with.

While we waited for the charcoal to be created (fire without oxygen) we made some alder pens. I had tried making dip pens previously but not been very successful. I discovered you need to make a 45 ° cut about 2 cm from a node and then further refine the shape and cuts, removing the soft inner core.

The gallery photos below show the process. Gathered twigs, peeled, the peeled twigs stacked into upright tins so they cannot warp or move around too much, Into the fire to create the charcoal, the charcoal made from the driftwood to create ink. More twigs to make pens showing the angle of the initial cut so the node acts as an ink reservoir, grinding the driftwood charcoal pieces, sifting the charcoal to remove any lumps that would continue to be ground, adding gum arabic powder to make the ink smooth to write with, and then water. Making egg tempera where just the yolk is added to the charcoal not the membrane around the yolk. Egg tempera only keeps for a few days in ink form before it goes bad and smells but once dried on the paper it gives a lovely glossy finish. The last pictures in the gallery show examples of using the charcoal both as an ink with the dip pen and as a drawing medium. It can be smudged and create shadows and highlights like commercial charcoal. Smudge proof charcoal can be made by plunging a piece of charcoal into molten wax. It then becomes a crayon that is smudge proof and waterproof but cannot be manipulated for drawing in the same way that dry charcoal is. I have heard if you coat the paper with gesso you can then wipe away excess charcoal to create highlights but I have not tried this yet. The final image of the cicada is quick drawing using charcoal ink with the gum arabic added

A Retreat with Wild Studio

On the weekend of 20 February I joined a group of intrepid artists for a retreat at Kauaeranga Valley in the Coromandel.. The weekend was to be one of exploration of natural dyes and inks lead by Sarah Nichols and Emma Cowan of Wild Studio. The retreat was hosted at the farm of Sarah Fitzimons who led us in a daily mediation and gentle yoga. Most of the group stayed camping on site but I felt my poor old bones needed the support of a proper bed so I booked into Kauaerangi Vistas B &B which was just 5 minutes from the camping ground. It was a lovely peaceful repose with a private spa, homemade bread and plum jam and a welcoming host. I could join the group easily and could depart in the evening if I felt the day’s activities were taking their toll. I am anticipating surgery on my bowel so this small condescension to comfort meant I could still participate in everything fully. The track in was a bit of a wonder. At the end of the first part of the track there was a one way bridge which looked like it didn’t go anywhere but in fact took a very sharp right hand turn and then headed a bit further on, across the paddocks to the campsites.

The photos above show: The bridge to nowhere, the track in, Headquarters with the kitchen area to the right, Upmarket composting toilet, the first evening intro meeting with Sarah and Emma at the top right, Cars parked up away from the camping area, My private spa at the B& B - Kauaeranga Vistas, a comfortable bed to come back to.

It was a fun weekend and the first time I had felt I could leave Rob for the weekend since his sepsis operation and recuperation.

Soft Sculpture vines and Flowers

I had the twisted piece of wood from Japanese honeysuckle that I had taken out of the garden and that began my inspiration for this piece - another from the Tina Marais course. In this piece the vines are linen wrapped cord, the flowers centres are small pieces of repurposed quilted rejects that have been cut and stuffed with the pearl beads looking like seeds. These pouches have then been wrapped with prairie point petals. The textured background is the first piece of gathered on the bias that I did and it is heavier weight fabric. It had a silver on white leaf pattern which disappeared into the folds.

At the top are some flowers made from covered pill cases with a felt wrap, reminiscent of the way arum lily flowers are when they go to seed. I was quite please with the overall result of this that brought together several ideas from natural processes.

In the gallery you can see some of the inspirations:

Eco Dying from the Garden

With summer weather and the help of solar electricity, I spent a good deal of time earlier this year doing eco dye experiments with foliage and flowers from my garden and recording the results for future reference. I used a tannin bath and potassium aluminium sulphate mordant on the cotton fabrics and pas on the silk and wool. Once the colours had been ferrous sulphate dip as a modifier to see what “saddening” the colours would do.

The main header here is whole dahlia flowers and below are some of the other results I achieved

White-on-White Soft Sculpture

This white on white piece was part of Take Two Arts online course from Tina Marais. Like Tina, I love the play of light on the structured white fabric. The gathered part is another hand gathered on the bias piece that forms the base of the piece. Being created on the bias the fabric naturally wants to fold in on itself and so instead of fighting to make it straight, I have allowed the gathering to fold along its natural line. This piece unlike the vine piece quilting is made from standard white polyester fabric - I think it was some lining fabric left over from an earlier project.

My son in law cut me quite a few 30 cm rounds of waste wood on his c and c machine so I will have plenty of bases to play around with.

The flowers on the bottom right are formed on milk bottle lids, padded and gathered in at the back of the lid. I added some seed beads to simulate flower centres and then used prairie points around the base of the milk bottle tops to complete each flower.

Prairie points are made by taking a square of fabric - 2 inches (50 cm) in this case folding diagonally and then folding diagonally again in the opposite fold direction and stitching these into a long strip on the sewing machine. These are then attached by hand to the base of the milk bottle top pads.

The tassels are long strips of satin fabric twisted and knotted. They are doubled over a large lock ring from a bottle of something that has been wrapped with the same satin fabric. This is then attached at the back before the backing is sewn on

Soft Sculpture with Tina Marais

This was an inspiring Take Two Art online program lead by Tina Marais who now lives in Le Mans, France. There were myriad techniques in the course from wrapping buttons to gathering fabric on the bias. In this piece I used wrapped buttons as in the first gallery progress photo below, wrapping them with a piece of printed silk organza where I had not been happy with the print. These would make excellent textural river stones in a landscape, but this piece is designed on an abstract circle. The gathered fabric is a lightweight organza which I have added beads to for effect. It is interesting to be using other than natural fabric (which is my norm) and has allowed me to dip into some of the fabrics in my stash. The gathering completely changes the look of the pattern on the fabric. Tina had advocated using heavier (curtain weight) for the gathering but, on this piece, I wanted to experiment with the lighter fabric. The back substrate is black polyester velvet which gives a nice contrast to the slight sheen of the patterned polyester.

Fusion Exhibition Taupo

While I was in Taupo looking at the Boat Shed exhibition I also got to see this exhibition by Paul G. A Turangi sculpture artist. He had a range of metal and wood pieces made from recycled materials featuring Maori designs and masks. I am always interested in Masks and the story they hold beyond the physical dimension. It was a very interesting presentation and rounded off my day precisely.

Now could I represent these shapes in structured textile soft sculpture?

The Boatshed Exhibition -Taupo

A friend, Wendy O’Callaghan, is a member of the Taupo Textile Arts group and they had a successful exhibition called the Boat Shed at the Taupo Museum. I travelled across to Taupo for a day of escape and “Filling the Well” It was the first time I had the opportunity to go off on my own since my husband got ill in June 2024. So it was a special day. One of Wendy’s pieces is showcased above and a selection of other works is shown below. Some very talented members in this group.

I love all the texture that is displayed in these works

UnBound - A Shoe as an Artist Book

During October and November I participated in a Fibre Arts Take 2 course, Unbound< lead by artist book Artist, Toni Hartnell. There were lots of tips and book forms and we were challenged to create a book form that was based on an unusual substrate.

I might have got carried away a bit but I decided to cover an old shoe in silver lame to represent my “book.” The idea behind this was to cross the divide between and a more glamourous age. I live not far from Waitomo Caves and the Waitomo Caves Hotel was a magnificent icon of grandeur paying host to royalty and other celebrities as well as the adventurers who discovered the glowworm caves. It stands empty now - apart from perhaps the ghost that is purported to roam the upstairs levels. A victim of time and cost and regulations regarding health and safety.

During the pandemic it was invaded by squatters, but stands forlorn and alone again now. I was fortunate to be able to document the hotel in photographs which I have printed on rice paper and added as a scroll to the shoe.

The photographs below show stages of creating the shoe. It would have been lovely to have done this with a stiletto heal but I was working with what I had and my days of high hells are long over.

Level 7 Advanced Diploma End of year Art Exhibition - The Learning Connection

My husband has been very ill from sepsis and other related problems since I began my Diploma course in July 2024. I am his 24 hour 7 day a week caregiver so I made the decision to spread the diploma out over two years part time distance delivery. This eco coat was made during his earlier critical stages. It is comletely made from recycled cotton sheets with the concept of identity as a garment and the fact that sheets cover us in our most imtimate moments from birth to death. The leaves were eco dyed onto strips of cotton sheet and then cut out and hand appliqued onto an adjusted coat pattern - also made from reused sheets. The embellishments are themselves all recycled. The round pieces are buttonholed locks from the top of milk containers. I added the short feather korowai and woven waste band as an essentially Kiwi touch. All the leaves have come from my garden - some of them had been in the freezer for a few years.

I decided to make the trip to Taita and present my artwork. This was part of the exhibition that ran for two weeks. Below are works from my co students and my paper constructs which I will write about at some stage. I am hoping this year to be more disciplined at keeping the blog current

More zero waste art

In this close up image you can see how I created this page in the Zero Waste Journal. It is coffee packets with textured yarn and black net that has then been free machine stitched over in a leaf design . Another idea of stopping so much waste going to landfill.