Yellow

 "Yellow is the color of the east, childhood, and morning."

Jeffrey D Anderson

A lovely use for spotted knapweed. The card on the left is using an alum mordant (along with some other plants) and the one on the right is using copper as the mordant.

The leaves of arrowleaf balsamroot also make a lovely limey to citrus yellow, see below.

It never ceases to amaze me that most everything starts out green!

The magic begins!

Arrowleaf balsamroot and spotted knapweed on silk

If you would like to see the yellow scarves in person I will be at the Manito Art Festival this Saturday from 10-6. Come by booth 37 and see all the pretty things!

If you are interested in eco printing on paper, I am offering an accordian journal class at the Spokane Art School on June 29th. 

Hope to see you soon!

Out and About

It is going to be another busy summer! Here is a list of where I know I will be so far:

May

5th-28th

Tea Show

Pottery Place Plus, 203 N Washington, Spokane, WA

The reception on May 5th includes a tea tasting! Click HERE for info. 

6th and 7th

Moscow Renaissance Fair

City Park, Moscow Idaho

Click here for more info. 

June

3rd and 4th

Troutdale Art Festival, Troutdale OR

Click here for more info.

10th

Manito Art Festival

Manito Park, Spokane WA

Click Here for more info.

More info about shows and classes coming soon!

"Spill the Tea" my piece for the Tea Show at Pottery Place Plus.

All the News that's Fit to Print

Hello! Just to catch up, here is what is going on in the next little while. I will be at Art in the Park in Richland Washington this weekend the 29th and 30th (yes, it is a Friday, Saturday show). It will be very warm, even for Tri-cities Washington, so I will be opening the booth up early, as are many of the makers in the show. This show is open until 8:00 PM on Friday and 7:00 PM on Saturday, so late shopping is also an option.

Next week I will be heading off to Anacortes Washington for the Anacortes Arts Festival, August 5th, 6th, 7th. I hope to see you there.

I am teaching two eco printing workshops this year at Urban Art Cooperative. One is Sunday August 21st and the other is Saturday September 10th. You can get all the details at www.urbanartcoop.org click on "sign up for classes" and scroll down to the workshops.

It is a busy summer and I hope to catch up with you in person!

I will have shirts in additon to scarves at both Art in the Park Richland and Anacortes Festival of the Arts

All the News that is Fit to Print

"Courage is more exhilarating than fear and in the long run it is easier. We do not have to become heros overnight. Just a step at a time, meeting each thing that comes up, seeing it is not as dreadful as it appeared, discovering we have the strength to stare it down."

Eleanor Roosevelt

New Online Store

Pottery Place Plus is starting an online store to help offset the complications of Covid-19. It is beautiful! Here is the link to my page, but while you are there hit the "Return to PPP online store" link so you can see the work of my fellow co-op members. Since we offer curbside pick up, shopping in store, and shipping options I have started off with the things I have the most of and are fairly repeatable, but more is coming soon!

 Classes

I needed something to look forward to, always keeping in mind that things may need to change depending on what is happening in the world. To that end I am offering two classes at Urban Art Cooperative here in Spokane. They are the "Alchemy with Plants" scarf make and take that I have offered in the past. Due to physical distancing requirements space is really limited, so get signed up soon. Full refund in the event Covid puts a kink in our plans. Click on either date for details.

Saturday August 15th from 3-6 PM

Sunday August 16th from noon to 3-PM

Experiments

Last year I got the deal of the century on packages of men's tank tops. While I already knew that the prints wouldn't be as crisp on cotton ribbed fabric as on a smooth surface, I figured it was as good a way as any to play around with barriers and blankets as any. I do like the results for the most part! All got a good scouring and then over the winter I did various soaks in whey protein and soda ash. Then I played around with rusted nail patterns. Left to right: black walnut, oak, and sunflower. I may have pushed the season on the sunflower leaves, they seem to work best when the plant has had some flowers go to seed, mine are just starting to flower. A trip through an iron bath should darken up that print.

Publishing

I have a little upcycling project in the return issue of GreenCraft, out now!

The Little Spokane River Artist Studio Tour

Coming up September 26th, click HERE for details!

If you need supplies to finish off all your quarantine WIP go check out my Etsy shop for handmade buttons, pendants, and papers. 

Summer into Fall

Wow! I can't believe how long it has been since I posted anything, time does fly! After the Anacortes show in early August I taught my first class in eco printing, it went well. Here are some pictures of us in action and the final results.

Then it was on to Sausalito California for a show over Labor Day weekend and two more shows here at home. In between I have been trying to make good use of the last of the summer greenery. The sunflower leaves are finally ready just as the locust are about done for the year. This scarf also includes pressed leaves from last year and marigolds that didn't get hit by our first frost. The marigolds will yield an olive green, the locust leaves a brighter green and the sunflower will print brown while the pressed leaves will be a purply black.

Now I am traipsing around collecting this years leaves as they change color. Mostly from the parks and yards as the wild trees have pretty much given up with all our hot dry weather this summer. Leaves from the small shrubs and trees I would normally collect and save just shriveled up, turned brown and fell to the ground. I know how they feel, I was at my load limit for heat, dust, smoke and no rain. I am not sure what it is about fall, but it must be the cooler temperatures and the bright blue skies that make this my favorite time of the year.