Happy Independence Day!

"Solitude is Independence."

Hermann Hesse

So what in the world happened to May?

Well, first there was the hysterectomy and the rather alarming post-op infection. That  is over now so I have more time to do things other than taking a bunch of pills and watching trash TV. Here is an overview of the month.

Breakfast anyone?

My husband felt sorry for me and made this lovely birdhouse!  He also spent Monday digging about a bzillion holes in the ground to get my dye plants planted (calendula and bachelor buttons mostly)-who is this strange man and what have you done with my husband? Maybe I should get sick and pathetic more often.

This little guy stared at me through the sliding glass door for 15 minutes the other day, it seems the bird feeder was empty.

I went out to collect leaves today. We have had an inordinate amount of pine pollen this year. It was floating around in a puddle on the asphalt, leaving this fun pattern. 

I have to be the only one in North America that is excited that the knapweed is this big already. Finally! Back to making art.

Anyway, if you are in Spokane you can catch up with me next weekend at Art Fest in Coeur d'Alene Park, Browne's Addition, Spokane: June 2nd, 3rd and 4th. I have decided not to sell on the web for a bit, I need to ponder some things on that front-so check the show calendar and come on out into the real world and see me there!

What it is Supposed to Look Like in Here!

Even though I feel like I will be out of commission for a while, this looks good to me. It will be waiting for me when I get back.

Results from the Last Post

I thought I would show what the results were from the last post. The knapweed came out really well, the arrowleaf balsamroot was still a bit light. I used them here with dry oak leaves from last fall.

Sorry about the wrinkles, I no longer iron eco prints that have not been washed, too hard on the iron!

I am having some surgery this week and so I am not sure when I will post again. Since I won't be able to drive for two weeks (yikes!) I may be so bored I could end up posting everyday, but hopefully I will wait until I am done with the prescription pain meds-although that could be pretty funny!

Monday, Monday

I went out walking yesterday and discovered that the knapweed is tall enough to use and that at least some of the arrowleaf balsamroot is blooming, which means it should be about ready to print with. The plant pictures were not meant to be quite so artsy-fartsy, it was raining so I didn't take the time to really check to see what the images looked like. Apparently, if you use your finger to clean off the lense this is what you get in the way of special effects!

Knapweed 

Arrowleaf balsamroot.

Both laid out with dried golden currant leaves from last fall, as we have no leaves on the trees yet.

Ready to steam! One has the currant leaves and the other one is with oak leaves. I also used a couple of burdock leaves in one of them, I can't remember if it prints or not, we shall see.

I used fabric that had been pretreated with steel wool, so the knapweed is green. I will have to open them up in a few days to see if I picked the balsamroot too early or not.  The leaves need to have lost their fuzz, so the plant is blooming, but they also can't be too old or they won't print either. I have some scarves pretreated with alum, which will make both knapweed and balsamroot print yellow, I may have to do that in the next couple of days.

Finally!

"Inspiration exists, but it must find us working." Pablo Picasso

Not the greatest photography in the world (it seems to me every time they update the phone they make a bigger mess out of the camera) but it is good to get into the studio and work. Work always leads me to new ideas. This is a variety of eco prints on the left and some tansy dye down on the end at left. Both shades of yellow and the green are from tansy.

Spring at Last???

"No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn."

Hal Borland