Rabbitbrush and Sage Dyed Wool

 

Rabbitbrush and sage dyed wool, 2007, in an iron pot.

Dried rabbitbrush from western Nebraska eastern Wyoming area.

Sage in bloom from western Nebraska.

Rabbitbrush and Sage

Rabbitbrush and Sage in a cast iron pot ~ 2007

I have studio visitors coming May 7th, the designer wants to learn how to dye with natural dyes and see some of my natural dyed fabrics.  My plans are to show her some of the dyestuffs that are native to the plains states.

Beading Resumes

Was starting to make mistakes so decided to take the rest of the day off from writing and started beading instead.  Am working on the branch portion now, trying to integrate it as part of the whole piece.

More bead soups, this time greens, browns, and brownish purples so as to look like an actual branch in my crabapple tree.

Ok I know I've shown this last one before, multiple times actually, but I sooooooo love this color combination!  The only colors that make me even more happy are sage greens, purple sages, and golden greens.  It's hard to explain... except to tell you to go hang out on the open prairie in the fall.

Porch Update - 091011

Closer and yet so far away, the new section of soffit is painted, the first coats have been applied to it and three of the porch columns.

The porch rail is my next project, well after I finish painting the south wall of the porch and the window trims.

I have the trims to paint on the tops and the bottoms of the columns, and then it'll be time for paint coat number two.  The roundish trims are a pain to paint around, two shades of the sagey greens and a copperpot stripe in between the rounded trims.

Front Porch

All I have to do now is wash the porch and the furniture later this evening, sometime this summer the ceiling will be scraped, sanded, and then painted sky blue.  Then I'll paint the south facing wall, the wall with the oval window, Copper Pot (Sherwin Williams) and then finally the porch floor. I'll paint the columns a ruby red color and the porch rails, after they are repaired, will be various shades of sage green.

It all sounds weird I know but when all is said and done the house will be about 16 different colors, it already has 12 colors on it, and will look like classic Painted Lady.

This and That No. 3 in progress

It's stitched to a base, with quilt batting in between, of pink gingham fabric and its more of a rose color actually. The pom pom trim is sewn onto the bottom and it's now ready for embellishing. Buttons, beads, ribbons, glitter and maybe even a few suprises - been wanting to make some more paper beads.

Green rusted silk

This piece of silk crepe de chine was rusted first and then dyed with acid dyes to achieve a wonderful sage to avocado coloring. I'm using it in my extreme embroidery samples.

Inspiration Trays

Some of this will be used in my artwork~!