Zen Cat Art

Creative Ladies Luncheon & Salon goes Indigo Girls...

This is my indigo dye bucket bubbling away ready for dyeing cloth.  The bubbles on the top are called the plume and it carried the extra indigo dye that has not yet been released into the water.   You remove most of the plume everytime you do a batch of cloth and add it back to the bucket when you are done.

Here we are ready to go. Holly, Louise, Karen, Mimi & Nan.

We wrapped wet fabric around pvc pipe or crunched it into balls or folded and clamped it.  Here's Karen dipping some cotton wrapping around a 2" pipe.  The water underneath the plume is green and the fabric will look green when you first take it out of the water but it will turn blue when exposed to oxygen in the air.

Here's a closer look.

This fat-quarter of white PFD was wet and scrunched into a ball and dunked in the vat.  You can see where the top is just starting to turn blue as it hits the air.

You can see the cloth in the basket by Holly's feet.  It included cotton PFD (prepared for dye), old white table clothes ready for a blue adventure, and pieces of wedding dresses that were left over from a quilt that Karen Eckmeier did for a Breast Cancer Awareness raffle.  We didn't dye it all but we had quite a few pieced when we broke for lunch.

We left them in the sun to dry and do their blue magic while we had a bite.
Onion and spinach quiche, tabouli, red pepper humus, salad, mushroom brie, fruit salad, roasted garlic baguette and a delicious holiday bread from Bantam bread.  YUM!

When lunch was over it was time to unwrap! Nan, Mimi and Karen got to it!

Fabulous!!

Here are some of them drying on the lawn.

Blue hands and happy faces.  We had a grand time.  We are holding a piece of cloth that will be a scarf for Nan as she heads off to Argentina in a few weeks.  The fabric is soft and silky - even prettier in person! 

My haiku for the day:

Ancient Indigo.
Modern women
Dipping cloth into history.

Indigo is among the oldest natural dyes (extracted from plants) to be used for textiles and India is believed to be the oldest center of indigo dyeing in the Old World.  Blue dye is mentioned on a cuneiform tablet from Mesopotamia in the 7th century BC.  Although associated with "blue" jeans, for me indigo is always tied (pardon the pun) to the Japanese art of Shabori.  Shabori cloth is crunched, folded, tied (as in tie-dye) to form patterns on the cloth.  Read more about indigo here: Indigo and more about Shibori here.  
 

Indigo moon...

 
My first indigo moons.  Inspired by Glennis from Shibori Girl, who makes the most wonderful moons and Jude Hill from Spirit Cloth who uses them beautuflly in her work.  These are poor imitations but they are mine and I love them. 

Here is some pictures about my process:

 
5 gallon bucket, respirator, stick for stirring...
 
First hour...
 
Next day... looks a bit more bubblie.

 
Prep work: clipped, tied, clipped & tied.  
 
Three minute dip.
 
Pulled out and draining.  The material was a lime green when it came out of the vat and turned blue as it hit the air.  I was supposed to wait for them to dry but after a day and a half I unrapped everything and rinsed them out. 

 
I have a lot more to learn but it's a beginning...    

Play...

We don't play enough.  And sometimes when we do we feel guilty about it.  At least that's the way it works for me. 

Working freelance I can arrange my days to go for a walk when I want to or run down to the optometrist when I've broken my glasses (today).  I can sit and read after lunch without a boss looking over my shoulder but if it's 10:30 at night and something has to be done for a client, then I'm sitting at the computer working. 

Saturdays fill up with errands and maintenance and although it can be a really satisfying day for accomplishments it can't hold a candle to a fun-filled, guilt-free, I don't-care-how-it-turns-out, I'm-going-to-enjoy-myself-kind-of-play-day!  AND if you can find a friend to join you - that can be the recipe for a double whammy good time. 

My recent play day involved driving down to the CT shore to see my girlfriend, Robin.   

Robin and I have been friends for a long time. We can finish each other's sentences, wave our arms in the air and be understood without words, enjoy doing lots of the same things, rarely take offense and generally think the best of each other.  As the kindergarten teachers say - we play well together. 

And also, although not necessary for everyones play days, as an extra bonus for us, our husbands get along really well.  Politico and history buffs they can talk about Harry Truman for hours.

There are many ingredients involved in a perfect play day and here are a few of ours. 

Anticipation is key.  Conversations will include phrases like "ooh, yeah, lets do that" and "I'll bring my..." and "I got some new... I'll bring it with me."  All this adds up to arriving with 6 bags, only one of them filled with clothes for our overnight stay. 

Some of those bags will be filled with show and tell of your latest creations.

My charmed watch.

   

And Robins wonderful cat cameo that I received as a gift!  Lucky me!

There should be ingredients that inspire.  Paper and paint, books and magazines, yarn and ribbon, bits and pieces, scraps and treasures.  You know what they are.  They are the things that you can't wait to share. 

There are some extras that add to the enjoyment.  Some good food should be involved.  Wine can be a nice touch, especially if it makes you silly... 

For us chocolate and coffee are essential--tea and cookies a lovely adder. 

Mix in good conversation, the willingness to share, an appreciation for the absurd and it's a formula for success.

Sprinkle in a liberal dash of friendship and Enjoy!

What did we make?  Ah, that's for a future blog entry...