In June this year we paid a visit to East Chase Farm as part of Warwickshire Open Studios.
The stunning work of textile artists Emma Price (In the Wool Shed) and Michala Gyetvai was on display. We were also intrigued to see wool being dyed harnessing the power of sunlight (as shown in the pictures of the jars). Solar dyeing takes a while – the textile and the dyestuff are placed into the jar and then left in the sun; the UV light is the fixative which binds the dye to the textile. The filled jars can be beautiful objects in their own right.
A celebration of local visual art, Warwickshire Open Studios runs each summer. Although the event is over for 2022, there is lots to delve into on the website, including virtual tours and info on the artists plus other events.
Sara Maycock is a weaver and dyer with lots of experience of creating and using naturally based dyes. In this blog, she shows you how to make eco prints using plants and a few simple pieces of equipment.
Eco printing is a form of natural dyeing where dyes are extracted from plant material direct on to paper or fabric – creating an imprint of the plant in some way. It is very unpredictable – what you see is not always what you get – which makes it exciting and disappointing in equal measure! The best way to approach it is to be experimental and curious about possibilities – a beautifully vibrant colour can be a total wash-out. Equally a drab looking leaf can produce an unexpectedly vibrant result.
Either way, it is the natural world giving up its secrets and allowing us an insight into the complexities of nature, so be prepared to go with it and accept whatever outcomes you produce. They’re all valid and a great way to produce a botanic record of your garden as an alternative method to drawing and painting. The images are also not always going to be sharp, as the dye bleeds into the wet paper during the boiling process so the results can vary from sharp through to impressionistic!
You will need:
• 2 plain bathroom tiles about 6” x 6” – these are used to trap the paper and plant material between them. The tiles keep the paper from disintegrating during the boiling process and maintain the contact between plant and paper so that a print is produced. Anything non-porous and flat will do the same job – metal plates or whatever, but it does need to withstand boiling water.
• At least 4 bull dog clips or similar which are big enough to clamp the tiles containing the paper and plant material tightly together – ideally 6 or 8 clips if you have them. The tighter you can fix them, the more successful the result.
• Pieces of cartridge or lining paper (used for wallpapering) per print, cut to the size of your tile. You could use any paper that is reasonably substantial and won’t fall apart on boiling, but do avoid a shiny surface as this could adversely affect the absorption of the plant dye. Photo mount board cut to size works well but I would reserve this for when you feel more confident with the process.
• An old stainless steel pan with a lid – into which the tiles will fit comfortably with the clips around the edges.
• Tap water
• Newspaper or old towel
Method:
Collect your plant material:
Choose interesting leaf shapes, coloured flower heads – but nothing too bulky as they will be pressed flat by compressing them between the tiles. They can make interesting 3D impressions in the paper as part of the process if they’re not totally flat. Again – experiment!
⚠ As usual when working in the garden be careful when selecting and handling flowers and plants as some can be poisonous or irritants, for example the sap of the rue plant can burn or cause a rash. So if you are not an experienced gardener check what you are picking first. ⚠
Layer as follows:
• one tile placed smooth side up
• a piece of paper the size of your tile
• plant material carefully laid out
• second piece of paper
• second tile smooth side down
Once you have this ‘sandwich’ of layers, clamp them tightly together with the bulldog clips around the edges.
NOTE:
You can process several layers of plant material within one pair of tiles. Just separate each plant layer from the next, with an extra piece of paper to avoid the images bleeding into each other – again it’s trial and error and relies on bull dog clips being large enough to grip the package together.
Alternatively – if your pan is deep enough and you have enough tiles and clips you can process several single ‘packages’ in one go. I have a large fish kettle and can do nine in one go.
Fill the pan with cold water to generously cover the pair of tiles, cover with the lid and heat until boiling, then reduce the heat and simmer gently for an hour.
Once finished, there’s no need to wait – but BE CAREFUL OF BOILING WATER – pour it away carefully and wait for the tile package to cool a bit before unpacking it for the big reveal!
The paper between the tiles will be saturated, so peel it back carefully and gently remove the plant material to reveal the image – and then lay the paper out to dry on newspaper or a cotton towel (basically something absorbent) – you may want to put something heavy on top to help the paper to dry flat, but be cautious of the paper sticking.
You will get a positive and a negative image – two for the price of one! – which will have subtly different qualities. Here are a few of the eco prints I have made with flowers and plants from The Weaver’s House garden, including the famous dye plant woad.
Woad in flower – hints of the blue dye in the leaves – but also pink
Forget Me Not
Woad in flower
Aquilegia
USE OF MORDANTS (fixatives) in the dye pot: Improves the fastness of the dye and also alters the dye tones:
Alum – can improve the clarity of the results – gives a yellowish cast
Iron water – saddens/darkens the results – an acquired taste
⚠ Be careful as some mordants are poisonous! ⚠
Here are some eco prints I have made on an old blanket during lockdown.
There are lots of on-line resources if you search for eco-printing, including this fantastic video:
As we weren’t able to run our springtime Open Day, here are some of the weaving-inspired Easter crafts that you can try at home. The carrot card is suitable for any age with a little help, and the Easter Egg card is aimed at older children as some dexterity is required weaving the strips of tissue.
Carrot Card
You will need:
Orange, green and yellow (or another colour) card.
Glue dots and glue stick (or glue)
Orange wool or thick thread
A pen or pencil
Scissors
Sticky tape
Your hand!
Step 1: On the green card, draw around your hand and cut out the shape.
Step 2: Cut out a carrot shape from the orange card and wind the wool around it.
Step 3: Stick the wool in place on the back of the carrot.
Step 4: Attach the green hand shape to the top of the carrot with glue dots or glue.
Step 5: Cut out another carrot shape in the other card and write your message on it.
Step 6 & 7: Glue it to the back of the card to cover the sticky tape.
Your carrot card is finished!
Easter Egg Card
You will need:
Card
Patterned tissue paper (but plain can also work)
Glue
Scissors
Pen or pencil
Egg shape template, e.g. a cookie cutter.
Step 1: Cut the card to the size you want your finished card to be and fold it to make the card shape. Now make a second piece that is the same size as the front of the card. Use the egg shape to draw and cut out an egg shape in the front of the folded card and then trace it on to the second piece so the two holes match.
Step 2: Cut the tissue paper into strips, and glue it diagonally across the hole on the inside of your folded card. Weave more strips in and out of these glued strips, in an opposite diagonal pattern.
Step 3: Do the same with the single piece of card.
Step 4: Now glue the single piece of card onto the folded card, so it hides all the messy paper strip sandwiched in the middle.
