'Earth Repair' - the Beginings

'Earth Repair' began as a response to what I considered to be an emergency situation.

March 11, 2011 - quoting from my journal -

'Emergency. It has been a long winter here on the island. The deer are hungry. They are eating the bark on my precious Indian Plum. I need to care for this tree. The deer have free choice in the rest of the forest - even my emerging spring bulbs but my Indian Plum is not part of their buffet.

I am placing sacrificial tea cloths over the wounds to protect them. First, I lost my needle - I felt vulnerable and inadequate - I couldn't do what I needed to do because I had lost my valuable tool. Flashback to an earlier time when women depended on their needlework skills to survive. A lost needle was potentially a loss of livelihood translating to an increased risk of not being able to adequately care for her family.

I ran inside to get another needle after I had given up searching in the deep layers of moss and decaying leaves. When I returned with another needle I found my first one hanging by a thread - ties in with that vulnerable feeling again.

I was having trouble holding the cloth in place and sewing at the same time which had lead to the loss of the original needle. Then I heard a distant ambulance siren reminding me this is a triage situation.

Another run inside to get my wooden-based pin cushion, given to me by my mother. A reminder of how important life skills are passed from one generation to the next.

I was now performing the required surgery as I pushed a couple of pins into the bark to temporarily hold the edges of the cloth as I sutured it in place.'

The 'Earth Repair' cloth with embroidery wrought by and unknown hand.

Sutured in place around the wound to stop the deer from eating more of the bark. 

I have since read the Saanich First Nations people make a bark tea as a purgative and a spring tonic. Perhaps that is all the deer were doing because they had upset stomachs after having to eat plants not usually in their diet.

Continuing from my journal entry - 'The tea cloth continues to function - to protect wood and in doing so sacrifices itself to the elements - it was raining as I secured the cloths in place.

Inside the home, the cloth would be used to present food - outside it is now protecting the bark so the tree can get its food....

The cloth has been taken from the horizontal to the vertical plane. Does it still read as a table cloth? It has been taken from a smooth flat object to a wrinkled curved form. Does it still read as a cloth?'

These were musings for the development of work while I was studying for a BA (Hons) in Embroidered Textiles. After 6 years of study, my graduation exhibition work was related to my thoughts and actions on this Day of the Emergency.

'Earth Repair' Makes it into the World of Threads Festival 2016

Lesley Turner, 'Earth Repair' 36" x 35"/92 x 89 cm, 2011 - ongoing, embroidered (anonymous) vintage cotton afternoon tea cloth, leaf skeletons, cotton & polyester thread, jute string, wooden branch, MinWax; tree staining, washing, ironing, hand & machine applique, waxing.

This work has been accepted into the World of Threads Festival 2016 in the 'Late in the Season' exhibit in the display area of the Queen Elizabeth Park Community and Cultural Centre in Oakville, Ontario, from Saturday, October 29 to Sunday, November 27th, 2016.

Whippee!

I spent most of the day following the instructions in several emails explaining exactly how to get the work ready for hanging and how to box it up.

I made a box so the work will fit snugly and not move around much while in transit. I made the box with a reuseable cap so it can be reused to return the work. 

The work can not be folded or even rolled because of the many layers of delicate, dried, leaf skeletons stitched to the cloth. 

Inside the box, I made a suspension system to hang the work from the top. 

I sewed together pieces of bubble wrap to make a snug bag to pad the work while it is in the box.

Then there was all of the documentation required. Make a label with details of name and title and secure it to the back of the work. Type up hanging instructions with images. Put my name and email on every piece of packaging and both parts of the box. Include a spare set of hanging devices - just in case. Phew!

Now to wait until the right day to mail the box so it arrives between the 2 dates set for the arrival of work in Oakville. 

Dawne Rudman and Gareth Bate are the organisers, curators, festival originators and all of the other jobs it takes to mount such a large exhibition of work from around the world - 134 artists from 24 different countries. You can see why I am very pleased to have work selected again for this festival.

Dawn and Gareth curate the exhibitions with a system I think is unique to their festival. They put out an international call for artists' most recent work and wait to see what comes in. They look at images of the work while identifying some common themes. Work is selected that fits the chosen themes. That's how I think they work.

Next post I'll tell you why this unassuming work has taken 5 years to make - so far.

While the garden grows I am at work in my studio...

While the garden grows I am at work in my studio.

A new work. 

The challenge - how to express what is the province of Alberta on one double-sided panel?

I decided to depict the diversity of landforms in the province - landforms shaped by glacial and tectonic processes.

The schematic with a beginning sample. 

Cutting out the shapes.

I decided to focus on the interlocking shapes of the different regions and I felt colour would be a distraction. I auditioned a variety of different unbleached cottons from my stash. I selected mainly handwoven cottons from India. I washed these fabrics and lightly tumbled them dry to allow their different weaves to naturally collapse into wrinkles unique to each cloth.

Problem - how to make a neat double-sided join?

Solution - couching hand-made jute braid from India that I just happen to have in my stash, patiently waiting until needed.

The different landform shapes have been joined.

Yes, the landform edges do need more definition.

Hmmm, not sure about the outline. Is it too dark? Too wide? Does the whole panel need a wider border?

I added a border of a wider jute braid.

Nope - I don't like the way the outline of each shape takes away from the feeling of the different landform regions being related to each other. So I unpicked all of the braid on both sides.

I sewed on a much thinner jute braid.

Much better. 

Now to block the whole panel just enough to make it hang straight while not flattening out the natural landform wrinkles.

I think this must be the first work I have made without the use of my trusty irons.

Sprinkle Dyeing and Sun Printing Results

Here are my results from a day out in the sun sprinkle dyeing and sun printing.

This fabric had previously been dyed and still needed work.

I sprinkled on a mixed dye. It is interesting to see how the blue migrated further than the red before the damp fabric dried out. The red blob in the bottom is where I sprayed the fabric with water during the drying process.

This dye is made up of many different colours and is sold as black.

Sprinkle dyeing produces a distinctive look that is easily identified when used in a work.

Here are my sprinkle dye results washed and ironed. Admittedly some of the fabrics began as pre-dyed uglies but in most cases sprinkle dyeing has not improved them any. They are still ugly but I may find areas I need that I can cut out. That is the only reason why they will go back into my stash.

My sun printing results were much more promising.

In this sample, I used woven twig place mats and glass stones as resists.

The other samples were produced by twisting painted fabric into knots. The top right sampIe I added a spritz of water to after it was knotted.

So mixed results after a fun day out in the sun with friends.

Sprinkle Dyeing and Sun Printing at VISA, Victoria

During a Mark Makers' summer residency at the Vancouver Island School of Art (VISA) website we decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and have a dyeing day outside.

We set up tables and brought out buckets of water to the backyard of the school.

I set up my sophisticated system for working with dye powder safely and gave a quick demo on how to fill salt shaker-type containers with dye powder.

While the air was still we explored different sprinkle dye techniques using Procion MX. 

Wet soda-soaked natural fabrics were folded, rolled and scrunched before sprinkling dye powder over them.

Eileen sprinkles dye on flat fabric.

Brenda sprinkles dye on a linen fabric already cut to shape for a garment.

This is a great way to use up old batches of dye powder. It works best with dyes made up from a mix of colours. The different colours separate out and migrate through the damp fabric at different rates.

After lunch, Dale gave us a demo of sun printing using transparent fabric paints on damp cloth. She showed us how many different resists will work to leave an impression.

With the sun overhead, we all got clear impressions of the resists. Brenda is using plastic shapes she has cut out and leaves as a resist on linen fabric she has painted with fabric paint. Others used flowers, grasses, bubble wrap, paper and cotton doilies as resisits. 

The dyed cloth was covered with plastic and taken home to batch before being rinsed and ironed.

VISDA 'Current Threads 2016' Artists with their Work

Judi MacLeod 'White Lady,' white linen, manipulated white cotton, hand and machine stitched

Judi led the this year's Current Threads exhibition committee. She led the hanging and compiled the artist statement binder among many other tasks.

A close up of 'White Lady' because my poor photography didn't really show any of the texture.

Committee member Sarah McLaren with her 'Van Gogh in Yellow,' cotton, silk, tulle, organdy; edge turned machine applique, free motion embroidery.

Sarah organised an elegant afternoon tea on the gallery verandah during the artist reception.

Committee member Dale MacEwan beside her work 'Nature's Patterns' (bottom - Karen Selk's work on top).'

Dale manipulated and printed on cotton 2 of her rock pattern photos then machine stitched into them.

Among the many tasks Dale worked on were registration and the show sitting schedule.

Many thanks to this year's Current Threads exhibition committee for doing an excellent job showcasing VISDA members work so well.

During the artist reception, I managed to catch 2 other artists with their work.

Susan Duffield 'Ragged End of Life' - stitched textile fragments mounted on painted canvas.

Louise Slobodan 

Top - 'Ancient Pathways' - a collagraph printed on rust printed muslin with stitching. 

Below - 'Arbutus Landscape' - Photographs printed on rust-print cotton with hand and machine stitching.

The exhibition is on for another week. I would recommend you visit if you are in the area.

Backyard Project and Work in the Studio

Ron and Nordic Fencing team leader, Mat, plan the location of the deer fence along the south boundary.

Nathan is digging trenches for irrigation pipes.

The main pipe will be located under the path going around the pergola and arbor. If there is ever a problem with the pipe it can be dug up without disturbing any garden beds.

Meanwhile, I am collecting leaf skeletons from under the tulip trees.

The damp conditions are ideal for the soft parts of the leaf to rot away leaving the leaf skeleton in tact.

After washing and laying the leaves out to dry...

...I am sewing them onto an embroidered afternoon tea cloth that spent a year or so outside wrapped around a tree trunk. I have been adding leaves to this cloth for the past couple of years. The repair of the decayed cloth with darned leaves speaks of how leaves fall to nourish and repair the soil, the skin of the earth. I will keep adding to the cloth for another season or so to demonstrate how soil building is a long term continual process.

The work is called, 'Earth Repair.'

The hyacinths are blooming in the studio bed. There is such a lovely smell as I come and go from the Green Shed.

Now that the winter rains have eased we can continue with the Backyard Project tasks

Carol Soderlund's Dyeing technique

Last year I attended one of Carol Soderlund's workshops and learnt how to dye neutral colours using Procion MX.

She also taught us her dye technique that I have since been able to set up in my studio.

This is the set-up for weighing dye powder to make the stock solution - cardboard box, newspaper, spray bottle full of water (not shown), face mask (not shown), fresh dye powder from Pro Chem, scale from Amazon.

Dye Station

Dye weighing and stock solutions behind, dye mixing and dye application in front. 

This set up is to make colour samples. I would move the dye application to a larger table to dye yardage.

Batching

 Dye samples on plastic covered tables overnight to 24 hours plus.

Rinsing 

Keeping light and dark fabrics separate the excess dye is washed out under cold running water in the right-hand sink. Then the fabric is put into fresh, cold water without being crowded, on the left side.

Filling the stock pot from the instant hot water tap, kept at just below boiling temperature.

Setting the Dye

The pot is put on an induction hot plate. The temperature is set at boiling and timer for 10 minutes.

After the fabric has been boiled it is transferred to the spinner where excess water is spun out and drained out into the sink.

Polishing

I like to steam iron damp fabric dry. In laundry jargon, it is called polishing. 

I use a Reliable brand, heavy iron that produces a lot of steam.

The rectangle shaped ironing board is ideal for ironing yardage but there is a weakness in the design. When working at the left end of the board it tends to tip. My solution is a counter-weight at the other end - a lovely piece of granite that turned up when earthworks were going on for the Backyard project.

This dyeing set up is simple, flexible and works so well. I am very grateful to Carol for so generously sharing what she has learnt over years of experimentation to understand the fine details of the dyeing process.