Solar Dyeing || #3

Smooth sumac is a common thicket-forming tree here in Oklahoma, usually found on the edge of prairie and disturbed sites such as roadsides.  It's native, and pops up in these areas as a primary succession species to make way for the slower growing, more shade tolerant trees of our native forest type.  In the fall, these trees really stand out because of the large clusters of bright red berries that form at the meristems.  When I first tried out natural dyeing, I thought of these berries and how curious I was to see how they would work.  Here we are in late summer, and I finally got my chance!

To start, I picked the berries off of the stems and then boiled them in some water to extract the pigment. I may get a larger jar later and put some berries in it with the dye mixture, but the lace weight skein of yarn I used was a little too large to fit in the jar with both the liquid and more berries, so this is why I left them out.  Mordants used: alum and vinegar.

Eventually I'd like to try cochineal, but this looks to be a nice light red dye from a plant native to my area.

Weekend Workspace || 8-25-13

Saprobia || Introduction

The biota of a forest ecosystem continuously adapts in a self sustaining cycle ofgrowth, reproduction, decline, and renewal. Trees originate from tiny, energy packed seeds - an acorn, a legume. As it grows, a tree is consistently supported by rich mineral soil and moisture retained by organic matter. While debris falls due to conditions surrounding an individual plant, it takes on new life on the floor to impact all other organisms extending their roots to that locale. Broken down by saprobic organisms, trees that lose vitality become the insulation that provides security for water uptake by other trees’ roots. They become the minerals that nourish plants for generations forward. Life feeds life, and all parts of the ecosystem support each other in the continuity of ecology, perhaps in a different form but always present.

Weekend Workspace || 8-18-13

Pine needles.  That's pretty much the extent of my weekend-- lots and lots of pine needles.  Tweaking my methods of working with this material has taken a lot of trial and error, but I've gotten it down to a pretty comfortable (and effective) rhythm.  It's interesting to see how different the pieces look when they're just finished and still damp, as opposed to after a day or so once they've dried.  I'm looking forward to observing the change continue as the needles completely dry out and turn brown.

The piece you see above will form the cap of a mushroom constructed from materials harvested from loblolly pine trees.  This tree species will make up the first segment of Saprobia, an installation for Momentum Tulsa this October.

Prairie Coneflower Naturally Dyed Yarn

It's been nearly two months since I visited this field of gold, sunny prairie coneflowers.  It felt like the field of poppies in the Wizard of Oz... except... they weren't poppies.  And I didn't feel compelled to take a nap.  So maybe it wasn't anything like that, except for my overwhelming awe at the seemingly solid blanket of color.  After collecting a huge bouquet I started a solar dye jar that afternoon, as you may have read about here.  The dye stuff included seed heads and petals, with mordants of alum and vinegar.  One of the best parts about the solar dyeing process is watching the transformation take place, first of the water's hue and then of the yarn itself.  I half expected a yellow shade to develop, or at least a yellow-green.  Instead, after a week or two it became apparent that the dye stuff exuded more of a bluish-green, sagey tone.  Here is the result:

Faint, but lovely.  The gold splotches, I believe, came from dyestuff residue on the sides of the jar where the yarn was pressed up against it.  I may have been able to remove the yarn a couple of weeks earlier than I did, which could have prevented this.  It adds character though, which I am all about.  So... in case you ever thought about dyeing with coneflower, this is what you might get!  What should I make with it?

Weekend Workspace || 8-11-13

In additional to loblolly pine, I've also started working with materials from honeylocust trees.  The forms created from honeylocust are reminiscent of the pieces I knitted for my Decomposition: Colony installations.  Since smaller scale forms have a greater impact in large numbers, this particular "species" will likely encompass one of the largest groupings of the installation.

Acquiring these lovely thorns and branches required a hike in the forest, which I haven't experienced enough of lately in my disdain of summertime heat.  I, of course, took a million photos of fungi and stopped to look at every rotting log.  The rain this summer has resulted in an impressive amount of mycological activity, so I've resolved that a "just for fun" hike is in order in the very near future.  I hope you got to enjoy the outdoors this weekend too.

Stitches for Pixels

The Art of Bits: Bits of Art show opened yesterday, and I must say I am thoroughly impressed with Istvan Gallery.  It's a beautiful, interesting space that connects to the Blue Sage glass studio with a lovely courtyard in the back.  From a Mortal Kombat tournament to character themed drinks and a DJ sampling from classic games, the event was a blast through and through.

My piece for this classic video game themed show is an homage to the iconic toadstool of the early Nintendo Mario Brothers games.  I knitted this piece with US 19 knitting needles and five strands of yarn held together, so the stitch pattern in the colorwork is very apparent.  It reminded me of the highly pixelated images of the early Mario games, which is how I arrived at the title.

I must admit that I've lost most of my interest in gaming, but put me in front of a Sega Genesis with Toejam and Earl and I won't complain.  Those early games hold just enough nostalgia that I won't let go.  I can't quit you, nerd herd and 80's/early 90's exclamations in the elevator.  Crazy dentist and level 0, you'll always hold a special place in my heart.  Finally, toadstool of Mario, do I even need to express the extent of my love?

If you are local to Oklahoma and have interest in purchasing Stitches for Pixels, you may contact the gallery directly or feel free to inquire with me at bromeleighad(at)gmail(dot)com.

Here is an earlier post with a couple of additional photos of the piece.

Momentum Tulsa Spotlight Artist

I've been hinting around enough, but haven't actually officially announced my recent big news... Earlier this summer I submitted a proposal and was selected to be one of three Spotlight Artists for the Momentum Tulsa exhibition that will open in October!  This is a huge honor and I am so thankful to Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition and the curators, Emily Kern and Krystle Brewer, for this amazing opportunity!

You will find out more about my project, an installation entitled "Saprobia", as the weeks go on.  I plan to continue posting workspace snippets and progress photos.  This project has already pushed me to try out new techniques and media that I have not worked with before, which has been both enlightening and inspiring.

I'm excited to share more about  my installation, the individual pieces that will be a part of it, and the greater concept that it embodies.  For now, here are a couple of images from recent stages.

Wall Hangings || Riot II

Typically, my work is very setting based, and most often it is impermanent (or really always... until now).  Aside from showing installations that will be removed or immortalizing them with photographs, I had not explored other avenues to make my work accessible for people to view in person until recently.  I currently have two wall hangings up in Coffee Slingers, my favorite coffee shop/roaster in Oklahoma City, in addition to several framed photographs of past installations.  The piece shown above is "Riot II", an extension of the "Decomposition: Riot" installation from April of this year in southeastern Oklahoma.  I used Jack-O-Lantern fungi forms for the piece, as well as bark shed from an elm tree.  The bark is a story in and of itself.  I love how the wall hangings turned out, and will most likely be making more of these.

If you are in the Oklahoma City area and would like to stop by and see my show, it's up for the full month of August.  Coffee Slingers is located at 1015 N Broadway in Downtown Oklahoma City.  Another post is to come with images of the second wall hanging.

52 Forms of Fungi || #19

I've been working diligently on these for several weeks now to incorporate into a wall hanging (more on the finished product soon).  These are one variation on turkey tail fungus.  I'd like to make more using a different color palette - when you look up photos of this species there are so many different shades and patterns.  I love the contrast!

This structure was knitted as part of my 52 Forms of Fungi project, through which I will knit a different type of fungi for every week of 2013. Check out more of the forms from this project.

Weekend Workspace || 7-28-13

One of the projects I've been hard at work at (instead of posting on the blog) is this giant Mario Brothers toadstool.  I just dropped it off this afternoon at Istvan Gallery in Oklahoma City for a show called "Art of Bits/Bits of Art", celebrating classic video games.  If you're in the area, the show sounds like it will be a lot of fun.  It's an all day event starting at noon on Saturday, August 10th with live music and video game demos.

I will post some photos of the piece in the gallery later on, but here's a little peek at it.  Strange going from tiny mushrooms to huge ones, but it was a nice change.  I'm finishing up a couple of other pieces as well for another showing at Coffee Slingers in Oklahoma City for the month of August.  More on those later...

Weekend Workspace || 7-21-13

As you will know if you've been following my blog for a little while, I've been working on a couple of knitwear designs and am preparing to make the patterns available.  This morning my lovely friend Jenna was nice enough to model the samples for me to get some photographs for the patterns!  I will show more in detail as I'm closer to releasing them, but here is a glimpse.  The top photo is for a headband called "Urbanite Garland", and the second one is my "Exoskeleton Shawl".

The rest of today will be spent on a huge piece that I'm working on for a group show this coming month.  More to come on that...

52 Forms of Fungi || #18

Caesar's mushroom

This structure was knitted as part of my 52 Forms of Fungi project, through which I will knit a different type of fungi for every week of 2013. Check out more of the forms from this project.

Dye Jar Progress

Since summer is now in full swing here in Central Oklahoma and we've been hitting heat indexes of over 100 degrees, my solar dyeing projects are coming along nicely.  The one on the far left, I started about three weeks ago using prairie coneflower bloom heads and petals.  The center one is osage orange extract, and the one on the right is bald cypress leaves.  These two on the right are for a big project I'm working on to show this fall.  All are mordanted with alum and vinegar.

As you'll notice at the bottom of the jar, after a day or two in the sun (or submerged, one or the other), the leaves start to lose their green hue and take on more of the copper color that you see in the fall.  I just removed the dye stuff from the top of the jar this morning and added some fresh leaves to get some additional pigment.  It seems to be coming out a bright yellow color.

While I would love to try dyeing with actual osage orange root, I had this extract and for the sake of getting some of these jars going I decided to go ahead and use it.  The shade is a beautiful, burnt orange.  Less red than the madder that I used last month.  It's going to add a lot of brightness to the project I'm using it for.

I've really loved watching the evolution of this jar.  After the first week in the sun, the water took on a deep purple hue.  When I started noticing the yarn taking on color, however, it looked more green.  Now, it almost looks like the coneflower heads have produced a blue-green color in the yarn.  I removed the dye stuff from the top of the jar and topped it off with water this morning.  It was a little cramped in there so the yarn was stuffed into the center... Hopefully this will allow it to spread out some and absorb more color in the center section.  This yarn has no project slated for it yet, so I will likely let it sit until the water looks clear and there is no more pigment to be absorbed.

On a side note, check out these stalks that one of my succulents is putting out!  I love watching these guys grow...

And finally, I'm happy to report that the bottom tier of the copper/moss tiered planter that I made last month is putting on new growth!  This dude will be cascading down the sides of the moss ball in no time!

I've got family visiting for the next few days (hello, three day weekend!) and am looking forward to some quality time and doing some fun things.  I hope you have a lovely weekend as well and I'll be back on Monday with a DIY!

52 Forms of Fungi || #17

I remember that as a kid I was always enchanted by fairy ring mushrooms.  Aside from the folklore, how did they manage to grow near one another in a perfect circle like that?  Something mysterious was at work.  Turns out, that something mysterious is just a common "root system", or mycelium, that the entire group sprouts from.  I still find them enchanting, despite my soon approaching cross-over into my 30's.  We need magic at every age...  Fairy rings are your mycological whimsy.

This structure was knitted as part of my 52 Forms of Fungi project, through which I will knit a different type of fungi for every week of 2013.

Weekend Workspace || 7-6-13

I'm working on many different things at once today, aided by my jitters-inducing, home-brewed ice coffee, which makes one ten times more productive than usual (or at least puts one in a better mood while they are doing it).  These are exciting times because I am starting to work on and plan out a really huge project for a show this fall!  I need to formally introduce it, but not today.  Just know that it's a concept I've been honing in my head for months now and thanks to the wonderful people at OVAC, it's going to happen.  More on this soon...

The logwood purple dye jar looked pretty effective about a week after I started it, but I just this afternoon opened it and rinsed the fiber.  The yarn is a deep purple jewel tone, with some patches of lighter hues where it was twisted for the skein.  I've got it drying on the porch now, and am fairly certain that it will make a beautiful shawl later in the year.

These little polypores above are for a new piece I'm working on to show next month.  It's another new execution for me, and so far I'm happy with the progress.

Well, back to it!  I hope you're having a relaxing and/or highly productive Saturday as well.

52 Forms of Fungi || #16

Aseroe rubra, or anemone stinkhorn, is one of those organisms where what appears to be land borne and sea borne collides.  Truly one of the wonders of nature, this beauty grows in the tropics as well as South Carolina (your confusion is as great as mine) where it has apparently been introduced.  The unique construction was a challenge but fun to create!

This structure was knitted as part of my 52 Forms of Fungi project, through which I will knit a different type of fungi for every week of 2013. Check out more of the forms from this project.

Weekend Workspace || 6-30-13

Today the "weekend workspace" phrase is more fitting than it's ever been, because I've been building a home workspace!  Up until now I've had a bookshelf and have worked at our dining table or the couch... but last weekend we pretty much rearranged the entire house so half of the front room could be a dedicated space for me to work in.  My bookshelf has pretty much remained the same, but I have added another cabinet for yarn storage, and a desk (!!) where my yarn swift can remain set up at all times and I can sit and work on project/pattern development.  I also have the small beginnings of an inspiration wall.  Now, off to put it to use!

Solar Dyeing || #2

Before I get into this - Seed Stitch Fine Yarn recently asked to interview me about the Decomposition series and 52 Forms of Fungi, and they posted this nice article last night.  I've had a couple of other interviews that I just realized were never linked on the blog - I'll compile those to share soon.  Moving on to the subject at hand.....

You may expect that this will become a regular inclusion in forthcoming blog posts.  I am in love with solar dyeing, and I don't care who knows it!  More than anything, I'm excited to experiment with different plants and mordants to learn as much about natural dyeing as possible... so here we go.

This is my second attempt at solar dyeing (you can read about the first project here and here), but it's my first attempt using actual plants that I harvested.  The first experiment incorporated some dye extracts processed by Earthhues.  This recipe includes prairie coneflower or Ratibida columnifera (thanks to Misti for confirming the plant ID - and by the way, if you're the type who is interested in natural observation and gardening, or you just like looking at beautiful photos of nature in general, you should really check out her blog. I enjoy it very much.)  I used alum and vinegar in the dye jar as well, and the fiber is Knit Picks bare Stroll sock yarn (100 g).

After just the first afternoon I noticed that the water was taking on a purplish hue, although I read that coneflower results in green.  We shall see!

Another jar with logwood purple extract, alum and vinegar is sitting out on the porch as well, although I did not get to take any photos of it.

52 Forms of Fungi || #15

What happens when a friend emails me a photo of an unusual fungus found in one of your houseplants?  They can expect to see it shortly thereafter in knitted form, of course!  This is the yellow house plant fungus (yes, let's be descriptive as possible, shall we, taxonomists?) and it will often grow in inoculated potting soil that stays moist... which a lot of indoor plants don't like anyway... so maybe let it dry out a little bit and see what happens.  They are not harmful to the plant itself though; just don't make a stir fry with them as they are toxic.

This structure was knitted as part of my 52 Forms of Fungi project, through which I will knit a different type of fungi for every week of 2013. Check out more of the forms from this project.