Wedding Plates

 

Have I mentioned that my little sister got married this autumn?

It look place on the Greek island of Santorini and was a beautiful event.

 

I wanted to gift her something beautiful and meaningful to celebrate her big day, but at the same time this is a lady who had pretty much everything she could wish for and a very particular style.

 

 

Inspired by the fact I was doing pottery classes at the time, I decided to make her a/some plates as these could actually be useful but also a nice reminder of that special day.

 

I did some research into what I could do and the island itself and after a lot of thinking decided on an island theme.

 

I spent one class making four different plates, with the idea that at least one should come out well.  Once the plates were dry, but before they were fired for the first time I wrote the date and destination on the bottom.

 

 

Once fired I waxed the bottom of each plate so it wouldn’t stick to the shelf in the kiln once glazed then dipped them.

 

Several were dipped to represent the beach and sea, while the last was dipped to represent one of the famous white buildings against the blue sky.

 

 The blue wasn’t as strong as I hoped and having been there now, the blue really doesn’t do the real thing justice.  But I think it still gives a good representation of the island.

 

 

I was really pleased with how they all came out.  But two were my favourites and these were the ones I finally gave to my sister a couple of weeks after the big event once we were back in the UK.  There was no way I was taking them in my suitcase!!

 

She seemed pleased, but the real test is if I spot them out when I visit next, maybe holding a cake or some sandwiches... 

Hollow Glass Bead Necklace

My little sister got engaged 2 years ago, after being with her partner 20 years!
Because she had some very particular ideas of what she wanted for the wedding it was this autumn before she finally said ‘I do’ in the Santorini sunshine.

So 2 years to prepare.  At first I had no idea where the wedding would take place, but I expected it to be pretty special.

I bought a dress that could do summer heat, or cooler weather.  And I started playing with ideas of what jewellery I could make to wear with it.

First was a long glass sliding necklace, which is lovely and worked with the neckline of the dress.

But I couldn’t help thinking about a necklaces I saw someone wearing on TV years ago and if I could replicate something like it.  So I started trying to make hollow glass beads in teal, to match the dress.

I made many beads.  Practice makes perfect right?

But then at the beginning of this year, finally knowing the destination for the wedding – the Greek island of Santorini, I changed my mind about the dress.  Now we were looking at white linen trousers and a pink top.  The new neckline wouldn’t work with the sliding necklace and the teal wouldn’t work with the pink.

But I still really liked the hollow bead idea so I switched from teal to rose.

I also wanted some spacer beads.  As I was taking pottery classes at this time, I ended up making some tiny ceramic beads which Jack kindly fired in his kiln for me.

With a week to go before the wedding, as I started to put the necklace together I realised that one of the beads was a different colour from the rest!  I’m sure no one else would have noticed, but I would know, so I went back into the studio and made 5 more beads in the hope one would be the right size and shape.

Luckly one was and I was able to put the necklace together, along with a clasp I made from silver wire, just in time to pack and jet off.

Can you tell which one doesn't match?

At the same time I also made myself some beady earrings.  I was very happy with the first pair I made, however, I then worried I’d used the wrong colour again (it's very hard to tell colours apart when I wear my safety glasses as they have a pink tint) so I made another set of beads.

I was expecting the earrings to be exactly the same, but when I put them together, rather than the biggest bead being at the bottom as in the first pair, I had it at the top!  Oops.

 

Having decided that they were all the right colour, I now had the issue of deciding which I liked best!  I ended up with the pair with the biggest bead being at the top.

With glass wrapped up very carefully we made our way to Greece, where we got off the plane to 31c!  But the wind soon came back and cooled things down a bit, and so the wedding itself wasn’t too bad at all.

The glass survived the travel and the wearing and I was very happy with the finished item.
I still need to practice my hollow beads.  They are not an easy thing to make.  But I’ve got a beautiful necklace that I’m looking forward to wearing again in the future.

 

Experimental Cyanotypes

 

Following on from last weeks blue post, more blue!  This time cyanotypes rather than indigo.

Most people will recognise cyanotypes as a dry process where the light reactive solution is painted on the paper and left to dry before objects are placed on top in the sunshine to leave marks and then the paper is rinsed leaving a (hopefully) pretty blue and white print.

Starting the reaction

So this summer I have been having a bit of a play with this.  But I also signed up for Natalie Day's online Experimental Cyanotypes course which showed me how to play with cyanotype wet.

In this instance you apply the solution to the paper and add things like salt, lemon juice or vingar straight away and stick it outside to see what happens.

After a couple of hours

 

In this case the paper doesn't get rinsed as this would remove the salt etc and stop the reactions.  So you have to keep an eye on it as it changes.  If there are any bits you like it's best to take a photo there and then as it will keep changing.  It was quite remarkable seeing it change.  Even days later the colours were still changing.

After a couple of days

 

Once again (like the eco printing and indigo dyeing) this is a process where you really have no idea what might happen.  You just have to put it out there and be open to what happens.  I loved watching it as it changed and the colours that came through were brilliant, but with all these processes I think I will struggle a little to decide what to do with them as, hard as I try I do tend to be quite outcomes led.  I will need to leave myself time to play, rather than worry about what comes out I think.

If you're interested it's a great little course, giving you all the information you need to have a go and some ideas of what you might do with it too.  I'm glad I signed up.

Natural Dyeing with Indigo

 

What better way to end the summer than to learn how to use indigo for dyeing!

It was a damp grey day at the end of August, but it wasn't raining yet when I arrived at Farnham Museum and their lovely garden room, to learn more about natural dyeing with indigo.

The workshop was run by Ginny Farquhar and Sam Jones and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Woad

 

We started by learning a bit of the history of indigo and the fact that there are quite a few plants around the world that produce blue dye.  Then we went outside into the museum garden to meet the plants we'd be working with - namely Woad and Japanese Indigo.

Two types of Japanese Indigo

 

Here we picked some of the leaves of both and Ginny and Sam showed us how to get colour from the plants straight away without a vat.  While not as intense as the colours we'd be using later, they were still a very beautiful blue.

 

They then showed us how to set up a vat for dyeing.  Vats require 3 things.  A source of indigo, something to create an alkaline environment and something to remove the oxygen from the mix.  The last thing you need is patience.  You need time to leave the vat to settle.  Then when you start dyeing you need time for your fabric to oxidise between dipping - more dips gives you a deeper colour.  This is not a fast process, but it is very satisfying.

 

After lunch we learnt how to do shibori to make patterns on our fabric before starting to dye them.  Using a selection of glass beads, threads, rubber bands and clips we were able to create different patterns as the indigo only sits on top of the fabric, rather than being absorbed into it.

 

This was great fun and with a bit more experience you'd be able to have a fair idea of the outcome I think.

We each had three cotton squares to work with, which each needed two dips into the vat, with time to oxidise between.

 

While we did this Ginny was dipping sample squares to show the build up of colour and how intense it gets.  By the end of the day we all had a sample sheet showing all the different colours we'd achieved. 

 

We also had the option to dip some of our own material if we'd bought any along.  My neighbour June had been having a sort out earlier in the year and gave me some silk, which I'd bought along.  So one piece went into the indigo vat scrunched up to create a cloud pattern which I adore and the other two went into the woad vat to see what would happen.  They came out a really beautiful pale blue, although I do wish I'd been able to use the vat earlier when it was making a more purple colour.

 

But that's the point of natural dyeing.  You never know what you might end up with.  You can do everything the very same, but if you do things at differnt times in the season, the plants will act in a different way.  The fact we had a very dry summer probably has something to do with the colours we got too.

 

I very much enjoyed this workshop.  Ginny and Sam were so generous with their knowledge.  I really want to know more about natural dyeing in general and following on from the Eco Print course I'm thinking about where in the garden I can include more dyeing plants. 

 

Eco Print on Paper

 

 This week I visited Sussex Prairies Wild to learn about Eco Printing with Amanda Duke.

I first met Amanda around Easter time when she came and gave a very interesting talk to the Arts and Crafts Society that I'm part of.  She talked about being an artist in residence at Sussex Prairies Wild (formally Gardens) so when I got home I had a look at their website and found she was teaching too and had to sign up!

So what is eco printing?  You could call it botanical contact printing if you wanted to be more descriptive.  Basically you take some leaves and flowers from your garden and using various concoctions use their goodness to print on the paper.  There's some heat involved too.

 

Amanda starting by explaining what we'd be doing and using and showed us examples of her work before giving us a demo.

We started by using iron water to help our plants release their colours.  After a good soak we arranged our leaves and flowers on our papers, folded everything up and clipped it all in place before they all went into the steamer.

 

While they cooked, she showed us how to use an iron and a copper paste to bring our more colours.  These pastes are brushed direcly onto the plant material then 'stuck' to the paper, which again is foldered, clipped and steamed.  We also added onion skin and chopped up wire wool.

 

Lastly we used the paste again, but this time rolled rather than folded our paper and tied it up with string.  Again it went into steam.

Taking each parcel apart you didn't know what you'd get, and of course the colours changed as the papers dried.

 

My first papers were quite pale.  My second and third had much more contrast and I loved the blues and greens that the copper bought out. 

I used leaves and flowers from: oak, liquid amber, hawthorn, field maple, ornamental maple, rosemary, golden rod, braken, smoke bush, current, eucalyptus, hazel, hop, cercis, coreopsis, and herbiscus buds. 

At lunch we had time to walk round the garden and visit the indian bazar which was filled with all sorts of treasure.  Although getting towards the end of the season I found the gardens very inspiring and left with many ideas for my own garden. 

The whole day was inspiring and interesting and I very much enjoyed playing with the different materials and plants.  Not only did Amanda share so much information on the day, she also sent us detailed notes after.  I really hope I can find the time to do more of this.  I keep thinking of other plants I'd like to try.

Finished Pottery Photos

 So after 14 weeks of pottery, what do I have to show for it?

Term 1: 

 4 mugs.  These were the first things I made.  None of them were the same so I decided to play with the handles rather than try and make them the same.

5 bowls.  Again none were the same.  This time I played with the colours and decoration.

 4 plates.

  

4 vases. Two big and two small.

 

 Term 2:

4 plates, but they will get their own post. 

2 lidded pots. Very pleased with how they came out.  The lids fit!

4 vases. All small.

 

And lastly a pot for firing beads covered in glaze, plus beads.