Welcome to the Community Garden
Place and Spaces: Felted Landscapes
featuring the
Community Garden Grant Project
With so many unable to attend, I thought I would do a quick walkthrough of the exhibit and share a little about each piece.
October 16th 2020
Despite the limitations due to COVID, the opening was a success! Thanks all who came out to see the show!
October 13 2020
Today, I spent the morning and afternoon hanging the Places and Spaces show along with the Community Garden collection. So thankful to the Springville Center for the Arts hanging committee! Not quite finished but I will post a FB live on Saturday when the show is finished being labeled and hung.
Trail near Tannenbaum- winter landscape and the local natural dyes incorporated...
In this final video, I share what inspired the winterscape, including the number of natural dyes used to create this felted landscape.
Daffodils (Signs of Hope)- spring landscape and the local natural dyes incorporated...
In this video, I share what inspired the spring landscape and share the variety of natural dyes used to create this piece.
Red House Lake -summer landscape and the local natural dyes incorporated...
Continuing with my short video review, in this video, I share the story behind the summer landscape and the variety of natural dyes included.
Behind Allenburg Bog -fall landscape and then local natural dyes incorporated...
Wanting to share to share a few details about each finished landscape, I decided to create a series of short video in which I review the location that inspired the scene, the locally dyed fibers that were incorporated, and the natural dyes that were used to create the scene.
Natural Dye Results
In this video, I share the results of seven months of gathering, creating over 60 natural dyes, and dying several local fibers in Cattaraugus County, New York.
Cattaraugus County Fiber resources
In this video, I share which local fibers I used in this project and where those fiber growers are located.
October 13 2020
The first local winter landscape I created was fairly popular and sold in a week after I posted this completed photograph. While I will have it to hang in my upcoming show at the Springville Art Center, I will be shipping it to its new home just before Christmas. Wanting to show this series more then once and wanting to display it in county, I decided to make another winter landscape. This piece is in the same general area at Holiday Valley Resort and features once again those beautiful pines trees laden with snow. Whenever we go skiing here, I always start and end my night in the Tannenbaum area. It is peaceful, serene and typically not as crowded. Using the same natural dyes as I did in the last Winter scene this pieces incorporates wool dyed with the following natural materials…
Nettles, Avocado, Staghorn Sumac, Apple leaves, Cherry leaves, Dyer’s Polypore, Walnut leaves, Inkcap, Queen Anne’s Lace, Dyers Polypore, Red Cabbage, Geranium and Rose Petals
October 10 2020
When needle felting, often the piece will shrink in size. For this reason, I always start with a larger base. This particular piece seemed to grow and so required a larger frame! This seemed to work out well since the first Winter Landscape was several inches larger then the three other landscapes. This is second summer Landscape depicting the Lupine in our yard. We bought our home in the winter and had no idea had been planted in the various beds around the property. I was ecstatic to find Lupine growing in this garden just outside our dinning room window. While it is not know as a typical dye plant, I placed it one of my solo dye jars to see if I could extract some of the color for dyeing. The dye bath yielded little color but I still used it to dye some of the fibers in this piece.
September 29 2020
Keeping with my goal of sourcing most of this project within Cattaraugus county, I was able to pick up these beautiful butternut frames from local woodworker, Dan Heckenthorn.
September 27 2020
With each finished Piece, I am including the natural dye materials collected and incorporated. This landscape includes…
Nettles, Avocado, Staghorn Sumac, Apple leaves, Cherry leaves, Dyer’s Polypore, Walnut leaves, Inkcap, Red Onion skins, Blueberries, Rhubarb, Honey locust leaves, Dogwood Leaves, Cigar tree Leaves, Poppy Petals, Queen Anne’s Lace, Yellow Onion skins, Walnut Leaves, Rose Petals, Inner Birch Bark, Red Cabbage, Comfrey, Geraniums, Blueberries, Buttercups and Red Onion Skins.
September 26 2020
Progress on the last of the four landscapes. This is my second attempt at a Spring Landscape. Wanting to depict daffodils in this season, I struggled with finding the right reference photograph. All seemed to have odd angles or unusual grouping that would not translate well to fiber. I thought about using a number of photographs and combining the various elements to create a cohesive design but eventually became frustrated with the outcome. So, as many artists do when they find themselves unhappy with their work, I set it aside and began again. This time focusing not on the surrounding landscape but on the flowers themselves.
September 13 2020
From the very beginning of this project, I wanted to include a map of Cattaraugus County when I displayed this locally focused series. I did not however have a clear vision of how much detail would go into this “storytelling” aspect of this project. It was not until earlier this month that I had the idea to fill in the county map with all of the daily variations achieved this year. There are thirty-three towns in our county. Rather than fuss over the specifics of town lines and what was collected where, I decided to divide to map with several prominent horizontal and vertical lines. Following the gradation of various hues, I worked my way from bottom to top through the sixty variations.
September 11 2020
With each finished piece, I have am posting a list of the natural dye materials collected and incorporated. This landscape includes…
Nettles, Avocado, Staghorn Sumac, Apple leaves, Cherry leaves, Dyer’s Polypore, Walnut leaves, Inkcap, Queen Anne’s Lace, Dyers Polypore, Red Cabbage, Geranium and Rose Petals.
September 10 2020
Almost finished with this winter wonderland landscape for my Community Garden: Discovering the Roots and Resources in Cattaraugus County Artist Grant. I ended up using only twelve of the sixty naturally dyed local fibers I produced over the past 9 months for this project. However, with the limited palette, I was able to incorporate and accentuate quite a few darker varieties of undyed natural wool!
September 5 2020
Progress on the community Garden Grant Project Winter scene. This one is progressing slowly but will have quite a lot of detail when it is finished. So far, it incorporates ten naturally dyed wools from local resources. I like that in this piece I can also highlight some of the naturally occurring grays and browns in some of the wool gathered.
September 3 2020
This local fall landscape incorporates all sixty dye notable dye variations from this year! The natural dye materials gathered and used in this piece includes..
Nettles, Avocado, Staghorn Sumac leaves, Inkcap, Apple leaves, Cherry leaves, Queen Anne’s Lace, Dyer’s Polypore, Yellow onion skins, Rose Petals, Bee Balm, Buttercups, Sumac seeds, Walnut leaves Inner Birch Bark, Rhubarb, Cigar Tree Leaves, Comfrey, Blueberries, Raspberries, Honey Locust leaves, Dogwood Leaves, Poppy Petals and Lupine.
September 1 2020
Progress on the second of four large felted Landscapes of Cattaraugus County, New York. This one is of a small lane along the backside of Allenberg Bog, the first of several hidden gems we discovered here in Western New York. While not all of the wool used has been dyed with natural plants, roots and bark from the county, I have incorporated 28 various hues from the naturally dyes local fibers gathered and dyed this past summer thus far.
August 29 2020
With each finished Piece, I plan to list the natural dye materials collected and incorporated. This Landscape includes…
Nettles, Avocado, Staghorn Sumac, Apple leaves, Cherry leaves, Dyer’s Polypore, Walnut leaves, Inkcap, Red Onion skins, Blueberries, Rhubarb, Honey locust leaves, Dogwood Leaves, Cigar tree Leaves, Poppy Petals and Indigo.
September 27 2020
August 26 2020
Using the Indigo dyed background, I decided to start the Red House Lake Landscape. The reflections in the water have been a bit challenging but the muted tones in the distance are perfect for the naturally dyed wools.
August 25 2020
Looking for a few rare plants, I posted a request for indigo or woad grown locally on a Cattaraugus County community page. Both plants are known to produce natural blue dyes; However, they are not common to our area. While writing the grant proposal, I knew certain hues would be a challenge. Secretly, I was hoping that there was a natural dyer in the county who might have something growing in their dye garden. No such luck. Nevertheless, I did have a fellow fiber enthusiast respond to my request.
Sandy Shelenberger, an amazing surface design and fiber artist, who works with indigo and lives only a few hours away. She reached out and offered to let me put some of my felted wool textiles into her vats. Playing with folds and resists, I tried to use some shibori dyeing techniques to produce a pattern.(I have used patterns under my landscapes before. I find they add a level of depth and interest.) Despite my best efforts, the felted wool textile was just too fuzzy and fibrous. When we unwrapped the material, there were only a few spots where the dye did not penetrate. While I was a little disappoint with the results, it was a great day experimenting with dyeing techniques.
August 24 2020
As I set out to use locally collected natural materials to create dyes for my local wool, I never thought I would end up with over sixty variations of colors! In order to have them easily accessible as I begin felting, I decided to put a small amount of each color in these trays. Now to needle felting the local landscapes.
August 4 2020
Bouquet of the different flowers donated last week and the dye results. Not quite as vibrant as I had hoped but still a variety of tones!
July 29 2020
With blueberries and Raspberries ready for picking, I decided to combine them. There are so many blueberry patches in this County and we have visited a few to pick enough to fill our freezer for winter. We have several bushes around our house and these we reserve for our after dinner snack when we feel like wandering out into the summer evening and explore what new plants are popping up in and around the yard. With an abundant crop this year, I thought I would pick some of the berries that were past their prime to make some dye. Our Blueberry patch is hedged in by our raspberries and, consequently, I decided to use both berries in the same dye bath to see I could obtain a new natural dye color. I would say these two did not disappoint! The combination produced this lovely soft lilac color!
July 17 2020
I have a bit going on this next week and so I need to get all of this material into dye baths. Since I have so much material, I will be using a stovetop and jars, for solar dyeing, to compare the two methods.
July 17 2020
I got a call this week from a local friend, Deb Alianello. She said she had a few exhausted poppies for me. When I arrive to pick up the petals, she had a variety of materials for me to use. Of course, she had the poppy petals but she also gifted me a plastic bag full of pink rose, stems, and flowers. As she was clipping, she offered bee balm and spirea. Just when I thought she had given me more than I could imagine she offered me her exhausted geraniums as well. I can’t begin to express how much I appreciate her donation!
July 13 2020
I have found that onion skins are one of the best natural dyes! From the dye extracted from this one pot of yellow onion skins, I was able to use the dye four times to dye wool in various shades of yellow. This pot shown would be the first shade the skin produces with the proceeding batches of color growing lighter and lighter.
July 11 2020
Again, taking advantage of the heat to get some materials into jars for more solar dyeing. Today I have two jars of Queen Anne’s Lace yellow and a small jar red rose petals. I have found that the all-in-one solar dyeing method was not working for this project. While it is similar in that it is a one-step dyeing process, I have found that the jars are not big enough to hold a useful amount of dyed wool. So when I solar dye, I will extract the dye first. Then, after removing the plant material, I add the fiber I am trying to dye.
July 7 2020
Today I am dyeing with blueberries. There are many blueberry farms in our area and have discovered several blueberry bushes on our property. From what I have read, dyes can be extracted not just from the blueberries but also from the leaves and bark. For this grant project, I am hoping to dye with all three sources but today I am working with just the berries.
July 8 2020
Today I gathered some Yarrow from one of our flowerbeds. Last year I found it growing to hear or garage and realized it was one of the plants on our property I could use for natural dyeing. I have been extraction natural dyes using various methods but, with the forecast calling steady temperatures in the 90’s, I wanted to take advantage of all the heat. I’m excited to see how much color can be extracted from these yarrow flower tops when they are just placed in water and left out in the sun.
July 7 2020
This past weekend, I decided to take inventory of my naturally dyed fibers. For the DEC individual artist grant I was awarded in January, I proposed to source my fiber materials locally and dye them with locally gathered plants, barks and leaves. This has been a challenge with COVID but I was able to gather dyeing materials here and there. When I separated my dyed fibers into general tones, I found I had a wider variety then I had originally thought and I was pleasantly surprised to find such a cohesive palette! While I am not quite finished with natural dyeing for this project, I believe it is time to focus the majority of my time this month on creating the local landscapes that will make up this small felted collection.
July 3 2020
Some of the results from dyeing the past two weeks! Dye materials include Rhubarb root, cigar tree leaves, dogwood leaves, apple leaves, and cherry leaves. As I continue this project, I feel as though I keep seeing similar color palettes and tones. Soon I will need to take inventory of all my naturals dyes thus far.
June 26 2020
Results from the past few weeks’ natural dyeing. Dyes this week were extracted from Birch bark, Lupine/Petunia petals, and Rhubarb leaves. As I continue this project, I feel as though I keep seeing similar color palettes and tones. Soon I will need to take inventory of all the colors I have created so far to see if I am getting the variety I need for my Art Pieces.
June 24 2020
This past week we did some exploring, trying to collect from various areas of the county. I collected some leaves and twigs from a Cigar tree near Zoar Valley, some Dogwood leaves near Griffis Sculpture Park and some Honey Locust leaves from Ellicottville. It was a pleasant drive along our country roads looking for new dye materials.
June 23 2020
The results from the dyer’s polypore mushrooms gifted to me a few weeks ago. I used a Alum mordant and thought the results would have been darker but, as I found with beets and red cabbage. things that stain don’t always set as a dye. Misty has been super encouraging and so I may try more mushrooms that come available throughout the summer season.
June 11 2020
The mushrooms I was received for this project are Ink Cap, Dyer’s Polypore, and Reishi mushrooms. I did a little research and decided to start with the Dyer’s Polypore. Since I am unsure where to go with dyeing with mushrooms, I opted for the safest approach. I soaked them in distilled water overnight. This morning I found quite a bit of color so I decided to put the Reishi and Ink Cap in jars to soak over the weekend.
June 10 2020
My goal in this grant project was to explore my community while exploring a new technique in my craft, hence the name Community Garden. I had been discouraged with COVID, not being able to meet people in and around the county who might want to participate. A few weeks ago, I shared one of my posts about collecting materials to a county Facebook group, hoping to find other material gatherers. Today, I was delighted to see a message from a mycophagist in the area. She forges the county gathering mushrooms to eat! She had several she had collected and dried that were good for dyeing! Mushrooms were not on my radar for natural dyeing BUT I am willing to give it a try!! Thank you so much, Misty Hunt!!
June 9 2020
Here are some of the results from this week all in one solar dyeing. The phlox and buttercups seemed to produce the best colors. The dirty golden locks in the finished photo are the results from last week’s Cherry and Apple leaf dyes. I am pleased with all three results. These wildflowers were not on my original list of dyeing materials but I thought they would be fun for experimenting. Up to this point, I have been able to create several shades and tints of yellows with locally gathered materials. but the buttercups are so vibrant I thought I would try them before they were gone for the season. This was the first time I have achieved a pink/peach color from locally gathered materials so that was promising.
June 8 2020
All of a sudden, it is summer here in western New York! Because our summers are so short, I find I want to be outside as much as possible, enjoying every ray of sunshine available. So far June has not disappointed with some beautiful weather. With it being so pleasant, I found I have been doing more stovetop dyeing on our front porch.
June 6th 2020
Here is just another example of how mordant can affect the natural dye extracted from your collected materials. The photo on the left is an all in one solar dyeing attempt with an Alum Mordant. The photo on the right is just the Phlox in water. After just a few hours of the afternoon sun, both are beginning to show color but are displaying very different results.
June 6 2020
While I have been using the sun to extract dyes from the various local materials gathered, this is my first attempt at all-in-one solar dyeing. All-in-one simply means I am extracting the dye, mordanting, dyeing all at the same time. So that I can achieve as many colors as possible from the gathered materials, I am using a variety of mordants but I thought I would start with Alum. Alum is known to produce the brightest colors. Here are the results from just a few hours in the afternoon sun. I will leave them out for another day to allow the jars to heat up the content for a long enough time to set the colors.
June 6 2020
The weather looks right and I have just collected some bright wildflowers. I think it is time to start exploring the process of all-in-one solar dyeing!
June 5 2020
I like to walk in the morning. It allows me to enjoy nature and take note of the current stage of our local vegetation. This morning I took a longer walk than usual. Last week I realized that each bloom is available for only a short time. If you miss it, you have to wait a whole year for the opportunity to collect a particular plant. Today, I decided to experiment with some wildflowers along the roadside.
June 4 2020
This winter, I did quite a bit of reading to prepare for this project. I know there is a lot of content available online for natural dyeing but I prefer books and talking with other fiber enthusiasts. Here are some of the written resources I found particularly helpful for this project.
June 3 2020
There are several ways to extract dye from natural materials. One method includes placing your gathered materials into water and allowing it to soak for several weeks. When I use this method, I will occasionally find that mold has started to grow. For some materials, it is part of the process.
June 1 2020
For the Community Garden Grant project, I plan to use all of the materials I have been gathering and dyeing to create a small collection of work that captures places in and around Cattaraugus County. This month, I decided to start producing a few smaller works. Today, I am playing with shadow, color, and line in this small piece.
May 31 2020
Wanting to encourage community participation, I decided to create a list of things I was hoping to collect in the coming week. This particular post I decided to share in some local Facebook groups. Since New York is only in phase 2 of reopening after the COVID shut down, I decided this might be the best way to reach out to locals who might be interested in participating in this project.
May 29 2020
This week I was doing some natural dyeing with beets! You would not think it would take so much but to get this bright orange color. I found it required a 10 to 1 ratio of beets(and greens) to wool! Of Course, the bag on the left contains the results from the first dye bath. The bag on the right was dyed with the 2nd exhaust!
May 24 2020
Looks can be deceiving! I gathered some yellow rocket last week for dyeing. I wanted a 1:1 wool to material ratio. The wool looks twice as big as the small pile of flowers collected.
May 23 2020
Hoping for more community involvement, I create a post for Facebook and Instagram to communicate what materials I will be collecting for dyes this week.
May 22 2020
The weather this time of year is distinctly springlike, with lots of rain, wind, and fluctuating temperatures. IN short, it is not ideal for solar dyeing. So, I am doing a little more stovetop dyeing this week, working with the materials I have collected thus far. My sun porch works great this time of year, offering lots of natural light, and uninterrupted working space. Today I have all kinds of projects in the various stages of natural dyeing from dye extraction and pre-mordanting wool to dyeing and post-mordanting.
May 21 2020
I added a few more materials to the solar dyeing this week, exhausted Daffodils and Yellow Rocket. There are several ways of extracting color from natural materials. Solar Dyeing uses energy from the sun to assist in the process. As the Jars sit out in the warm sun, the color leaches out as the water temperature rises. I found that the Staghorn Sumac and the Daffodils responded best to this method of dye extraction.
May 20 2020
For this project, the two areas of interested I proposed to study are natural dyeing and solar dyeing. With the temperature climbing into the mid 70’s, I decided it was good day to start experimenting with solar dyeing. This morning, I gathered more dandelion heads, more sumac and Purple Dead Nettle. We shall see how it goes!
May 19 2020
I thought I would show local locks dyed with the natural materials gathered for color. This golden chartreuse color came from using Rhubarb leaves as a mordant and daffodil flowers for color!
May 17 2020
With all the spring thunderstorms,I had to do some dyeing indoors. Here is a glimpse of my stove top dye pots when I need to come inside.
May 15 2020
This area is inundated with lakes! They come in all sizes in western New York, from Chautauqua Lake, near Jamestown, NY to our local treasure, New Albion Lake in New Albion, NY. Each offers a different perspective and landscape. With so many lakes, I feel one of my four scenes selected for the Community Garden Grant Exhibit will need to include a lake. This week, I decided to get a different perspective and took some photographs while kayaking at Red House Lake.
May 13 2020
May 10 2020
With these bright yellow beauties popping up all over the place in late spring, I decided to show a comparison of the amount of wool to the amount of dyeing material needed. For natural dyeing, the materials to wool ratio is can range from equal parts to ten times to material to wool. This makes for a lot of gathering and collecting. I have had a few helpers with dandelions. Three women I have been walking with took some time to pick them after our excursion.
May 3 2020
I have been having trouble connecting with locals who might have photos of in county treasured spots, so I decided to do some research and see if I could visit some recommended outdoor locations. I reasoned that a few captured photos would get me started. On Mother’s day, we decided to check out Allegany State Park. James had asked a local coworker about it and he had said it was a hidden gem. Not really knowing what to expect, we drove toward one of the entrances, decided to just drive through and see what was there. We found that it is huge and absolutely beautiful, with two lakes, several rental cabins in multiple locations, and all kinds of trails!! I guess it is a big area for snowmobiling and cross country skiing but after being shut up all winter and with the isolating, it looks like paradise! As we took one of the main roads through most of the park, I took a few snapshots of the slowly greening life returning to our area. As the weather continues to warm up, we will be back to hike and explore. More photos to come!!
April 27 2020
In late March, just a few days before the state of New York started to close businesses, I had taken a rather large box packed with 5 fleeces to the post office. The box was quite heavy and too large around for one person to carry it. With the help of my daughter, We hulled the parcel into the post office to be weighed. Of course, it was too big to pass through the window. So we carried around to the back of the counter and placed it on the scale. The shipping weight came to 48 pounds and would cost just under $100 to ship. I typically like to visit the mill where the fibers were being processed and chat with the owners if it’s the first time using the mill. Due to current events though and the fact that it was a six-hour drive round trip, I figured that could be done when I drove down to pick up the fibers after they were processed. So out the package went! When I was planning out this project last fall, I had called Stramba Fiber Mill to get some pricing and to find out what their wait time was for processed fiber. At the time they said they had a 6 to 7 month wait time! I explained my project and they offered to process the small amount of wool I sent in 3 months. With the thought of the processed wool returning in June, I became very concerned when all nonessential businesses were shut down in Pennsylvania just a few days later. I had kept some local wool back to wash so I busied myself with wool processing and dyeing hoping the wool would be back sometime in late summer. I was elated when I got the message from the farm just a few weeks back that they had all my wool done and would be sending it back!! Of course, this meant another shipping cost on top of the processing fee but I just chalked it up to one more snafu in the process and waited for the bill. She sent me a message letting me know she was sending it back in the original box. I braced for another $100 bill but she sent me a bill for $40 instead. So I waited and waited for my package to arrive. Eventually, my home dying projects took over my attention causing my wool delivery to be pushed to the back of my mind. Then just yesterday I got the postcard in my mailbox letting me know that there was a rather large package waiting for me at the post office! Now because I live in a small tightknit community and have not lived here very long there are few familiar faces in my community. One of those familiar faces happens to be the postal worker at the post office. I often chat with her when I pick up stamps or mail out packages. I had mentioned this price difference to her on an earlier visit and so she was on the lookout for my returned fleeces. When I walked in with my package slip, she said she had weighed it the package out of curiosity. It was 28 pounds! Half the original weight! I knew some of the dirtier wool would be discarded in processing but the box was packed just as tight as before. The mill did a wonderful job and now I have plenty of roving to begin natural dyeing.
April 23 2020
This week I reached out to a carpenter who lives in the Franklinville area, to place an order for frames for this project. When I first moved to Western New York, I was was in the process of looking for a professional frame shop to take care of the framing aspect of my work. In just doing an online search, I did not find very many options. As I meet other artists in the area, I would ask if they could recommend a framer or even a frame builder. I had several referrals but I am rather particular when it comes to frames. Framing textile art is a tricky business. There are so many ways to display and frame your work. Early on, I decided to put my smaller work behind glass. I do this for several reasons but the main reason. Framing it this way helps to protect the work from moths and it easy to clean. There are several challenges with this method of presenting my textile art. For me, it meant using shadowbox frames, which are not so easy to find. It can also be rather tedious and time-consuming since each piece needs to be pinned or sewn into place and then sealed. Because of this time consuming and unusual framing process, I found that many frame shops were not so keen on working with an artist on pricing. So my second plan was to find an amazing carpenter who could make frames. After a year of asking around and working with several skilled individuals, I have found two simply amazing craftsmen. With my main goal to source as much as I can in the county, I choose to use Dan Heckenthorn for this project. I ordered five 25″ square frames. I am partial to Mahogany for my frames, but with the shutdowns, I decided to ask Him what he had on hand for wood. He said he had maple or butternut he could use for this project. I choose Butternut. He said he had a few projects he was working on but would have them done by early fall for the exhibits. I thought I would include a photo on the first frame he built for me.
April 19 2020
I had approached a local Amish Farmer back in early February about purchasing some of the wool from his farm. He took my number and said he would call when he has some fleeces ready. Two weeks into the shutdowns, While I was at the grocery store, He called and left the message letting me know the wool was ready to be picked up. I was not sure if he was aware of the shutdowns and not knowing how to let him know I got his message. I drove over to East Otto to his farm to see if I could pick up the fleeces. Finding no one home, I left an decided to try another time. I drove back over today and after some wandering around and composing a note, I found the farmer. With all the extra steps involved in general engagement with others during this time, I forgot to get all his information (Farm name, sheep breed, permission to photograph sheep, etc) I plan to visit his farm later this summer, when are regions opens back up. The fleeces I received from him were fairly course (good for felting) and white. I have been cleaning fleeces in my washing machine but I decided to clean these fleeces using a different method I recently saw on a fiber blog. I picked a large number of the organic material from the fleece and placed it in a large washing bin. I set it outside and allowed the spring rains to wash out the remaining debris. Of course, this fleece has lost a bit of its lock integrity but to get it completely clean, I was going to be turning it into roving anyway. It should work well for natural dyeing and I am excited to have one more local fiber source incorporated into this project.
April 18 2020
For this proposed project, my process for creating one of my one-of-a-kind scenes will look a little different. Typically, I let the background textile influence the scene. I have used woven wool textiles, wet-felted wool textiles, silk, and linen for my backgrounds then layered my fibers in like an oil painter, building up into the foreground. Working with a variety of sheep wool, alpaca and llama wool, yak, silk, and Angora, I choose fibers from my stash for its color and texture working them into the piece. With this project, I am working with a limited palette. The textures I will be working with will be exclusively what has been collected locally. While I will not be able to make every color from what I can collect locally, I want the majority of the fibers used in each scene to color from the locally collected dye material. With these two constraints, I decided that I would use a white felted wool textile as a base to allow the colors to be the main focus and so that each color will stand out against the white background. With a specialty store closed, I ordered these supplies online. Surprisingly, they arrived one week later.
April 15 2020
This week, I was reading and watching videos on solar dyeing, I am wondering if I need to incorporate a solar oven into my process. We live back in the woods on the top of a hill and with all the critters that roam around our property and the fairly intense gusts of wind that we see, I am wondering if the jars are going to be OK outside. Completing this project within a calendar year has presented a few problems. One being the dyeing and processing steps. If time was not a constraint, I would have picked the fleeces, cleaned them myself, and then completed all my natural dyeing throughout the summer and fall. After all of the wool was dyed, I would have then sent it off to the mill to have a majority of it made into roving. This would have taken probably two years to complete but would have produced some beautiful roving blends and finished hand dyed locks. With having the mill clean and make much of the wool into roving before dyeing, the wool is more susceptible to felting if the dyebaths if it gets too warm. Dyeing solely in mason jars with lids will make controlling the temperature difficult. You can dye in jars without the lids but that makes the fibers vulnerable to the elements and curious critters. It will add some extra time and resources but I may need to build a solar oven to help me regulate the dyebath temperature and provide a safe place to dye. I found some plans for building an oven. Hopefully, the local hardware store will open up soon and I can take my supply list down to get a better idea of cost.
April 14 2020
While picking up groceries this week, I remembered that Easter Egg Dye tablets worked great for fiber dyeing. Now on clearance, I decided to purchase several kits. Working with 100 g of fiber at a time, I had a great time mixing colors. I mixed blues, reds, yellows, and greens with some pretty impressive results. Obviously, the more tablets I used in each pot, the more vibrant the outcome. I was having so much fun that I decided to make a video for others to duplicate. Enjoy!
April 13 2020
This week I was able to experiment with different mordants and their effects on acid dyes. There are so many ways to manipulate the color with a mordant from pre-mordant to post-mordant. It can be so overwhelming that one can get lost in the various factors if not careful. I decided to start simple and choose to add the mordant directly to the dye stock. One pot. One step. One simple process. For fiber, I choose Alpaca since I had a large fairly clean fleece on hand. Keeping it simple, I used a package of Rit Navy dye 1/2 t for each batch and my regular tap water.
Because I usually need such a wide range of hues for my scenery, I will typically add the dye to the pot last. When the fibers and mordant are heated and ready, the fibers tend to trap the color and hold it in certain areas of the dye pot, allowing some fibers to be completely saturated while others tend to get a lighter wash. This gives me the variety of tints and shades I typically need and so it is my go-to method for dyeing.
The picture of the dye bath on the far left was done with vinegar (not technically a mordant but an acid which does help the dye adhere and last.) For me, this one came out the most consistent with various tones. As for the fiber in the center, I used a copper mordant. The cooper gave this batch of fiber violet undertones and made this shade of blue a bit cooler in tone. For the fiber on the far right, I used an iron mordant. The iron gave the dyed fibers a browner earthen tone. It was a great start in understanding the effects that mordants can have on the finished product.
April 7 2020
Today, I decided to take stock of what fibers and colors I have completed so far. I was using up the various acid dyes I had on hand while experimenting with the mordants (Alum, Cooper and Iron) I plan to use when I Solar dye this summer. Each mordant will affect the colors outcome and I wanted to get a better understanding of each mordant’s affect before learning to solar dye. I am also learning a little more about natural dyeing as I go for a second attempt with Staghorn Sumac. The first batch of dye made was a lovely shade of red but was not quiet strong enough to dye the 100g of wool I had set aside. Today using four times the amount of Sumac, I am hoping to get a better result.
April 6 2020
Stramba Farm and Fiber Mill emailed to let me know all of my wool was finished! This was a huge surprise and blessing, since I was not even aware that they had received the fleeces I mailed out three weeks ago. I will have to have them shipped back to me due to the Covid-19 voluntary quarantine but I am so thankful to have them back early!
April 4 2020
Trying to make the most of my time at home during this season of social distancing by dyeing and making a few natural dyes. With Cushing’s Perfection dyes, I have created some variegated locks to get my more vivid tones. As for natural dyes, before we all decided to stay home, I grabbed some yellow onions from the store. I wanted to see if there was a difference between red and yellow onion skins. The picture in on the left in the center is the color extracted on by simmering onion skins for several hours. The top left image is 100 g of Cormo wool locks being dyed.
April 3 2020
As I clean each fleece, I am separating it into smaller dyeable amounts of 100g. This is an ideal amount of wool for dyeing via stove top but it may be a little too much for a jar. It will at least give be a starting point when I am ready to start solar dyeing.
April 2 2020
My first attempt at making a solar dye!! This dye is made from Staghorn Sumac collect from our property this week. I gathered about 3 clusters, placed them in a jar, and then filled it with some collected rainwater. The heat from the sun warms the water, steeping the contents and extracting a blushy pink!
April 1 2020
My goals for April include collecting dyeing materials, dyeing the gathered fibers that were not sent off to the mill and I am hoping to have my final selection of the locations within the county that I plan to capture in fiber.
March 13 2020
Today I visited the Chapman Farm in Randolph, NY. I wanted two more fleece to take to the fiber mill on Friday. The Chapmans have several breeds including Cormo, Cheviot, and Corriedale Cross. Of Course, we added their Farm to my Cattaraugus County Roots and Resources Map. But my favorite part of my visit was when this young fiber Enthusiast wanted to show me several of the farm’s latest editions. We checked out the new lambs but she was super excited to show me her new Angora Rabbit. She is planning on selling me her first sheering for my project! I am happy to encourage her in her fiber production business and elated to find my first Angora connection in Western New York!! IF you are interested in obtaining some of their wool or are looking to start your herd you can contact the Chapman Family at Chapman Sheep Farm on Facebook.
March 12 2020
Today it was beautiful outside here in Western New York. Sunny and in the mid-’50s. Since I am hoping to take a number of my collect local fleeces to the wool mill on Friday, I decided to do some “skirting” and picked out the large vegetable matter. Taking the time to get the large pieces out will save me serious frustration, later on. This will help limit any remaining matter that will become further embedded as the fleece is washed and carded. Since many of the farms in the county don’t always use their wool, some of the fleeces contain more vegetable matter than typical. This black fleece, in particular, required more skirting then usual so I wanted to walk out the process of having this local fiber processed at a wool mill. I have processed several fleeces at home but this amount of wool would be a little too much. I am hoping to compare the difference between a fleece processed at home with fibers sent to a mill.
March 11 2020
Tonight I headed to the Tri-County Arts Council in Olean, NY for the Grant Award Ceremony. Between the community, education and individual artist grants, there were quite a few recipients there. I received certificates from Senator Borrello’s and Assemblymember Giglio’s office and the check to fund my project. Ready to get started!!!
March 1 2020
My March Goals include collecting three to five local fleeces, Sending those collected fleeces t the Wool mill, Stramba Farms, and having this tab ready for viewing.
February 17 2020
This weekend, I collected some cooper and iron scrap to start my Mordants. Mordants help the dyed adhere to the fibers. Since my project involves a lot of natural dyeing, I need a mordant. While the iron mordant is suppose to bring out a darker shade in the natural dyes, the cooper mordant is suppose to add lovely shades of green. There are quite a few recipes for mordant. I choose to make this batch with white vinegar and let it sit for a month. After one day, it is already starting to change color!
February 4 2020
Today, after dropping off some source wool samples to the gallery for my opening this Friday, I headed to a few local farms to start to gather wool for this project. My first stop was at Moon Rock Farm in Freedom, NY. Ellen is a natural dyer and exceptional weaver. I met her last fall of the Western New York Fiber Festival and she has been sharing her vast knowledge and wisdom with me whenever I stop by. When I display my Cattaraugus County scenes at the end of this year, I plan to add a map that shows where all my resources were found. Moon Rock Farm was the first farm added to my map. From Moon Rock Farm, I was able to get 2 pounds of Romney Cross wool, white and gray.
Next I headed to Heavenly Valley Farm in Freedom, NY. They raise Cotswold and Tunis sheep. First time meeting this family but I fell in love with their beautiful fibers! From this farm, I picked up two pounds of Cotswold locks to hand dye.
February 1 2020
Today I called two more wool producers in Cattaraugus County, Long Meadow Acres and Heavenly Valley Farms, to ask about their fleeces and arrange a day to pick them up. For this project, I have several personal development goals.
One of my main goal for this project was to source all my fibers from Cattaraugus County, hence the Discovering the roots and Resources within Cattaraugus County. While there are a few farms that raise fiber breed sheep, many are raise dual breed sheep, raised not just for their wool but also for their meat. Dual breed sheep offer a variety of wool textures and locks but their fleeces can be harder to clean and harder to work with.
Another goal of mine is to send the collected local fleeces to a fiber mill and have the them processed into roving. There are no mills in Cattaraugus County and only one in Western New York. There are many breeds of sheep and therefore several varieties of wool. Each wool serves a different purpose. Most mills process softer wool and fibers, such as Merino wool, Alpaca and Llama. Many will not process certain wool since they can often be too greasy/full of lanolin. I needed to find a mill that would work with me to processing a small variety of fleeces.
Not only did I have these challenges but I needed them to be done in a short time. When writing up my grant proposal, I had to lay out my project plan and do a bit of research. I found that when I talked to various mills, the average processing time was 6 to 8 months. Since this project is only a year long, that was going to be a problem for me. I asked a few of my fellow fiber artist if they knew of a mill that might be able to help me on this project. One suggested, Stramba Farms and Mill in Wampum, PA. I called them and they were willing to help me.
Today, I called to find out the best way to ship my collected fleeces and to find out how long the processing time would be. They they would have my fleeces done in May. Now to collect all the fleeces that are being processed and ship them out!
February 1 2020
My goals for February include continuing to collect and gather fibers from local growers. I am also hoping to start collecting and experimenting with some barks that I hope to use for natural dyeing. The time of year these materials are collected can affect the outcome and I wanted to compare the dyes from this source collected in all four seasons. Being new to the county, I do not have very many photos of the county in all four seasons. I am also hoping to reach out to a few new friends and see if anyone has some reference photos they are willing to let me use for color and layout. Last but not least, I plan on gathering a few more natural dyeing resources to read before the summer dyeing season comes.
January 28 2020
The purpose of the DEC Individual Artist Grant is to help New York Artists explore new areas of their craft. The skills I will be exploring and developing are in the area of natural dyeing. For my first attempt, I used red onion skins to dye locally grown Cormo wool locks. The locks behind the onions are their “before” color and the locks to the left are after the dye bath.
January 25 2020
Record keeping is not my favorite but I am determined to keep good records for this project. This past week, I decided to type up a resource collection sheet so that I can have all the information on each resource in one place. In order to keep things manageable, my plan is to hand them out to people from the county I come in contact with who might like to participate. Today, I had my first interested participant! I had a small collection of work hanging at the Ellicottville Library and I needed to take it down so that the pieces could hang in an upcoming show. The artist who manages the display space met me and helped me to take down my work and package it up for transport. As I prattled on about what was going on with me and my art, I mentioned I was looking for some natural dyeing material foraged from our area. I sent her a form and she quickly sent a reply that she would have hollyhocks and Coreposis! Thank you Barbara Fox you are my first official donation of dyeing materials for this project!! If you are interested in gathering some natural dyeing materials, scroll to the bottom of this page to access my participation form.
January 20 2020
Today, on my way tho the gym, I stopped at an Amish Farm in East Otto. I had driven by this farm several times and saw that they sold rugs and eggs. I also so a healthy look heard of sheep and wondered they were interested in selling any of their wool. With a few extra minutes in my schedule, I pulled into the drive to ask if they had any wool to sell. John, the Amish gentlemen to whom I spoke, said he would be willing to sell me some wool but did not have any at the time. I asked what breed he was raising and he quickly invited me to come and look at his flock. I believe he said he had Fin and Dorset. He had a beautiful black Ram with a lovely fleece that he said he would sell to me. I am tempted but we shall see. I gave him my number and he said he would call when he had them ready but I will probably stop again since I need to get these fleeces to the mill ASAP. I left rather please, I found another wool resource in the county and he raised breeds I do not yet have for this project!
January 19 2020
My goals for January included finding a few more local wool growers who have fleeces available now, starting my iron and copper mordant and harvesting a few natural dyeing materials that are available in the winter months. Of the three, the fleeces will be the most challenging since this is not really the season to shear sheep but I will ask around and see what I can find. I am slightly behind on my own goals having caught the flu just before the new year but it should come together.
My invitation to join this community project and be part of this project!
Learn more about my 2020 Individual Artist DEC Grant project as I explore Cattaraugus County, New York, discovering local fiber growers, collecting natural dyeing materials, and finding and capturing the beauty of Western New York through fiber!
This project is made possible with funds from the Decentralization Program, a regent program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature and administered by the Tri-County Arts Council.