Local Colour : Experiments in Nature

As soon as my plane touched the Canberra tarmac I was back into the whirlwind of getting work finished for the 'Local Colour: Experiments in Nature' exhibition at UNSW Galleries in Paddington, which was curated by Liz Williamson. My fractured wrist and time away was not conducive to lots of intense stitching, so it was head down and needle to the fore to get the final pieces in place before delivering to the gallery.

Liz Williamson opens Local Colour at UNSW Galleries
Photography: Silversalt Photography

'Local Colour' opened on 27th July and both Dr Julie Montgarret and I gave artist presentations to a large crowd beforehand.  I spoke about my arts practice and the interaction of nature with my work, and Julie Montgarret spoke about the work of Elsje van Keppel, which was also included in the exhibition. It was such an honour to be included in this curated show, to be with some amazing textile artists such as Elsje, Rowland Ricketts, Holly Story, Hildur Bjarnadottir, Dorothy Caldwell and India Flint to name a few.

My work ' Aranda to Frost Hollow' triptych, 240cm x 150cm
Photography: Silversalt Photography

My triptych, 'Aranda to Frost Hollow'  was a pieced work that utilised plant-dyed fabrics that had from the suburb of Aranda in Canberra.  My favourite bushwalk when I lived near the Aranda Bushland was to start at the very top of the ridge and walk all the way down through the Frost Hollow snow gums and back up the very steep hill past the powerlines.  For almost 17 years I did this walk about once a fortnight, noting the species of trees and shrubs, grasses, terrain and avoiding collisions with kangaroos! It was a walk I often took visitors on when they came to stay. After my cloths had been pieced, I then mordant-printed the map of the area where I walked on top.  The middle textile ('Frost Hollow')  is composed of hundreds of tiny naturally dyed scraps all hand-sewn to the base fabric to metaphorically continue the journey between the two hills.

My work, next to the work of Gabrielle Mordy (centre)
and Rebecca Mayo (far right)
Photography: Silversalt Photography

There were some gorgeous baskets produced by two groups of indigenous basket makers, curated by Dr Louise Hamby, and these black ones from Mullingimby were so unusual but so beautifully displayed hanging in space.

Photography: Silversalt Photography

The ethereal work of Rowland Ricketts showing his complete mastery
of indigo dyeing onto felt
Photography: Silversalt Photography

Work of Hildur Bjarnadottir (large wallhanging) and
the sculptural work by Lucy Simpson in the fore.
Photography: Silversalt Photography

The day after the opening saw many of the artists give floor talks about their work in the gallery and this was so well attended by the public.  It gave great insights into the works and why and how they had been created. One of my very favorite pieces is the work of Judith Kentish, which also happened to be hanging next to my work ! The simplicity and honesty that that emanated from these small weavings illustrated Judith's mindfulness and practise of being right in the state of making by weaving her plant dyed yarns from Cobb Creek on a card loom. Poetic.

Judith Kentish's weavings reflecting the Cobb Creek environment.

Unfortunately, there is no catalogue (yet) but if we keep nagging perhaps one will become available! If you can't get to the exhibition then the catalogue is a fantastic way to see the very best in contemporary plant-dyed textiles.

'Local Colour' is being exhibited until 15 September, 2019.

• CNR OF OXFORD ST & GREENS RD, PADDINGTON NSW 2021 
• Hours
  TUES TO SAT, 10AM-5PM. CLOSED PUBLIC HOLIDAYS

To Scour or not to Scour? A Galling question....

2018 was off to a good start as soon as I unloaded my van in preparation for the Sturt Summer School. I had a full class of students eager to learn the basics of natural dyeing and then to progress to mordant printing.

One of the most important aspects of all dyeing is the preparation of the cloth beforehand.  All too often we are in such a hurry, we misinterpret 'scouring' to mean "a quick rinse or wash in the washing machine".  Whilst any preparation has to be better than nothing on store-bought fabric, failure to take the time to ensure the fabric is free from grease, oils, dirt and sizing will result in patchy and uneven dyeing, leading to disappointment and waste of time and materials.

Below is a photo of already-whiter-than-white PFP (Prepared for Printing) linen tea-towels that I buy to print on with pigments. The water-based printing emulsion is mixed with concentrated fabric pigments which are screen-printed with a design. Once perfectly dry, the tea-towels are heat-set to bond the resin-based print-paste to the fabric.  It will only ever sit on the surface of the fabric, not inside the fibres as in dyeing.

However, in order to dye these tea-towels (in either natural or synthetic dyes) they must be scoured thoroughly first.  I figured not much would happen but at least I was doing a practical demonstration of the scouring process to the students, most of whom were beginners. 

Was I wrong!! The photo below shows the water that the 5 teatowels were scoured in - can you believe the colour of it - almost looks like a dye itself!!! After this photo was taken I started the process again and scoured the tea-towels a second time. The second lot of scouring water was paler than the first, but not entirely clean.  Given that each scouring should take around 2 hours, we rinsed them and went onto Galling the linen in a Gall Nut soak before we could mordant them the following day. This demonstration clearly shows that whilst the linen tea-towels may be PFP, they are not PFD (Prepared for Dyeing). This is an important distinction if you are buying fabric from a wholesaler to dye with.

Scouring water from the white linen tea-towels

Another important process in fibre preparation for immerse dyeing that is commonly omitted for cotton is the galling or tanning of the fabric or fibre before dyeing. This process literally 'tans' the cloth so that the mordant will attach more readily to the fibre, which in turn attracts the dye. I must admit that I have been a culprit in the past, but Joy Boutrup and Catharine Ellis converted me to galling  cotton when I attended a two week intensive course with them back in 2013. Galling can be done with a number of different plants but I prefer to use the Gall Nut method as it is fairly colourless.

I set up several experiments using store-bought tabby weave cotton fabric;  fabric that had been untreated and unwashed; fabric that had been unwashed, unscoured but mordanted in alum;  fabric that had been scoured and mordanted in alum; fabric that had been scoured and mordanted in Symplocos; and fabric that had been scoured, tanned in Gall Nut and then mordanted in Symplocos. We then dyed the pieces of fabric in a Weld extract dyebath for one hour and observed the differences between them once the samples had been washed, dried and ironed. 

The richest colour and most evenly dyed sample was, not surprisingly, the one that had been scoured, tanned and mordanted in Symplocos.  About one shade behind were the scoured and mordanted samples and the cloth that had been neither washed, scoured nor mordanted was the worst dyed sample of the lot. The differences were easily seen by eye, however did not really show up on camera, hence no photos.

In theory we should also have done a test that included a step with Turkey Red oil for the cotton, but in a 4-day workshop this was unfortunately one step too many!

In my next post I will show some examples of what the student's achieved in the four days, or if you are on Instagram I have posted a few of them @julierydertextiles.

Mordant printing frenzy!

I really enjoy teaching workshops on natural dyeing because I get such a buzz from inspiring people to look at nature in a different way, to learn more about the plants they use and exploring the many and varied ways to utilise natural colour for our enjoyment. However, when I am teaching I rarely get time to explore new techniques myself.  So it was with great anticipation that my good friend, Sylvia Riley from Sydney, came up to Canberra for a long weekend so that we could have a print-fest at Megalo! Having her there enabled me to print the full width of fabrics on my textile screens - around 140cm wide.

Squeegee passing with my print-pal, Sylvia, at Megalo

Megalo is such a great place to print because it has a full-width 8m table 👏 We both managed to get metres of fabric printed, although we were exhausted at the end of it.  My meterage is to be used for one-off naturally dyed and stitched scarves for the upcoming Open Studio Day.

Different mordants printed onto cotton

The only trouble with mordant printing is that when they dry, they are almost invisible, such as the alum above.  The slightly stained part of the design is a very weak iron and alum mix. All the mordants are printed and aged before dyeing.

Process from print to dyed fabric using a range of mordants.

The first dyebath I put this mordant-printed scarf length into was Acacia catechu, or Cutch. This gave me a lovely range of browns and tans, however I felt the scarf was a little 'dull' so once I washed and ironed it, I over-printed with some alum and another iron mix.

Adding more detail to the scarf with new mordants

Barely visible now but will show up in the next dyeing.

These small prints will add further highlights once I dye in my second dyebath, Rajentot.  I am waiting for this mordant to dry as we speak and will show the finished cloth in a few days time.
By the way, I am teaching an intermediate class on repeat printing at Megalo for the next two Saturdays, more details click here.

Over to the Dark Side....

Wow, I have no idea where July and August went but we are almost into September and I thought I had better do an update on my blog. A couple of weekends ago I ran an Introduction to Natural dyes and Printing with Mordants workshop in Canberra which was well attended, including several participants who have continued to come along to build up their knowledge and skills of natural dyes. It was especially lovely that Pirjo came all the way from Darwin and braved the Canberra winter, lucky it wasn't the weekend just gone because we had both hail and snow here on Sunday.

Making the mordant mixtures for printing

The lovely part about running the workshops is that we have a large kitchen with an open fire blazing away, so we can relax and eat yummy lunches and chat about our natural dye experiences. These conversations always seem to come back to the same gentle admonishments of why I am not on Facebook/Instagram etc etc etc.....

So....in order to keep Belinda, Jess and Ellen quiet....I now have an Instagram account : #julierydertextiles. And to be perfectly honest, I am enjoying connecting with other people, although because I am new to Instagram I am still learning Insta-etiquette. As Ellen commented, I have now crossed over to the Dark Side! So I am determined to show them I am not the luddite they think I am! Actually its more about finding the time to upkeep, but please connect with me on Instagram if you can.

Day 15 - Rinca to Labuan Bajo

Another beautiful sunrise on the way to Rinca island, and all the more poignant because this is our last day on the Ombak Putih. Rinca is one of the four islands that are home to the prehistoric Komodo Dragons, and it lies within the Komodo National Park.

We were guided by Kamli who comes from Rinca. Although the guides live on site when they are working Kamli said that sometimes it takes him 6 hours to get to his village when he is going home because of the danger involved. Not only are there Komodo dragons, there are snakes, wild deer and buffalo to contend with. He sometimes has to run up a tree to sit out the danger. Although, having said that, baby Komodo dragons live in trees for the first couple of years after hatching, and they are not that small.....

Most of my photos were taken on my camera because of the lighting conditions - so the ones taken on my ipad were not so good. This is OK  in terms of lighting, however it is of a 'romantic' nature. I guess we were lucky to see that.....at least they weren't eyeing us off  instead. Although the Komodo look sluggish they can actually run up to 60 km/h and thats a whole lot faster than me! Their bites are toxic and contain Listeria bacteria, so they are really to be avoided. They immobilise their prey and then tear off chunks and swallow whole, no chewing. Their jaws can dislocate to enable them to swallow whole animals. The park is littered with skulls of buffalo and other victims.

The terrain of Rinca was quite different to other islands we have been on and I was quite nervous walking along, making sure I kept up with the group.  Even so, I walked loudly and carried a big stick....

After our visit to ghe Komodo, we continued sailing towards Labuan Bajo to catch our afternoon flight back to Bali. The crew decided to put up all the sails, which was a spectacular sight.

We then went ashore to a small sandy beach and had our last swim and snorkle. It was perfect....except for those parrot fish who wanted to nip you every so often!

This trip has been an amazing adventure and I have learnt so much about Indonesian textiles from remote islands, their cultures and their dyes. It was truly an honour to be guided through the process by David and Sue, whose knowledge, love and passion for not only the textiles but the people, is immense. They were generous to a fault and it is hard to imagine, in fact impossible to imagine trying to do a similar trip by yourself. Their personal connections with local guides and weavers and dyers on these islands is testament to their committment to help these people continue to produce  and practice their textile art in a sustainable way. The wonderful thing about this trip was also the other passengers, who all came with their knowledge and expertise, and not always in textiles. It made for lively and stimulating conversations over delicious meals and bumpy car rides and our friendships formed bonds that I hope will act as warps and wefts for future interaction.

What a great trip this has been, I am so greatful to Sue and David and all the crew of Seatrek for making it such a memorable and informative one!

Day 9 - Labala Bay - Lamalera

This morning we cruised into Lambala Bay on the southern side of Lambata Island to visit the Lamalera whaling village. In fact, when we came ashore there was a huge skull of a whale that had been caught three weeks earlier. It had been picked clean and throughout the village there were various assortments of unidentifiable meat drying in the sun.....

We were greeted ceremoniously by the fishermen in traditional garb, and then entertained with dances and songs about catching whales and barter exchange of cloth for other goods. This part of the island does not support much agriculture so the whole village of around 2000 people are reliant on the success of the fishing boats. They catch fish including large tuna, manta ray, dolphins and hopefully whales. A whale can feed the whole village whereas smaller catches only feed the families of those directly involved with the catch.

Whale meat drying in the sun was a common sight around the village.

Women were also selling shells, teeth from whales and dolphins, as wells as whale vertebrae as stools and other bones as spindles and swifts etc. 

This was also the first time I had seen naturally dyed yarns for sale in indigo, morinda and other colours.

The women weave kewatek ikat sarong dyed with multiple applications of natural dyes.

Here I am with Ibu Agnes who wove this scarf which I had bought from her.

This is Ibu Marie and Ibu Elisabet from Lamalera. Ibu Elisabet was selling a Sikka cloth which could have made its way to Lamalera through exchange.

In the afternoon we took a bus up to visit a local school and church with an amazing view over the village.

Interior of the church of St Petrus-Paulus with hand-painted wall.

Day 8 Alor Island - Kalabaki Harbour

This morning was another glorious sunrise and after breakfast on the boat we went for an excursion to the Tapkala Village of the Abui Tribe. We were taken most of the way by bus but about half a kilometer or so we had to stop, get out and walk the rest of the way because it was difficult for the bus to negotiate.

The people of Tapkala gave us a ceremonial greeting with warriors brandishing spears, and feathered headdresses, and the women wearing heavy ankle bracelets. These people are physically similar to Papuans and in fact recent recearch has identified 14 separate indigenous languages, most of which are Papuan or Austronesian.

They invited us into their village and performed a once-sacred dance called the lego-lego , performed by joining hands in a circle, accompanied by very slow yet emotive singing. We were then invited to join in because it was a dance about friendship. 

This tribe place a lot of value on the moko drums which are used as bridewealth. Their houses further down the mountain were also decorated with painted or woven geometric motifs.

After that we were taken to a local market to browse amongst the vendors, mostly fruit and vegetables and western-style clothing, but there were a few stalls selling some handmade textiles. 

This was one of the delicious treats on offer - it is called kueh jipang and is made from rice flour, coconut and brown sugar, kind of like a coloured rice vermicelli, but sweet.

We then visited the local Museum which held a small assortment of commissioned textiles from different regions. These had been recently made and many of the exhibits were behind filthy tinted glass so photography was not that easy to do.

After lunch on the boat we went ashore again to visit the Monbang Hamlet in the Kopidil District, home to the Abui tribe. These people have revived the art of barkcloth making, because the use of bast fibres was banned in 1971 by the Indonesian government for being too primitive.

We caught the bus most of the way up the mountain but needed to walk the last 300m or so because

of a dispute between two tribes hence the bus was not allowed to go any further.

Our representative this time was Alfred from Taiwan and he was dressed ceremonially in the warrior's tapa cloth skirt and headdress. The Abui took him into the forest to "find" the tree that the tapa is made from, and he was carried seated on bamboo poles like a king to the central meeting space.

Another version of lego-lego was performed and then the demonstration of tapa making began. The tree they collected was thin, probably because they had a certain amount of time for demonstration as it is hard work. Firstly the outer bark was shaved off with a large knife. The peeled log is placed over another log for balance and then beaten carefully with another piece of wood. This bruised the outer layer of the tree so that it separated from the layers below. Once the whole circmference had been beaten the bark was peeled off then slit up the centre to form a squarish piece of tapa which could then be joined to other pieces to form larger cloth. Unfortunately I took videos of this process on the ipad, not photos, so I cant add any photos in until I return home.

In the evening we set sail for the island of Lamalera.

Day 5 - Larantuka

I woke up this morning to see land through my porthole and raced upstairs to see the mist still coming off the mountains in the early morning sun as we cruised pass Larantuka, at the foot of the Ile Mandiri volcano.

Sue and I sat sipping our coffee in the peaceful early morning light appreciating the cool breeze and quiet. We all had breakfast on deck before heading ashore to visit the Lamaholot villagers. This was one of the high points of the trip because the women decorate their earthy ikats with tiny white shells, painstakingly cut then pierced so they could be embroidered on to their sarongs. We were treated to a wonderful dance and singing by young children, which I think was called puteh ture, with young girls dancing a story of how the fibre is spun, warped and woven. 

Older women then performed the soka alo or bamboo dance.

We then had a chance to look at their beautiful textiles which were quite different from others we have seen so far, and of course another opportunity to buy. Again, the main dyes were indigo and Mengkudu, but their ikats were simpler, the added highlights being the small clusters of shells.

We were invited to walk around the village which was so tidy and well-cared for, you could tell people were happy live there, and we were told that this was at the instigation of the chief. The whole village gave off a great vibe, people genuinely smiling, laughing and happy to live in such a healthy community. Even the anjing seemed content!

After lunch we went to a small beach to swim and snorkel, but the tide was low so it was quite hard work to get out from the beach far enough to swim. We all managed to collect some beautiful shells and red coral as we scavenged the tideline, and after returning to the Ombak Putih we sat up on the top deck with a cold drink, watching the sun set to our right whilst at the same time to our left the moon rose directly over Ile Api. Perfect!