Spring in Oklahoma

Well, it's February.  A little early to be calling it "spring", but that is what it feels like and that is the forecast.  My dye garden is beginning to shake off it's winter nap.  The weld is going to be great this year! Soon it will be time to collect material for my first dye workshop coming-up in April at the Multi Arts Center, in Stillwater, Oklahoma.  Right now, it is the only comprehensive dye workshop on the schedule for 2013. 

Another dye class on the books is "The red - madder and cochineal".  That one will happen at in May at the Middle Tennessee Fiber Festival.  Check their website for more details.

Arkansas here we come!

Across Generations will be adventuring into the Arkansas Fiber Arts Extravaganza for the first time this weekend!  Arkansas is one of my favorite states.  Folks there are friendly and wonderful.  Combine those traits with fiber and you have utopia!

Several of what I call "pop-up items" will be available at my booth.  These are slightly used items that I have ran across which I feel fiber enthusiasts will be greatly appreciate.  I don't always have these types of items available, but my travels this fall yielded some great items.  Three vintage enamelware pans of various sizes are ready to do duty as dye pots and a wonderful table loom.  The loom sports four shafts and was in great shape to begin with, but my husband took it all apart and spiffied it up.  The metal has been completely repainted and all the wood sports a fresh finish.

Stop by and see me.  The event is in Hot Springs and looks to be an incredible time for all attending.  See you there!

Drought and dyes

The drought in Oklahoma has really put a damper on late summer dye collections.  Nothing stayed in flower very long and what is here is crispy almost beyond recognition.  Many trees are already turning colors and dropping leaves due to heat stress.  While this puts a damper on fall natural dye classes, it by no means cancels them.  We will still have plenty to dye with and lots of fun.

In the meantime, I'm looking forward to teaching a class on shibori this weekend at City Arts in Oklahoma City.  My romance with indigo continues and we will all be "blue" this Saturday.

I Dyed That!

Today as I drove towards work, the morning sky looked just like my spot-dyed wool called "midnight".  It was various shades of grey and white with a little purple thrown in for good measure.  Now I know 6:30am is not midnight, but nobody told Mother Nature what her sunrise this morning should look like.  And I was really happy that I could nail the sky's color so accurately in my dye pan.

I often take pictures with my phone of color combinations, naturally produced or otherwise, that I want to replicate in a weaving or in the dye pot.  Some may find it odd when they catch me taking a picture of the upholstery on a chair at a restaraunt or a shower curtain at the bed and breakfast I'm staying at, but I find it normal.  Color excites me!  Color breaths with life and is the undercurrent to it.  Color transmits messages.  For hundreds of years, mankind has sought ways to color it's clothing beyond what can be found on the back of a sheep.  People have died for color, stolen for color, and traveled long distances for it.  I for one will never take it for granted.

New year, fresh adventures!

It is this time of year when I begin to line-up fiber festivals, workshops, and seminars for the new year.  It is always exciting to watch my year unfold in the calendar and very complimentary when an organization requests my presence.  I hope that those reading the blog will scroll down to the bottom of the page, drop in to one of the events and say "hello".

Tulsa State Fair

My family and I visited the Tulsa State Fair yesterday.  Selfishly, my main motivation was to see if my entries earned any rewards.  My "Autumn Palette" mat took a first prize in primitive rug hooking, small mats, and my large, hand-dyed, hand-stitched pillow took blue and premium ribbons!  This is the first premium ribbon I have ever received at this state fair and I am thrilled!

Although there are many things to talk about when it comes to fairs, my primary point for this blog entry is to encourage EVERYONE to enter SOMETHING in their local event.  Too many times we sit placidly by as the presence of our fine crafts disappear from our local fairs, seemingly dieing never to be resurrected.  Your entry doesn't have to be fabulous or even large.  It can simply be a "place holder" to say, "rug hooking", "weaving", "spinning", "dyeing", "knitting", etc. is still alive and well in the 21st century!  Some people are too shy to put their work out there, but it is one of the most important things you can do.  Even if your local event has come and gone for this year, start planning now for next year.

Is It Nuts to Act like a Squirrel?

Here we are at the end of August and due to being heat stressed, the walnut trees are already dropping their nuts.  (Usually this doesn't happen till late September/early October here in Oklahoma.)  At first the nuts were smaller than usual, but the closer we get to "normal" harvest time, the larger the nuts are becoming.

I like to take the opportunity of my lunch hour to get out of the office and pick-up walnuts.  I try to be deligent and get them as soon as they fall, when they're still green.  I never pick them off the tree quite simply because the tree isn't finished making them yet.  Many times, I feel like an overgrown squirrel picking up nuts and putting them into my recycled shopping bag.  There are always plenty to share with my furry bethren as I pass over those that have lain on the ground too long, or are slightly imperfect due to other ways.

In the park where I typically pick up these little packages of brown dye, there is one tree that has been barren for several years.  Today, it yielded three nuts to me!  I wonder if that is all it will produce.

When I return home from work, I will hoard my nuts into drying racks.  There they will wait until it is time to relinquish their tannin treasure to my dye bath.