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Comment by Louise Barnes on June 29, 2012 at 20:24

Hello Frances, Some people in the Pilbara call the tree I used a white gum but I was under the impression that white gums don't grow in the Pilbara. Almost any Eucalypt will give a good strong fbrown colour and sometimes it just depends on how long I have boiled it and what mordant I have used. I mostly use Alum I have tried writing down as I go but then I lose the spontanaitey and that's what my art is all about. I don't spend a lot of time thinking about what I am going to do I just do it. When I use dyes in the Pilbara they tended to be in solution for a couple to a few weeks. Whne I go out on break I live three hours south of Perth where the climate is quite a lot cooler and I only leav e the cloth in solution for a couple of days. That is what I love about this sort of work, it is always different. Some of the materials that I used to make the flowers in Rhapsody of Colour are bought fabric so please don't think that I am that clever.  I would like to make a cloth book so will start working on that once my present project is completed. All this is such fun would love to give up work and jsut do this all the time. Regards,Louise

 

Comment by Frances McLeary on June 29, 2012 at 20:02

Do you know which eucalypt?  It probably is not grown outside your area but I love the colours you have achieved.  I would love to hear how the various materials reacted colourwise to the dye. Regards Frances