The last couple weekends have had my creative spirit feeling so completely warm and fuzzy - especially after such a long / cold winter! I can feel myself… defrosting? Don’t get me wrong - winter “hibernation” fosters the creative process too (in a different way).. but there is something about springtime - the warmer weather, the additional sunlight… it feels like an awakening of sorts.
Last Sunday, I ventured down to a sweet little boutique called Wull & Oak in Hopewell (NJ) and learned how to shibori dye with food scraps in a workshop taught by Earthencolor.
We learned to dye a garment of our choice (byo) with avocado pits and onion skins. The avocado pits yielded a dusty pink color and the onion skins a vibrant mustard yellow. We also had the option to dip our pieces in an iron-based solution after coming out of the dye baths - which shifted the pink to more of a purple and the yellow to more of an olive green. I chose to dye an old t-shirt in the avocado pit dye and then dipped the ends in the iron solution, so that way I could see both the pink and purple hues in the final piece.
I took my first dye workshop back in October (photo below) at The Lillie House (taught by Dye Kween) - where we learned to bundle dye using flowers - and this felt like such a great follow up to that.
I don’t have much experience with textiles and don’t really know how to sew, either (unless you want to count hand sewing the holes in my dogs’ toys 😂) - so this was me immersing myself into a whole new creative world and technique. I really love the process and unpredictability of it all - really fostering play and experimentation.
I think my favorite part is unraveling the fabric / garment at the end and seeing what it looks like.. the big reveal! It’s like opening a surprise gift because there’s a certain level of “try it and see what happens” and also a lack of being able to control what exactly happens. Even if you try to replicate something that you did that you liked - it won’t turn out exactly like the previous time. There are so many factors that contribute to the unique quality of each hand dyed piece - which is the beautiful part in it all.
Working with natural materials like flowers and food scraps also really aligns with my values (spending time in nature, trying not to waste anything, etc.), and I definitely want to explore doing this more on my own. There is something magical that happens though when you sit at a long table and create amongst other people! I love seeing what everyone else makes. ✨
Yesterday I was in the city and stopped by Haricot Vert (yes, again) 🙃 to check out (+ celebrate) their newly improved (larger) craft nook. They generously opened their doors and hosted an afternoon of “open crafting” for free, and honestly there was no place I’d rather have been. Yes, there was even a line to wait for a seat at the table(s).
Although there were no rules and you could make whatever you wanted, the tables were set up heavily in favor of collaging / scrapbooking / junk journalling - which is actually something I’ve started getting more into just this year. There is something freeing about the process - where perfection and creating something “good” kinda goes out the window. it was super chaotic and also a bit overstimulating (but also at the same time… awesome??!) Working at a table this cluttered was a bit of a challenge 😅 - but the energy was so *alive* and ever-changing. It’s something I couldn’t replicate at home alone if I tried. ⚡️
At first, I just started pulling pieces from the pile that interested me - and went from there, arranging them in my journal with no real plan in place. Loosely, I worked with the themes of “play” and “sweets” - and then I created a second spread around a beach “paradise” theme.
I came with (and sat next to) a friend and we were constantly passing things to each other to use. I feel like we were kinda in our own bubble, and a part of me does wish I tried to be more social, but that’s okay… next time! 😂
There was one guy that offered me something beach themed that he had collaged together, but I was hesitant to take it since it was something he made (which in retrospect feels silly.. because wasn’t that the point of being in a collaborative community space like this? He was offering it to me?) 😅 I think I felt weird about it and meant to ask… “Well what about you? Don’t you want to keep it for yourself?” and instead awkwardly said “Oh, no, that’s okay thanks…” Anyways, I’ll be replaying this interaction in my head for the foreseeable future, lol. (Why am I like this?)
I also brought a small stack of my (various different) business cards and sprinkled them onto the table for people to use in their projects, and it was fun to observe what was picked up and how they were used. My friend gave my dogs (cut out from my pet portraits business card) a party hat and crown. 😄
Last year for my birthday, I got together with a couple friends and we did a tufting workshop to celebrate. I think that was the day I realized: “I want more of this.” I was craving creative community, and felt like I hadn’t really had a sense of that in a long time. COVID shut me off to the idea of gathering for many years - and maybe it took those years to realize just how lonely creating in isolation can be. I feel like I have been chasing this feeling of creating amongst others ever since that day. It really was such a door for me, and I’m so glad I found it, opened it, and walked through.
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