Journaling my journey as someone who makes unique handmade embellishments for the body, walls and dining tables. My materials include earthenware and porcelain clays, cloth, yarn, paper, glass beads and digital illustrations. I am a writer, visual storyteller, dreamer, working traveler, Pow Wow dancer, sharing maker of objects & an avid cook -- dyeing cloth on Skaru:'re Ancestral Homeland in Eastern North Carolina.
Come Back As A Flower
Mixed Media Self-Portrait (Sculpted clay mask, fabric & digital illustration)
Today is exciting! Two gallons of stock solution makes enough dye for this much. I needed an extra 2 cups, so to make it work I consolidated containers and put dye samples into large ziplock bags. Neat tip but place plastic bag in another container after it's filled. I also put a rubber band around the top of the bag. The fabric kept bobbing up in one container, so I use empty mason jars to keep the fabric submerged in the dye bath. Now comes a demonstration of patience because I need to wait 24 hours to see my results.
Got bundles ready to dye. This morning I'm using fiber reactive dyes. Over dyeing cloth previously dyed with indigo because I had too much white undyed space. It happens sometimes! I'm discovering that over dyed fabric has a richer, more complex visual look. Personally, I don't like the look of using fiber reactive dye powder straight out of the jar. I mix up recipes. I guess this is a carry over from creating glaze recipes! LOL!
Birth of Scared Squares
In this dye session, I'm also creating cloth for "Scared Squares." This work was birthed while I was living in Cullowhee, and was suppose to be part of my thesis before my creative endeavors were evaluated as unsatisfactory. But, dreams don't die! Thanks to God's "Divine Mercy" this body of work is being realized. The timing and learning environment weren't right at Cullowhee. For this body of work to be created it needed the journey from Cullowhee to Chicamacomico to Fort Neyuheru:ke back to the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. "Scared Squares" are about the reopening the Longhouse door at the Outer Banks; about remembering First Contact at Roanoke Island and the Holocaust at Fort Neyuheru:ke; about acknowledging to the world that after 300 years we are "Still Here". I'm so excited I feel like I'm "Walking On Sunshine!"
I've come to that point in my journey, where I'm wide awake! I know who I am and I know my purpose according to God's Divine Mercy. My story is many stories. I was born for a purpose at this time and at this appointed place. God Did It! God Did It! God Did It! I'm a witness to the fact that God is real. I want each breath to demonstrate peace and contentment with the circumstances of my life. My job is not to judge, but to stay in the moment as a sharing maker and observer of hand made things. I've got to keep it simple! Keep it real! And most importantly, I must stay on task! Don't allow the world's drama to enter cross the door into my studio. Stick to my own reality and my own responsibilities.
