Week Sixteen: Natural Fibres & Reflective Thoughts

This week I have been catching up on the Natural Colour Making for Artists course by Plants & Colour, ready to start two new courses this month in Lake Pigments, and Printing & Painting on Textiles. I will also be starting to complete my Award in Social and Therapeutic Horticulture so it has been crucial to take some time to plan ahead for the coming months. At times this period of creative development can be overwhelmingly exciting as there is so much to learn. I don't want to wish this time away but it fills me with wonder where this learning will take me in the future and at times I can feel a little bit impatient by the time it takes me to absorb new information and apply it creatively to my practice. This week my natural fibres for spinning, weaving and embroidery have arrived and so I am starting to feel ready to start experimenting with what I have learnt about natural colour. I am realising the importance of connection with others and have enrolled onto two study groups with Plant & Colour so that I can be inspired and learn from my peers.

Natural Fibres

I'm thinking a lot about how I got here. Why natural colour? Why plants and art? Whilst my interest had initially come from a period of processing grief through connection with nature, I have come to realise that this project is so much more than that. It is my interests in botany, geology, chemistry, history, storytelling and craft that is informing a new creative practice. I am so grateful for this opportunity to learn and develop, and I can see that this will continue beyond the end of this year. I am now considering growing flax at my allotment, using seeds that I had collected from my time at Crafts in the Woods at the Heartwood Social Farming Centre. I am thinking about how this could be processed and woven into a cloth that could be printed or embroidered onto. I am thinking about how I can document the development of the allotment through photography and film, using plants that I have grown to tone and process images. I am thinking about new friends that will be made in my peers and how this might open up opportunities for further collaboration and development. My time for hibernation over the festive period has come to an end and I am looking forward to what the Spring and Summer may bring.