It seems my practice moves in slow circles and shifts now and then. I have learned how raw materials from nature can be applied for dyes, for fibers to make textile and paper and baskets for example. And how versatile these materials are. I have a pleasure in collecting and manipulate them in a somewhat primitive way and I have now more respect for something as simple as a teatowel.
Beautiful materials that I could hardly make myself are also forehanded and sometimes I skip the timeconsuming labour of preparing. Lately I have used household items like hemp rope for printing and paperstring for weaving.
I made the hemp rope a little softer and practiced different plaits. I was curious for the differences between the loose strands and the plaited parts. How the rope can be manipulated in different ways, and how it would show in the print. That was exciting and I was happy how it turned out. Some of the printed papers are made with hemp as well and that shows some of the versatility of hemp.
The next post will show weavings with paperstring. They are only small, but I took a chance to try out variations with limited supplies and colors.