SUPER RETREAT!

What a weekend! Dawn, Terry, Ellen and I had three FULL days of fabric dyeing and creating. It was amazing!

My three friends (connected through Quadra's Quilt Guild and Cyber Fibre's quilt journal group) boated over to Refuge on Saturday morning, hauled their gear up the hill and got right to work. Each found their spot in my makeshift studio (once woodshed) and began producing amazing pieces of dyed and designed fabrics.

Here's a list of what we did:
deconstructive screening

stamp making and stamping

flag fold dyeing
monets
moon dyes
snowflake/star folds

shibori/bottle wraps

starbursts
cheese cloth prints
fish net prints
found object prints
wheat paste prints
crossover dyeing

stitched shibori prints
overdyeing
filter wraps

discharging with decolorant and bleach product
thickened dye painting
credit card smears
Shiva paint stick rubbings

PLUS, we shared great meals, stories and ideas. What a great weekend! AND I have over 5 meters of beautiful fabric to create with! Thanks friends for such a good time together. Can't wait until next year!

MOSAIC WORKSHOP

Last week I went on the most wonderful retreat with a group of girlfriends. We loaded in one van (6+driver) and drove north one hour from Mazatlan, turned off at the “59” marker, then wound around on dirt roads for another twenty minutes until we landed at Barras de Piaxtla, the site of our three day mosaic workshop. Gail Blackburn, owner and creator of her resort, La Rosa de las Barras www.larosadelasbarras.com, was not only inviting us all to stay at her wonderful ocean side retreat, but also to learn about making mosaics. For inspiration and ideas, we didn’t have to look far - they were everywhere: showers, tabletops, doorsteps, sink tops, etc., all produced by multi-talented Gail. We shuttled up the hill to her home and studio which she shared for our workshop, and after a brief intro to the craft we were off and running to producing our own creations. With the sweeping view of the Pacific in front of us, along with her hillside organic garden below us, we happily worked (and played) for 3 days on our individual mosaics.

For sustenance we were treated to amazing meals of her local cook extraordinaire, Judith (pronounced Yoo-deet) and cared for at the resort by another local, Carmen. (I really wanted to take these women home with me.)

 Each evening we gathered at the shore for a beautiful sunset, and gathered again in the hot tub just before retiring.

On day 2, Gail took orders for manicures/pedicures/massages by Benita (at nominal prices), and many of us took advantage. This was a fantastic (5 star!) vacation full of creativity, relaxation, great food, pampering and best of all, friendship. Thank you Gail for providing this time for us!

Construction of my journal quilt: This little quilt fits under the theme of “just stitching”. I knew I wanted to use a solid color but didn’t have any idea of the content until I was looking at Gail’s brochure the other day. On the front is the prominent lighthouse that graces the point and defines this beachfront community. It was the perfect icon to remember my Barras de Piaxtla experience.  I chose a navy blue, solid hand-dye and marked where I wanted to stitch with chalk. To keep with the nautical feel, I trimmed it in red. Sweet and simple!

DAYS TO DYE FOR

We’ve had lots of fun in my studio this month. I love the camaraderie of my Mazatlan friends who happen to be enamored with the dyeing process as much as I am. We gather together twice a week and dye our little hearts out. AND lots of fabric.

My friends come from Canada or the US and some now live here full time. After I give my little “shpeal” to any newbies, we fill the day with happy chatter, laughter, and ideas. When something is taken out of the dyebath, all attention goes to the sink, which is then followed by oohs and ahhhs. My Toronto friend, Rosemary, is now in her 4^th year visiting my studio (she created the beautiful pelican piece last year), and every week returns with the same fabric for overdyes, discharging and making changes…and if it’s not up to her satisfaction, we’ll see the same pieces for more treatments the next time. Linda, newly returned to Mazatlan after a two year break, is creating a piece to partner with the fictional story she is writing about a  young woman in the circus. Finally, after 3 tries, she achieved the perfect RED for the background.
 Sharon, a full time Mazatlecan, brought an enormous bag of lovely whites and is having a great time giving them a facelift. BC (there’s a story with that name!) and Kathy are also producing  some fantastic “revived” outfits, while Rosemary #2 (oh, that was a confusing day!) has sampled the process and is anxious to return! What fun we have and we’re learning so much from each other!

Now I’m taking a two week break for a vacation to Chiapas with friends. Textiles will be a highlight for me, along with the amazing Mexican culture that I love so much! And let’s not forget to mention the camaraderie of being with a great group of women! Life is good!

MINI RETREAT

Two days away from home, hosted in a lovely setting on Quadra Island, with the focus being FABRIC...what more could I ask for? I left my family behind and my day-to-day chores to join my two friends, Terry (our hostess) and Ellen, for what we called our mini-retreat. I packed my tub with dyes, white fabric, stamps, and a collection of embellishment tools with the idea of creating fabric pieces in both new and tried-and-true methods.

Terry's new home, not yet completed to the stage of being move-in ready, was perfect for the 3 of us. Downstairs was our makeshift studio and upstairs were our living quarters. Her husband helped to rig up a hot and cold water sink, complete with a 5-gallon bucket underneath as our drainage system.

We busily tried a number of methods: wheat paste cracking, stamping and making stamps, carving stamps out of styrofoam trays, palette dyeing and folding. Using wheat paste was a new one for me. The sun cooperated by drying out the pasted fabric quickly, then I gently crushed it to get the "cracked" look. I painted over it with thickened dye to fill in the cracks. My results showed that I should have been more aggressive with my crushing, so I went ahead and tried it again. Terry drew a lovely picture into her wheat paste AND pressed lace into it which produced amazing results. This is one method I will definitely try again.

We stopped in time to spruce ourselves up a bit for a lovely dinner at the Heriot Bay Inn. What a treat to go out to dinner with friends.
Sunday was another day of more of the same. By day's end I was exhausted, but filled with a much needed burst of creative energy. We vowed to make it an annual event.

                        

MI TALLER (my studio)

This winter has sped by! We are two days from leaving Mazatlan and I'm amazed at how another snowbird season was so fast, furious (in a positive way) and full!  A good part of the richness of my experience here can be attributed to my associations with those who came to share in my studio "play days". Twice a week I opened my workshop to up to 4 who came to explore in the arena of fiber arts. In past years I have held more structured classes, complete with handouts and a schedule, and packed the day with everything I believe that EVERYONE should know about fabric dyeing. I took a more open approach this year, just wanting to share studio time with others, giving them the basics and allowing them to "do their thing". I was so amazed at the range of directions that people took, at the variety of projects and products that evolved. We all truly learned from each other...maybe me the most!

Robyn, who shares my hometown of Tacoma, Washington, really enjoyed making these tablecloths. She also added some stamping to a very traditional cross-stitch done by her aunt. Beautiful!

Pam, my non-sewer (I'm working on her!), had fun making tie-dye shirts for her husband. Some she liked so well, she vowed to keep them for herself. On her third and last session, she came with ideas she pulled off the internet for new and interesting techniques. Here's an amazing shirt she produced.

Anne brought her artistic skills from painting and eagerly applied them to fabric. Her first project was to create pillow tops for her grandchildren.

Then she moved into painting on fabric. She pulled two images from the internet and chose one for reproducing on cotton. She put her painting experiences to good use here. I have little experience in that area, so together we took the process poco a poco (little by little) and she ended up with an amazing piece. After washing, she decided to add more color.

Anne's second computer image was used by Olivia, a Mexican neighbor who happened my way. She wasn't quite sure what she wanted to do, so she jumped right in and started putting thickened dye to cloth. I admired her courage and she too came out with an interesting piece.

Basha was one of the last to join in on the fun. She came with a keen and energetic interest in all things dyeable. She set herself up with a collection of beautiful hand-dyes to keep her busy through the long summer ahead here when life slows down to nothing. Plus she created some new outfits for herself.

Here's to this winter's wonderful partners in the fascinating world of dyeing: Bobbie, Anne, Edwige, Heather, Ann, Kathi, Marie, Rosemary, Sharon, Aldo, Basha, Pam, Robyn, Joyce, Nancy, Olivia, Val, Doreen and Anne Marie! Thank you for all your blooming creativity and inspiration. And special thanks to Edwige for her gelato contributions!

EMBRACING THE ARTIST WITHIN

Recently I was fortunate to be a part of local yoga teacher, Mo Geraghty's retreat "Embracing the Artist Within". It was a call to draw from within, to reach inside to our true selves, to be open to creative experiences, and to look at the strength and power of the written word in the form of journaling in our lives. As a facilitator of a class that taught silk painting to a group and also as a participant in the sessions, I loved the soul-searching and sharing that I experienced and was renewed in my own creative quests.


Yoga, writing, food, the peace of Stone Island, the comraderie of new and old friends, sharing my own creative journey, and a day at the spiritual grounds of Las Labradas were highlights for me.



Dianna, our animal lover, connects to a new friend on stone Island. And the petroglyph below, (one of many) connected us to the universal journey humans have experienced since the beginning of time. Thank you, Mo, for organizing and facilitating this inward journey.