Botanical imprints workshop 植物印染工作坊

 

 

Botanical imprints from workshop just made.  It's a planned workshop since Feb but postponed a few times due to Covid19.  We've just made it with a bunch of enthusiastic participants from NGOs.  

 

Our workshop was held in a cultural heritage ambiance.  Alley leading to the studio.....

........greeting by "little white".  How I love cats !

A glimse of the workshop.

It's a 1.5 days botanical imprints workshop with mordant and printing skills.  First started by introducing my sample prints of rayon.

 

Then a pretty participant to show the silk jersey sample with indigo dyes and botanical printing.

 

We're lucky to have a well organiser Ming, who is familiar with the neigbourhood and knows well the villagers (Lung Yeuk Tau 龍躍頭).  A private garden well maintained by owner Mr Lee next to the studio is amazing with all sorts of printable plants.  The couple are so nice to show us around and encouraged us to pick any sorts of plants and flowers.

 

With a handful plants from the garden and bunch of flowers from florist we started the making......

 

Rayon mordanted overnight.

 

Layout of plants

Concentrated working on...

 

Will that dill fragrance remind your taste bud? 

 

After layout then bundling.  Team work to tie it more tightly.

 

After 1.5 hours heating the outcome hanging dry and the images speak themselves......

 

Bright yellow onion skin

 

Discharge of nandina (南天竺)

 

Ferns, oxalis, nandina, flowers.....

 

Eucalyptus leaf of two sides printout

 

Nandina and euc cinerea

 

Those plants have no pigments as resist prints

 

Big leaf of macaranga tanarius (血桐)

 

All finished in a fine day and happy to shot in such natural ambiance.

 

I like the ruins of brick houses and  such a good theme with our natural botanical printings

 

Thank you so much for the lovely ladies, particularily renowned artist Evelyna Liang  for connecting my workshop with Ming who worked hard behind.

 

The villages - Lung Yeuk Tau (five walled villages and six villages 五圍六村)  is only 45-min drive from my urban apartment but I have never been before.  It's worth for a cultural and heritage visit.

  After the workshop I grasped the chance strolling around.  Sure next time I must explore the villages by bike.  I am so in love of the area and the scenery.

Natural printing fun play with family 植物印染樂

     

  

I'm  happy to share the fun play of fibre arts with close friends and relatives.  This weekend couples of my nephew came to do natural prints.  They never heard of such creations and was their first time of playing.

   

 

 After my brief intro they worked on placement.

   

Not only the couple interested in making, Mogi was trying to help.....

 

 Placement done then rolled up for a bundle.

 

 After an hour boiling, two pieces of each bundle of silk scarfs were made.

 Video of their fun play of scarf printing and paper printing as well making a wool felt flower ring.

  

I'm happy for their interest of this kind of natural contact prints.

  

 Though it's their first time of making they're very creative in layout and placement.

 Also the young couples are thoughtful and "heart" each other.  They put the cinerea eucalyptus heart shaped leaves together and the fern for their names initial " A & H ".

 

Opening bundle is excited

Golden yellow from onion skins in alum mordant and red hearts of euc cinerea.

 

 Prints from cosmos, fern, willow and scattered onion skins

 

They made prints on paper with iron mordant fabric scraps for leaf outlines.

 
 

Butterful from leaf of morning glory.

 

Set of paper prints on different sorts of paper.

 

 While the bundles were boiling in the pot, I taught them wool felt making of flower ring.

 

Set of silk scarf with flower ring.

 

 Very creative boys and girls.  One of their prints from "A&H - Alice & Hei"