We’ve been at this dyeing and weaving thing for a while now. I live and breathe at the loom. I’ve never worked at a standing loom before, and my lower back took a toll everyday. I have to admit, as much as a serene, and total gift this whole experience was, there was still some things to get used to. Like not being able to tolerant standing at my loom for longer than an hour at times. And I had hours to weave some days. I thought, “what is happening? I have nothing I need to do except weave & what a glorious situation!” But my body kept saying, NOPE, not now. It was annoying. Somedays I took naps. Some days I’d walk outside the court yard down the side street & just sit on the side walk against the building & stare at this one tree. A dog lay near by sprawled out in the sun, snoozing. We shared the same space without disturbing the other & it made my soul open up & then rest too. The weather was unbelievably sunny and dry every single day. In the afternoons, a soft breeze would pick up, carrying the sent of agave plants, wood burning, the dry earth. This is what I love most about a place. The smell of the earth and the wind and the plants.
It’s also what I love most about lichen dying. Just like at home. When we lowered our collected usnea lichen into the pot and watched it soften and slowly change the the clear water to earthy orange, it felt oh so familiar.
The results we got from this batch of usnea is even darker than the orange I was working with in my rug. I look forward to experimenting with more usnea in my studio at home.
