August Log

August 1st - 8th

Just back from a glorious few days visiting The Isles of Scilly. It is difficult to believe that within the British Isles there are beaches with such white sand, water so many shades of blue, and plants and tiny gardens so reminiscent of Indonesia. The weather was hot and the light clear. It was a most exhilarating week, particularly as we had gone with no preconceptions about what to expect.

To escape the endless winds, gardens and fields are protected by high hedges and it is within these protected areas that exotic plants can flourish because frost is very rare. Where the land is exposed, hillsides are covered in peaty soil and heathers, just like a Scottish island. So the contrasts in landscape, colour and even expectation are extraordinary.

Old cultivated field being reclaimed by nature

Garden of a restaurant on St Martin's

Close-up on heather

Lichen and heather

Travel takes place mostly by boat and to use the sea as an essential thoroughfare as opposed to simply a recreational surface is an novel experience for me, although not my brother, now sailing the Fastnet Race. The history of The Scillies, such as I have been able to read, indicates a life of extreme hardship alleviated by the welcome arrival of the latest shipwreck and whatever it might have to offer. The seas around the Scilly Isles contain such a terrifying and snaggle-toothed selection of rocks that wrecks were reasonably frequent in the past. I wonder whether the willingness and ability to make use of what the seas provided may have created an open and creative mind-set in the inhabitants. Some islands I have known have not always exhibited such a welcome to those things that blow in from the sea.

9th - 12th August

I am gradually re-acquainting myself with the inside of the studio and today (12th) stretched up a long length of mousseline. I want to experiment with the crinkly fabric and think about making a fabric length. This is preparation for making a loose, long "coat" to go over - what....? for the 10th Anniversary Celebrations of the Guild of Silk Painters in October. Here we enter dangerous waters because if it doesn't work I won't be wearing it there, and the blog reader who is also a Guild member can heckle and harangue me as I appear in hand-dyed gardening kit and no posh coat. Looking on the brighter side, and assuming the project goes well, sewing the fine fabric is going to be tricky. I am not planning any fancy seams, just basic straight lines in a T shape, and have been trying to see how the pojagi seams are sewn on Korean cloths. They look like French seams stitched down flat, which will entail three sets of stitching per seam. Yikes.

13th - 26th August

Anyone who dips into this site from time to time expecting regular updates will have given up by now. Sorry. It's not that I haven't done any work, but no write-ups. I have done the dye work on the coat (see previous entry) and will post some images. Here's the first couple:

Below is the twisted length dyed and ready to untie.

I stretched out the mousseline, which I had measure to twice the required height from shoulder to hem. I painted both borders with black (as it's to go over a black outfit, I thought it needed an emphasis on the hem). I left an uneven streak of white between the black and the sienna which was painted over the central section. This completely disappeared in the dying, so I need not have bothered! I then twisted the whole length into a rope and stretched it between two tables in the studio. I began binding with dental tape, dyeing, drying, then rebinding new sections. I have used reds, orange and more black in the central sections. I tried to keep the "front" and "back" similar.Once the whole thing was dry I carefully untied it and filled half a waste-basket with used and stained dental tape. Our bin-men must think we have a raw-steak-eating dragon down here with Dental Health issues.

On Saturday last we went to Falmouth to watch Berrimilla disappear on the mammoth jounrey back to Australia. Here's my favourite picture from the departure:

Those of you who follow my exploits in the garden from the safety of their screens will be delighted to know the battle continues. Is this merry feeling called Gartenfreude.. Now it's with the brown cat that thinks purple-sprouting-broccoli-beds make good sites for Feline Deposits. NOT. A sympathetic visitor has recommended a palisade of sticks to keep our furry little chum away. Curare-tipped?