June
I took some walks locally, collecting natural materials along the way from specific locations; plants growing within the walls by the seafront, wildflowers in the city centre, weeds and rusted metal from outside the studio. I wanted to test different fabrics so prepared a range of different silks and muslin ready for bundle dyeing. In creating the bundles, I used a different folding technique, folding the fabric in on itself until it was no longer possible to fold in the edges. I then placed them into jars to leave on the window sill. This should create a solar oven to allow the dyes to embed into the fabric. The bundles in the solar ovens were left for 30 days. After this, they were unwrapped, the excess materials brushed off. On opening the jars, each bundle had its own earthy yet sickly sweet heady smell that changed as the bundled was untied and unfolded. During this process, my hands became stained grey and took on another metallic scent. The fabrics were then left to dry before placing in a dark warm cupboard where they will rest for another 30 days.
