Thursday, February 4, 2010

Wattle Blossoms

Wattle is a common small tree that blooms in late winter brightening roadsides and backyards alike. Acacia Balliana or Cootamundra Wattle has the strongest colour and is the most desirable as a dye.

A photo of a pot full of wattle blooms appeared in an earlier post. The liquid obtained by boiling those blooms was used to dye some raw silk for my stitched wattle.
The silk was re used from a silk skirt. The blooms are yo-yo's gathered circles attached to the background with a seed bead. The leaves are machine lace stitched on wash away and attached.
The piece was made for an exhibition in honor of May Gibbs. May was an early 20th century cartoonist with a social conscience. Wattle Wattle Happen to Australia as a result of climate change is the question posed by my 21st century work.

2 comments:

Nat Palaskas said...

Oh Terry, that brought back memory when I used to dyed using wattle flowers when we lived in Orange years ago. It all started there with all the hand dyed yarns and fabrics - Hugs Nat

kaiteM said...

Yes, *wattle wattle happen* is right Ter, i don't have kids but i feel for your GKs. K.