tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-90157505348345615302011-11-27T15:21:12.487-08:00twmnoreply@blogger.comBlogger641100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015750534834561530.post-56100815335353714352011-08-01T22:30:00.000-07:002011-08-01T22:30:24.293-07:00

Fasting month has started and to celebrate puasa, I made nasi lemak out of brown rice.  I love the smell of Malaysian cooking, and this was no different.  Delicious. On another note, I made a frozen yogurt, that was very rich and delicious.  I was about to follow David Lebovitz's recipe for Vanilla Frozen Yogurt, but I then realized I was missing a cup of strained Greek yogurt.  I substituted

twmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015750534834561530.post-77216101104023742202011-08-01T22:26:00.000-07:002011-08-01T22:26:52.390-07:00

My brown linen pants were inadvertently tarnished when I tried to bleach our bathtub.  With the leftover dye, I dyed an old batik I had created, but never bothered to finish.  Voila.. keyboard batik.

twmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015750534834561530.post-24683031376925623902011-07-10T22:02:00.000-07:002011-07-10T22:03:50.367-07:00

Yesterday we found the most wonderful little shop in Santa Monica that specializes in Italian imports.  I purchased my first can of salted anchovies.  As I opened the can, I smelled the smell of the ocean.  I could picture seagulls flying overhead.  At first glance, these anchovies are much bigger than what I'm used to in the 2oz tins.  They are also less salty if they are left to soak in water

twmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015750534834561530.post-88848112858518322652011-07-10T21:49:00.000-07:002011-07-10T21:56:54.601-07:00

Today I decided to endeavor in making handmade pasta with a rolling pin.  I recently purchased the first edition of "The Classic Italian Cookbook" by Marcella Hazan.  Inside, there's an excellent description of how one should make handmade pasta.  On top of that, there's also a paragraph disparaging the use of a pasta machine - a first! "[Machine made pasta] is truly effortless, but,

twmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015750534834561530.post-88352377423423649042011-05-22T21:30:00.000-07:002011-05-22T21:33:36.182-07:00

I remember when I first started cooking, the simple act of making chicken broth terrified me.  I would stand by the pot, waiting for it to boil and foam, armed with ladle, and ready to skim.  I would constantly go back to the pot, tasty the oily broth and noting the change in taste as the broth simmered through the afternoon.  I made a pot of chicken broth this afternoon, and it seemed like

twmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015750534834561530.post-89968987295837392742011-05-21T17:28:00.000-07:002011-05-21T17:28:05.043-07:00

The braised lamb shanks recipe has been so far so good.  When browning the shanks, they have yielded surprisingly very little oil.  I'm hoping that will change after the braise.  Here are some pictures of the process so far. Browned shanks yielding very little fat Softening vegetables With the wine, and chicken broth, ready to simmer for hours to come

twmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015750534834561530.post-30705428455670388762011-05-20T22:16:00.000-07:002011-05-20T22:17:51.647-07:00

My husband is out of town for the weekend and that usually means I endeavor in cooking something big and elaborate just so I can say I succeeded at doing it.  Today, I made a stop at Whole Foods at an unusual 9:30PM on a Friday night hoping to avoid the Saturday morning crowds.  To my dismay, the parking lot was full, and as I entered through the sliding doors, a woman in yoga pants brusquely

twmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015750534834561530.post-14608909180579320652010-09-21T00:29:00.000-07:002010-09-21T00:29:47.991-07:00

After working through Alice Waters' The Art of Simple Food, I'm ready for more complicated recipes.  I recall when I had worked through a lot of "How to Cook Everything", and found items difficult.  Now they are simple and easy to do, and I often refer to my Mark Bittman cookbook in a bind.  Today I made a classic Swiss Chard Frittata, and I am proud to say that my $40 investment in the Wusthof

twmnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015750534834561530.post-52062133259940856932010-09-21T00:22:00.000-07:002010-09-21T00:33:34.579-07:00

I finally got my Elizabeth David cookbook, and it's an interesting read.  I had hoped that it was a bit more story like, but it is firmly a cookbook.  I harkened back to Elizabeth Romer's The Tuscan Year: Life and Food in an Italian Valley and I prefer the qualitative story telling that goes into Romer's book.  I'm looking forward to my "Italian Food" book from Elizabeth David to compare. One

twmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015750534834561530.post-82867675257819270082010-09-19T23:40:00.000-07:002010-09-19T23:50:09.474-07:00

Although Blinis take a bit more effort (and preparation) than pancakes, I find them far superior to pancakes. Blinis require the preparation of a "sponge" out of yeast, and yes, for better results, it's best to make the sponge the day before so you can develop delicious yeasty flavours. This morning we had the blinis with Salmon Caviar that Beth had gotten for us a month ago, and we had frozen.

twmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015750534834561530.post-64737395612661955082009-06-02T10:46:00.000-07:002009-06-04T22:17:00.700-07:00

Finished up a bunch of dangly favours for the wedding. Going to glaze them a fantastic ohata red as well as the mag yellow.

twmnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015750534834561530.post-4058093056190914682009-05-31T14:22:00.001-07:002009-05-31T14:24:49.993-07:00

With fewer straight lines. Slightly more exuberant.. Do I even need the garland.. could it just be flowers in the background?

twmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015750534834561530.post-48795864165994389862009-05-31T14:14:00.001-07:002009-05-31T14:18:00.966-07:00

Stll a bit somber looking. I wonder if I make the type a different color? Huh. Or different font type.. Maybe the bird has to be made out of kraft paper and assembled? hmmm Maybe the bird looks too sad?

twmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015750534834561530.post-14434164867577849072009-05-25T11:00:00.001-07:002009-05-25T11:02:41.141-07:00

Here are the gloves I also got! They were super dirty when I got them, but after learning how to wet clean vintage clothing, this was a piece of cake to clean! Key is to use a toothbrush (note I bought a new one just for cleaning if you are grossed out), woolite, and OXYCLEAN! haha

twmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015750534834561530.post-18307974545995133652009-05-25T10:56:00.001-07:002009-05-25T11:04:48.992-07:00

I'm making a clip hat for the wedding and I found this terrific milliners flower thing at the antique market this weekend. This is what made me want to revise my color scheme.

twmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015750534834561530.post-11483024165893724342009-05-24T22:27:00.001-07:002009-05-24T22:31:28.719-07:00

So here is the first prototype of the wedding invite. It's a bit busy simply because I had used the paper initally to test out my new stamps but what I'd like to do is to have this thread be a common garland that has flowers strung off of it. (not flowers all over the page, which is a bit busy here) what do you think?I had a lot of fun with this. I really want to tie in the bird, string, and

twmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015750534834561530.post-43699456809047561052009-02-08T12:40:00.001-08:002009-02-08T12:41:39.667-08:00

Wow - I hadn't looked in my vinegar urn in ages.. and there was a HUGE piece of mother floating at the top!  Any takers?

twmnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015750534834561530.post-47676186119386053192009-02-08T12:34:00.000-08:002009-02-08T12:37:06.161-08:00

I've been thinking about my habits in general, and I have to admit.. I am a homebody.  I hate being too far away from home.  I like working on my garden, cooking, working on crafts.. if only I had a potters wheel and a honeycomb.. then I definitely wouldn't leave this place.  

twmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015750534834561530.post-60777698693443761242009-02-08T12:32:00.000-08:002009-02-08T12:34:06.347-08:00

Nora came over today to look at my worm bin and she brought over some vegetables and fruits, which made me very very happy!  Because she brought just the ingredients to make a pea and asparagus ragout!  And everything was right out of her garden too!  How exciting!!!

twmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015750534834561530.post-75284896504233657502009-01-20T21:44:00.001-08:002009-02-08T12:37:43.473-08:00

twmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015750534834561530.post-7424395211598390582009-01-10T12:57:00.000-08:002009-01-10T13:02:19.623-08:00

Today we went to the Torrance market and had a terrible time.  There were too many people, and a general sense of chaos.  Also the coffee was bad.  Shahril is into coffee.  I can appreciate it, but I can't drink it because it makes me nauseous.  My sister recently purchased a Bialetti Moka Express for Shahril for Christmas, and it is wonderful.  I have to admit that I love manual things, but when

twmnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015750534834561530.post-14725911000804200002009-01-10T12:54:00.000-08:002009-01-10T12:57:11.372-08:00

After talking to my sister and Shahril about soy milk and estrogen and all that, I've decided to diversify my eating portfolio, and have been contemplating drinking milk again.  I've been undecided about drinking milk partially because I get terrible indigestion when I have a whole glass of milk.  Luckily though, the organic pastures raw milk seller has made it to the Torrance market, and they

twmnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015750534834561530.post-1187479491052829002008-10-19T14:24:00.001-07:002008-10-19T18:16:04.979-07:00

Partially cleaned out my worm bin today. It was heavy! Could have thrown out my back, hauling it out to the backyard to clean out. Guess I'm saving myself from the backache bc I'm not constantly with pitchfork trying to aerate the compost.I have a flowerpot full of worm poo and I have a whole bunch of honeydew seedlings that have sprouted up in there. They came from a very delicious organic melon

twmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015750534834561530.post-64719040732852174312008-10-19T13:21:00.001-07:002008-10-19T13:21:58.735-07:00

With the SO away, I find that I'm eating more and more salads. Salads? Yes! Traditionally I've been a hater of raw leafy vegetables. I still cringe at having to eat a plate of green salad. But with the help of Adams Ranch mission olive oil and some homemade vinegar, I'm giving it a go again with rocket salad from the garden.Now that it is Fall, new things are appearing at the markets and I'm

twmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015750534834561530.post-35820060156327991582008-10-18T12:04:00.000-07:002008-10-18T12:03:58.395-07:00

Organic and delicious! Got them at the farmers market in Torrance. I'm going to make sliced radishes on buttered toast with salt. The tops being used for soup.

twmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015750534834561530.post-76316441804961768512008-05-29T22:43:00.000-07:002008-05-29T22:45:55.800-07:00

Once again, I had neglected to check the fibre composition of cloth. I guess it happens to everyone. I bought broadcloth with some thought that it would be 100% cotton. Well DUH - after waxing and dyeing, I noticed that it was so much lighter than my 100% cotton sateen cotton cloth. After researching online I found out that the broadcloth that I bought was 65% polyester and 35% cotton. DUH

twmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015750534834561530.post-66735129367956398632008-05-26T13:56:00.001-07:002008-05-26T14:02:53.868-07:00

My workspace.I spent the morning cleaning out the tools that were given to me. They had lots of resin in them and there was some oxidation, but after getting them cleaned out, they worked beautifully. I had spent the night before sketching out Wayang Kulit characters. This morning I continued to do so. One of the links that I used was this one, which describes Balinese Wayang.After cleaning

twmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015750534834561530.post-40035749273194877192008-05-25T21:44:00.001-07:002008-05-25T21:48:22.176-07:00

This weekend I'm finally feeling well enough to tackle bigger projects, and I decided to make a bunch of throw cushions. But with what? I was hardly feeling inspired. It wasn't until that I took out tools that were given to me, there were these fantastic pieces of Wayang Kulit on them. Who drew them? I don't know. I'll have to enquire. I'm going to make a bunch of throw cushions out of the

twmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015750534834561530.post-70193801168908389282008-05-25T21:30:00.000-07:002008-05-25T21:42:39.157-07:00

With so many friends having babies, I decided to make bibs. I found a pattern online, from this place called "Nested." printed it out, and sewed a bunch of bibs. Not without making a bunch of mistakes.1. The neck - make sure you put little bitty triangles in neck areas so that you don't get bunching, and the neck looks smooth.2. Make sure the pattern is the right way. I made a bunch of

twmnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015750534834561530.post-73863995352300337072008-05-23T20:50:00.000-07:002008-05-23T20:53:54.910-07:00

My next project is to learn how to do that pleating shibori. now that i've somewhat learned how to do the small circles (i don't think it quite works with this cotton), I'm going to go onto making the pleats. I'm still feeling sick but i have to make the most of this long weekend while at home. I think I"m going to watch Naussica Valley of the Wind tonight. That's my third favourite Miyazaki

twmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015750534834561530.post-90291585508628654572008-05-22T23:23:00.000-07:002008-05-22T23:32:32.454-07:00

Since Makerfaire finished I've been ill with a sinus infection. Just when I thought I was better, I came down with a fever today and I've been in bed watching Hiyao Miyazaki movies. I watched Spirited Away today and it was incredible. The first time I saw it, I watched it twice in a row. The idea that this young girl transforms from this cowardly being into a brave young woman .. for love.

twmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015750534834561530.post-45171322470578086852008-05-04T18:53:00.000-07:002008-05-06T12:38:03.546-07:00

Last day.. Things are Starting to wind down and we're packing up to leave. Its been so tiring but fun. Met someone who has an art space in Santa monica that wants me to give classes! Cool! Met some awesome ppl tho of was much less hectic than yesterday.. Rest!!

twmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015750534834561530.post-49744327641600127762008-05-04T10:14:00.001-07:002008-05-04T10:14:25.100-07:00

Makerfaire has been totally awesome!! Thank you everybody for coming out and supporting! My voice is totally hoarse from talking too much.. We had to stock up on throat coat tea and slippery elm lozenges afterwards. :)I am just so flattered and honored that so many ppl came up to talk and show their appreciation!!Some highlights..1) an offer to send tjanting tools collected from a trip to

twmnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015750534834561530.post-67408899400310992322008-05-03T08:29:00.001-07:002008-05-03T08:29:45.614-07:00

Great! Setup went fairly well except we forgot a whole bunch of hangers at home!!! Rats! We had to make a last minute run to target and stayed until 945pm to get things fairly setup the way we wanted them:)

twmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015750534834561530.post-36761932035024001782008-04-04T00:12:00.001-07:002008-04-04T00:12:28.915-07:00

twmnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015750534834561530.post-78017458313072848422008-03-31T23:57:00.001-07:002008-04-01T00:01:01.299-07:00

I glazed five of my pots today. The studio has such a great selection of glazes - and they fire with oxidation and reduction. I only did five of the six pots because one of them was a bit too thick and I had to wash the glaze off. Am looking forward to seeing the results!

twmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015750534834561530.post-73982207263130094872008-03-24T21:38:00.001-07:002008-03-24T21:43:09.536-07:00

I learned a new way of pulling for pieces higher than six inches. Also I learned how to use the wood rib for smoothing out pieces! Cool!!It all started out when I got the wonderful B mix clay - it's so smooth! And after practicing on the gritty long beach clay, I was able to center in a jiffy. I even cut myself on the long beach today - it was so gritty. BLAH. In any case, I got the clay up

twmnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015750534834561530.post-31775332306025333412008-03-21T20:25:00.001-07:002008-03-21T21:17:56.496-07:00

Today I left work early to go to the Gardening Center. There's a fantastic place down the street from work on Sepulveda called International Gardening Center. They were really helpful, especially after I managed to pull a flatbed trolley inside to the decorative fountain area, only to realize I couldn't get out, and thereby abandoning the trolley, only to be found out by staff that I was the

twmnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015750534834561530.post-58063647963836552692008-03-19T22:47:00.000-07:002008-03-19T22:51:55.406-07:00

I've been accepted into makerfaire! I'm pretty excited. They said it wouldn't be a problem since I already have an article in Craft, but still. I've always wanted to attend, but now it's even better - I'm going to be a maker!!!

twmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015750534834561530.post-2389735514247099102008-03-19T22:37:00.001-07:002008-03-19T22:46:07.133-07:00

I haven't gardened in a long time, and now that it's spring, I've decided that its time to start the plants out and grow my own food. I used to volunteer for the Food Not Bombs community garden, which helped to grow fresh produce for our weekly soup kitchens. That was really fun, except it wasn't so great that I'd have to get up at 7 in the morning to water the plants before biking to work. I

twmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015750534834561530.post-87471943870620903652008-03-12T23:19:00.001-07:002008-03-12T23:20:31.455-07:00

:( I haven't been posting much since coming back from Vancouver because I've been sick to the bone. In Vancouver I came across this amazing store that sold natural dyes. I bought myself a natural dye kit and also this shibori tool that I'll take pictures of!

twmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015750534834561530.post-31535090667444464002008-03-02T18:36:00.000-08:002008-03-02T19:06:56.374-08:00

I'm making tarts from three pints of strawberries I had purchased two Fridays ago at the Hermosa Beach farmers market. The strawberries, while extremely sweet that Friday, somehow were not so sweet when we got home. Instead of trying to eat them as is, I decided to make tarts. I asked Amanda, my professional baker friend, for recipes. One recipe was a variation on her creme fraiche custard

twmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015750534834561530.post-85065269560040640732008-02-21T16:48:00.000-08:002008-02-21T16:55:00.260-08:00

On Monday I trimmed my three pots. I made two bowls and a cup. Interestingly enough I learned how to trim using the fast Brent wheel. For a long time I've only trimmed on a kickwheel, but Tom had convinced me to do otherwise. "if you want to waste all your time trimming, go right ahead."I also learned a technique of determining the midpoint of where one should push to center a piece of

twmnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015750534834561530.post-80322895148836103232008-02-14T17:28:00.000-08:002008-02-14T17:43:04.567-08:00

For si's birthday I made him a surprise batik of an underwater seascape - only it was 40" x 46" so it was a bit too big to hide! Made me nervous having the stretcher bars in the laundry room behind the washer. Worse yet was trying to hide large pails of blue dye.. Nervous! Anyways, here it is. I didn't post about the process to my blog simply because I was fearful si would see it before his

twmnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015750534834561530.post-31357147002745339302008-02-12T17:50:00.000-08:002008-02-14T17:58:23.760-08:00

Well while throwing yesterday, I made the dreaded mistake of leaving a puddle on the bottom of my pot, and guess what? My vase CRACKED!!!!!!! RATS!It's ok because the clay can be reused, so I threw it back into my bag of rejects. Something else i learned yesterday was a more robust way of collaring. It appears that I'm pretty good at making bowl forms, but I'm terrible at making things with a

twmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015750534834561530.post-74237259007986706242008-02-06T17:14:00.000-08:002008-02-06T18:06:09.728-08:00

I went to ceramics on Monday after a long hiatus from throwing and it was wonderful to get my hands on clay again. Of course, the clay was so extremely gritty that I pretty much tore off the top layer of skin from my hands, and I am now suffering from chronic dry hands since Monday. But NEVERMIND. It was fun. Tom, my instructor, is a retired engineer, who also teaches kids. He's a great

twmnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015750534834561530.post-18309676390865575172008-02-01T11:25:00.000-08:002008-02-01T11:29:44.928-08:00

With Thursday's interview done, I felt a surge to finish up the lantern batik. It's done and framed. I went to Blick yesterday after the house showing to buy a stretcher frame 30 x 32". In the evening, I painted on the cables. I'm too happy with the bottom right hand cable - I think it feels a bit unrealistic to me, but otherwise, I couldn't be happier. Now I'm trying to figure out where to

twmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015750534834561530.post-75706752465188858662008-01-29T13:28:00.000-08:002008-01-29T13:32:04.480-08:00

Sometimes I like to mock things up in photoshop first before actually putting things onto fabric. I had initially imagined the cables for the lanterns piece to go a certain way but after drawing it out i decided that it didn't look as good as I thought it did in my mind.

twmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015750534834561530.post-39776175512267935322008-01-29T13:02:00.000-08:002008-01-29T13:17:32.943-08:00

The reason why I like doing batik is because like most types of craft, a lot of elements are unpredictable - how they dye will turn out, how the wax will interact with the dye, etc. Today I ironed out the wax from my lantern piece and I have to say that I'm very happy with the results.Here is the piece so far - I have it lying on the couch for picture purposes - I still have to paint on the

twmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015750534834561530.post-74101740382671628732008-01-29T11:00:00.000-08:002008-01-29T23:40:37.099-08:00

I've been thinking of my bio, and here it is all worked out in paragraph form:My interest in textiles began as a child, when my mum was a seamstress in downtown Toronto. In a nutshell, I like to make things with my hands. I also like to uncover why things are made the way they are. Based out of LA, I experiment with natural dyes and dye techniques, such as shibori and batik. Recently I’ve

twmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015750534834561530.post-88609164105729450202008-01-28T23:33:00.000-08:002008-01-28T23:49:39.567-08:00

I'm proud to say that one of my articles got accepted into Craft Magazine, one of my favourite magazines of all time! There was a time when I watched make podcasts every weekend though they have become somewhat too technical for me to understand. I was emailed today that I should write a 150 word bio, except I am somewhat unsure as to what I should write about. Things I should include:- I've

twmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015750534834561530.post-14643112198614504322008-01-28T14:41:00.000-08:002008-01-28T14:46:24.495-08:00

I finished laundering the piece and it looks not bad. I think I'm going to have to make some additions in white fabric paint, but otherwise, everything turned out as planned. However, I really dislike how the black bleeds, and so, I remembered an old bottle of Raycafix, which I used on the fabric after rinsing once. (I shouldn't have rinsed and just used the Raycafix). Stopped the bleeding

twmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015750534834561530.post-6123285386850754012008-01-28T13:04:00.000-08:002008-01-28T13:13:33.110-08:00

I'm generally not someone that follows instructions too well, but when it comes to dyeing, following instructions IS A GOOD THING. Actually most of the time I've had to come up with my own instructions, but after I come up with a set of good instructions, I follow them to a T. Today I did the final dye of my lantern batik, and I'm in the process of waiting for the dye to set. I used a mixture

twmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015750534834561530.post-40287506242974081872008-01-24T12:16:00.000-08:002008-01-24T12:24:55.015-08:00

One of my interests is dyeing with natural plants, and a goal is to eventually create an indigo vat in the backyard. Unfortunately I haven't been able to get my hands on indigo plants. I have been lucky though to have found that on the west coast, we have an abundance of dyer's woad, which appears to have been imported from Europe in the 1700's. Dyer's Woad can be used as a dye plant, though

twmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015750534834561530.post-35967430580286602452008-01-24T12:11:00.000-08:002008-01-24T12:16:12.955-08:00

Despite really liking cotton muslin, and more recently unbleached cotton muslin for its ability to accept wax and dye, I have not been entirely happy with how the fabric looks after the entire process is completed. There seems to be an overall layer of fuzziness, which I think is due to muslin's low thread count. I've worked with this type of fabric called "country cotton" but it's not much

twmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015750534834561530.post-77612855235306881552008-01-24T10:53:00.001-08:002008-01-24T11:00:12.464-08:00

I've been using a photoshopped photo of lanterns in my kitchen to come up with the shadow gradients on this batik. I blocked the fire engine red today. Was having some trouble with wax not seeping in. I suspect it was because I didn't wash the salt out. At least I'll have more definitive lines. It seems that when I'm applying on freshly washed cloth, the wax is a lot more fluid. The white

twmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015750534834561530.post-6972341903713412722008-01-23T10:33:00.000-08:002008-01-23T10:39:35.351-08:00

I'm using unbleached muslin now. I blocked yesterday using the new beeswax, and today I applied the fire engine red. Looks really good on the unbleached muslin. Like there's more depth. I wonder whether the whites will turn out and whether I'll have to use paint in the end?One annoying thing - the pencil lines are gone! This didn't happen before, and I'm wondering if it's because the muslin

twmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015750534834561530.post-10765056950291600752008-01-21T13:30:00.000-08:002008-01-21T13:32:07.177-08:00

Finally - I've found a place to take ceramics! Manhattan Beach community center! It's been since 2005 since I last glazed and threw pots, so I'm in for some instruction. The community center also has open studio on Wednesdays.

twmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015750534834561530.post-8715322584808879372008-01-21T12:40:00.000-08:002008-01-21T13:05:15.442-08:00

I started a new piece a few days ago, and over the past few months I have been somewhat unsatisfied with the beeswax I am using. My dissatisfaction didn't really have a cause at the time, until I went home over Christmas and started using the wax supply I typically use for soap. As I melted it, I realized that the beeswax I was using (Jacquard 100% beeswax for batik) wasn't REALLY beeswax. It

twmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015750534834561530.post-57718914148772188332007-11-11T13:16:00.000-08:002008-01-28T23:45:32.511-08:00

I have always had this kind of obsession with ice cream. As a kid we had tubs of ice cream in storage in our downstairs freezer. My favourite was the master's choice french vanilla. We used to go to that frozen goods store in rexdale, and get chapman's icecream. I liked their cherry flavour, with chunks of half marachino cherries found inside. Delicious! Me and my sister one time made

twmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015750534834561530.post-44013177452245274712007-10-28T23:21:00.000-07:002007-10-28T23:21:22.367-07:00

I'm currently working on Shibori. My throw is going to be a wedding present for a friend, Owen Waygood. One of my favourite artists is Ezra Jack Keats, and my favourite book of his is Snowy Day. The shibori I'm going to do is actually a mixed piece but its going to remind me of one of the last few pages found in the Snowy Day.

twmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015750534834561530.post-65276121807935851322000-01-02T07:59:00.001-08:002011-05-21T16:58:14.132-07:00

twmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015750534834561530.post-62928186068726162842000-01-02T07:59:00.000-08:002011-05-21T16:56:52.236-07:00

twmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015750534834561530.post-55046028077652945042000-01-02T07:58:00.000-08:002011-05-21T16:57:34.653-07:00

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