I grew up on a large piece of property where my fatherharvested hay
kept cattle or horses off and on
had an artificial pond
a large vegetable garden
a potato field
open fields rimmed with hedges of chokecherry bushes and rock piles
electric fences for the cattle
wooden fences for the horses
a Quonset hut aluminum barn
a wind break of scotch pine trees that was my mother's idea
a giant elm by the highway
a highway walk to public school
a bus ride to high school
an older brother
a younger sister
a paternal grandmother who did not speak English
a maternal grand father who didn't speak to children
a maternal grandmother who was locally known as an artist-gardener-dressmaker-reader
a father who was an entrepreneur and electrician
a mother who was opinionated, intellectual and reclusive
no pets
no friends allowed to visit the place
lots of books
lots of art and sewing supplies
lots of space
lots of time.
Pictured are my experiments with rye flour as a paste resist for indigo dye. These may not work as resists - but don't they look beautiful just the way they are?
6 comments:
mom, nice to hear more about your childhood. love you.
What an interesting post... I shall look forward to watching the progress on this experiment. And I agree - the rye flour alone looks good as is!
And I thought it was a cookie. ;-)
Totally different childhood I had - but no, maybe not, just different setting...urban apartment building.
Lovely to read about your childhood. I like the patterns made by the resist too.
wow. i want to try that....and thanks for the picture of your childhood.
the flour paste does look beautiful on the cloth - I wonder what will happen when you dye it? Very much enjoyed reading a bit of your history.fogise
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