Blogging, Instagramming, natural dyes

left: dyers mushroom and wool , right: linen unknown
both steeped for 6 months in jars and opened January 15 2021

This is my main blog.  Judy's Journal. 

I consider this blog to be an important part of my work.  I try to write once a week.  Thank you for continuing to read what I write.  Thank you for your comments and emails, I appreciate them all. 

onion skin, cotton with alum mordant, February 9 

Writing this blog is helpful for me.  It sorts things out.  I keep thoughts and can find them again easily.  I use the search button at the top of this page and type in what I'm looking for.  In a way, it acts like a filing system.  

the orange/tan pieces are onion skin on velvet, cotton, and linen,
the two pink pieces are unknown dye on a small piece of silk velvet and a linen napkin
(found in jar Feb 11)

Things have changed in the blog world since I started writing in 2006.  

More and more of us are using our phones to access social media.  Some social media such as Instagram, Twitter and Facebook are designed for phones, not desk top or lap top computer screens.

The blog format was designed for computer screen, not phone.    

avocado (pits only) with alum mordant
cotton, wool, velvet, linen  Feb 19

For those of you who are reading this blog on the phone, I invite you to please scroll to the bottom of the post to where it says "view web version" and click on that.  If you enlarge what you get, it is then possible to see the entire blog page, including that search button at the top that I mentioned.

view web version

red onion, alum mordant on wool and linen
avocado (pits only) no mordant on wool and silk velvet
Feb 20

See the buttons going horizontally along the top?

I'll go over a few of them here.  Try them and then use the back button to get back here to main blog.

judy's news     This is where I keep track of exhibitions and such, as they come up

avocodo pits with iron modifier added
silk velvet, linen and wool   Feb 21 

my process       This blog is updated more frequently than Judy's Journal.  It is a record of my design wall combined with the last entry in my written journal.  It gives a raw idea of how I approach my work.  I label each post so that I can see the development of a specific piece over time. 

avocado pits with iron modifier on linen
(scoured and pre-mordanted with alum   Feb 21

new work       This is where you can see a gallery of finished work.

Manitoulin Circle Project      The beautiful community project (2009-2013)

Modernist Aesthetic Blog    where I write about other artists who inspire me

100 quilts     an illustrated list of the over 100 quilts I've made 

Feb 22

Then there is the side-bar of the blog, designed for computer screens.

My email address is there if you click on view my complete profile 

Recent lectures and interviews are linked.  My Pandemic Summer, the Weave podcast interview, and the interview with the English school of stitched textiles.

Two websites are there, new and old.   These will both be replaced soon with an updated site.  

There are many more links and labels on that side bar.  

red onion with iron mordant on silk, wool, and silk velvet Feb 23

They are not visible if you look at the phone without going to the web version.  While it is not necessary to go to the web version,  I just wanted to point out that these additions are easily available.  The follow link in the sidebar.  (and a translate link)

Apologies to those of you who do read this journal on a laptop.

I hope that you have liked the images of my winter dyeing studio.  I've used kitchen waste (onion skin, avocado pits) with two kinds of alum and some iron.  Lots of simmering and steeping going on.

red onion skin with iron on silk and wool  feb 23

One more thing!  I love Instagram.

Instagram is where I go to find other artists and their thoughts.  I am very inspired by artists around the world that I see on instagram.  It's best to visit Instagram on the phone.  I do.  It's so easy.  

Instagram is very user friendly.  Many of the instagrammers I follow write as much in their instagram posts as I do in this blog.  

the same avocado pits (they were used 3 times!) on linen and wool  feb 24

I love Instagram because of the wider world that it has introduced me to.

I follow artists in Japan and Europe and Australia and the USA and if the language is different, there is a handy translate button.  My instagram handle is @judithemartin  .  I post there every few days.  

avocado pits on wool  feb 24 (still wet)

OK - that's all.  Love you xo