SOEWN EARTH

The Earth Reliant Artist



Trace Willans All Natural Mixed Media







Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Fun In The Fowl Yard

When you feed the birds a mix of old yogurt
and linseed meal

And Cedric our Drake decides he loves it
But needs to shake his head vigorously, frequently

Some girls end up with um
yogurt on them

Funniest thing watching them eat this

x te

Monday, April 29, 2013

Total Lack of Tea

I thought it might be nice to show some of the
unrelated to tea things that I have been up to
I soaked 3 Tshirts in soy milk
and then naturally dyed them
with leaves and some natural dye powder
I had left over from the workshop I taught
at Beautiful Silks last year
I was not entirely happy with the results
But as I tell my students
that is just an opportunity to do something else


Here I printed with the rusty etching plates
seen in a previous post

This one you may want to open in another window
egg printed with a lino block
then dyed with leaves
see tutorial here


This is another Tshirt that has not been soyed
But I have been using it as a paint rag
It is now curing before I wash it
and either wear as is
or overdye
I am thining I may have my new range
of clothes to sell.


And here are some tiny books


All made from bits of old prints
from uni
This is the last of them now
so now I will have to do some new prints
to use in my books
Naturally of course

x te


Sunday, April 28, 2013

Tealicious

Blackened
These are from yesterdays stewing
with bottle tops and vinegar

Bottoms only in a touch of black brew

washing

I like to remove the seams from the teabags

Black brew and puffball dyed

experiments
all have a little dande bags applied
top with wax bottom with glue

Paper dipped in puffball dye after rusting

brushed with concentrated puffball dye
rusted after
india ink brushed on

paper rusted only

recycled paint rag dyed with puffball

little waxed dande bag pockets

up close

and personal

a little book of tea bags
and thats what happens to the edges
just blowing in the breeze

pages

wind closed

waxed cover

stories

poems

x te


Saturday, April 27, 2013

More Tea

Laying out to dry
Tea bags and psuedo coffe bags

Tea Tags
And bags that didnt make the grade soaking
for a retry

Some emptys

And behind some delicious rusty metal plates

The thing is I don't actually drink tea
Well not real tea
though ocasionally
there will be some form of green tea
and of course jasmine tea at Yum Cha
but at home it is Licorice Tea
or Coffee
But as I am trying to wean myself off coffee
for the moment
I am down to one a day
My alternative is Dande Roast
a blend of Roasted Dandelion and
Chicory Root
with a little Organic Cocoa added
It will do for now

But the upside awesome little coloured bags

x te

Friday, April 26, 2013

Tea Bags

Tea Bag Experiments


Collage to various fabrics

Rusting and waxing to paper

Waxing to prepainted paper

Just having fun

Gotta love it on a sheer

More

Rabbit skin glue with and without added indigo

small pieces

rusting after waxing

waxing and then indigo oil

Such a lot of fun.
Perhaps there is a little
book of tea
in my future

x te

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Pigment For Sale


Just in case anyone missed it
I have a new tab up the top of the page
Where you will find the above Natural Pigments for sale

x te

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Magazine Articles

It is really really awesome being asked to write a series of article for a magazine. The sense of pride that someone would actually approach you out of the blue and ask you to contribute your knowledge and offer you money to do so. Awesome.

What is not so awesome is to have to chase them for each and every payment.

By contract payment was on publication so you have to wait at least 3 months from eagerly sending your words and images off tot he publisher, fair enough you think. I can wait. And wait you do. About a month after you receive your complimentary copy you send an email, enquiring if perhaps you have been accidentally overlooked? And then a bit latter another email until eventually you get your mail one day to find an envelope with a cheque shoved in it. Thats it nothing else. But hey you have been paid. Of course by now the second article has been published. Surely this time things will be different just a one time aberration, right? Wrong. You proceed to repeat all the steps once more, though this time perhaps a little less tentatively.

Somewhere along the line an email is received letting you know that the magazine has changed hands and the last article will be delayed in it's publicaion. By 3 months. But maybe things are looking up. The magazine is now part of a larger corporation surely this will be a bit more professional and prompt in their payments. After all without articles there wouldn't be much of a magazine, would there?

Hah. Yes as you may have guessed there is no happy ending to this saga. Well not yet.
I am still waiting for payment for that lst artice published back at the end of January. Apparently the new companys policy is to pay 1 month after publication. And they informed me over two weeks ago that they are still trying to merge the accounts!!!! After acquiring the magazine back in November 2012, get a new administration manager I say. Oh and they are getting back to me asap?

So anyway I have sent off yet another email and await further developments.
I will let you know how it goes.

But I don't think I will be writing any more magazine articles any time soon, or at least not without a few discreet enquiries first.

UPDATE
OOps looks like they did pay but I had transposed two of the digits in the BSB code. My bad.
But still after my experiences I would never work for this company again.

Well last monday April 29th I received an email saying the money had been paid electronically into my account, but checking today May 6th still not there. Not happy.

Monday, April 22, 2013

Chillaxing

Denmark Easter Market

Well I have to admit I have been having
a rather nice relaxing time at home
Since the retreat finished
some weeks ago

Denmark Easter Market

There was a trip outto the Markets over Easter


Denmark Easter Market
Encaustics
where I sold 3 encasutic Paintings


Have enjoyed the odd fabulous sunset

Been enterrained by these cockatoos
they come down a few at a time
to drink from the duck pond

But there were many more in the trees
awaiting their turn
there were at least 50 of them
if not more and at one point I was surrounded
by them
and they are not quiet birds


Trips to the beach
This is Dan emerging
after his first testing of his new
semi dry suit and new BC

Playing with rust in the studio

Packaging up earth pigment and Indigo
to sell


macking up little paint charts
The top one is milk paint
 the bottom is egg

Bought myself a collection of
and I am having a lot of fun
making silly drawings

and another one

Luscious texture

all natural of course

This is Myrtle
I made her many years ago when I was at Uni
She is a piece of leather which I stretched over a stone
Obviously pre natural days!!!
She has recently moved to the deck
because

things are happening
a new wall going in

Here you can see what used to be out front door
But now it will be the new bedroom door
Yay more room


Well thats what has been happening around here
I will try to update a bit more frequently
in future

x te