SOEWN EARTH

The Earth Reliant Artist



Trace Willans All Natural Mixed Media







Friday, February 3, 2017

Indigo Sugar Experiments

After reading about the experiments of Catharine Ellis here
I was inspired to do some playing of my own
But I was reluctant to use food I could eat
so I found my source in the scrap/compost bin
I used
Banana Skins
Orange peel
Carrot Peel 
& Sweet Potato Peel
All were treated the same way
Brought to boil and simmered 30 mins
Then plant matter removed 
 liquid reduced by half
Removed from heat
 allowed to cool a little
1 teaspoon indigo and a little meths in a jar
Swirl to dissolve
Add cooled juice
(it still wants to be quite warm)
And 2 teaspoons lime
Shake jar vigorously and place in the sun


Jars in the Sun


The fabrics used
1. knitted linen, beige
2. Knitted cotton, white
3. Silk Cotton Blend, pale green

Banana Skins
while they worked they were not wildly successful


Carrot Peel
Much Better

Orange Peel
on a par with the carrot 

Orange Sweet Potato Peel

This dropped right off in the last test
I don't know if this is inherent to the material
or whether it was a slightly cooler day 
and this was the largest jar
and just didn't get warm enough
or possibly there wasn't as much peel to begin with

Maybe it needs to be repeated 
with exactly the same weight 
of plant material to begin with
But someone else can do that

I will definitely find a place in my freezer
for a few peelings 
of carrot, orange and sweet potato
to feed future indigo pots
and forego trying to find 
the fructose

I also hope to continue the experiments
once I have a vegie garden happening
with a glut

But I do wonder how capsicum cores would go
and would purple carrot skins make a difference?

More indigo play here 

x te

2 comments:

Velma Bolyard said...

i so enjoy following your experiments, and small is indeed beautiful. I need to remember that in the paper mill, too. some of the best, most beautiful papers i've made are small. big has a place, but small is intimate and beautiful.

Trace Willans said...

I love small especially when i want to try multiple ideas. It is alos not such a big loss if it doesn't work out.