Film

Natural Dyeing

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I have been working on natural dyeing some vintage pieces for Folkling over the last few weeks. Pieces that I have been collecting that were otherwise unused, unworn, stained or just needed some new life.
I thought it would be fun to show a few before photos!

The after will be revealed and available in the shop later this week. Follow Folkling on Instagram and turn on post notifications to be the first to see!

It’s been a long while since I’ve experimented with natural dyeing, but I thought I would share some fun 35mm film photos of when I did it for a knitwear collection I had at a Quirk Gallery Trunk Show back in the day!

When I lived in Richmond, this was how I would dye my knitwear and yarn.
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I’d set the dyes in my tiny kitchen on the stove and then I’d rinse the pieces in the alley next to my apartment and dry them on the roof of my building (where I wasn’t really allowed to be… but I digress….)

This time in my life and chapter in my creation process is such a special one to me.

I have always been proud of my tenacity and resourcefulness in not allowing limitations to stop me from achieving my goals.
This is something I’ve learned partially because I’ve had to, but also because I learned early on that out of limitations creativity and some of my best art is born.
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First two portraits of me were taken by my fellow natural dye/fiber artist friend, Emily.

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On The Feeling of Home

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These times certainly pose opportunity for contemplation.
Contemplation, and solitude of course are not foreign states for me. They’re ones I find myself inhabiting regularly, if not striving to obtain more routinely and consistently.

The concept of home is one that is often on my mind, but especially so in these last few weeks.
How many don’t have a safe or comfortable one to retreat to in these times.
How many I have had over the years.
How tired of mine I am.
How happy in mine I am.
How I often ascribe the feeling of home with temporary places or people that I meet.
(Most recently with a man in a pair of raw denim jeans, beat up leather boots and kind eyes, standing on a sidewalk…)

I am fortunate to have had many homes.
Indeed, to still have many homes.

And while I am both in the midst of trying to find a permanent place and home that is wholly mine, and also get back to one of my homes (The Road), I am still pressed to move into a state of gratitude for it all.

So here’s a little collection of film photos from one of my old Richmond apartments.
My favorite one in fact.
Taken in a new season of my life, albeit long ago, and blossoming with exciting potential, contented wonder and settling in.

And as hard and utterly frustrating as some things have been in this current season of my life, I still associate those same aforementioned feelings with where I am now.

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Artists In Film | Siobhan Watts of Bless The Weather in Hitchin England

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Artists In Film | Siobhan Watts of Bless The Weather in Hitchin England

Siobhan is someone who you might recognize my having talked about before here on the journal. I visited her in England last fall and took these portraits but she and I have been virtual friends for nearly eight years through our blogs and social media. She is quite definitely my favorite virtual-turned-real-life-friend and though my practice of doing that throughout my life baffles some people (you mean you’re going to somewhere you’ve never been to meet someone in person that you met online… that you don’t even know…) I have to say that it is that very openness that has invited what I would deem some of the dearest friends I have in this world.

She has taught me many things in the way of bringing artistry and beauty to all that you do (we share love and vocations with photography and knitting for one thing, though she has many other talents besides).

But one of the primary ways I’ve witnessed this is through her relationship with her daughter, Rory.

Being a mother is a thing that in most societies, defines a woman once she becomes it. All-at-once she loses her identity as anything other than Mother.
Motherhood is an incredible roll to have and embody. One I hope to have myself one day. Indeed, it is through my own spectacular Mother raising me in just the way she did that I have the view and independence I do in the world. If it weren’t for the way she helped shape my view of myself and others and the world around me, I wouldn’t view it as the miraculous and beautiful place that I do.

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Artists In Film | Jeanie Tomanek of Everywoman Art in Marietta Georgia

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Artists In Film | Jeanie Tomanek of Everywoman Art in Marietta Georgia

I wish I remembered exactly how Jeanie Tomanek’s work came into my life.
I do remember a Winter afternoon in 2015, looking at her Etsy shop and being captivated by the elusive and etherial figures and scenes she depicted in her paintings.
I favorited nearly every single one.
I soon discovered she had an instagram and after following, would regularly click on her account, drawn time and time again to the peaceful and dreamlike imagery that, to me, conveyed this spirit of hope and resilience.

A theme she often focuses on when painting, I later learned after meeting her.

I finally purchased one of her originals, which you can see here, titled Tiny Bit of Faith, which reminded me of the great many leaps of faith I’ve taken in my life, and how each and every time I have always landed after leaping.

A thing you can forget when you are on the precipice or in mid air.

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Spaces In Film | The Jupiter Flats in Joshua Tree California

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Spaces In Film | The Jupiter Flats in Joshua Tree California

Much like Artists In Film, Spaces In Film is focused around a more intentional and simple documentation of intriguing interiors and favorite vignettes found on the road.

This first space I am sharing with you is The Jupiter Flats, an Air BnB in Joshua Tree California that was a stop during The Wild + Wonderful American Road Trip.

My favorite spaces are the ones that incorporate the outdoors into their functionality and everyday living. They are the ones I find myself happiest in. Closer in routine to that which we came from. A natural invitation to rewild.

We spent the evening unpacking and repacking our bags, playing vinyl records, turning on the twinkle lights, making a batch of margaritas from our earlier-in-the-day purchased roadside tequila, and soaking our clothes and then ourselves in the outdoor tub.

As the day wore out and the stars grew more contrasted as the sun rotated further from our patch of sky, it was apparent that this space was not only a respite for our road weary bodies, but our minds as well. 

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Artists In Film | The Cowboy Prince in New Orleans

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Artists In Film | The Cowboy Prince in New Orleans

Charlie Umhau and i used to be neighbors back when we both lived in Richmond, Virginia. 

it was a while before i realized the jovial wild-haired being, who always greeted me on the sidewalk with a grin and a wave, was the same one on Instagram commenting on and resonating with my wild and creative musings (and here is just one of the many examples of how the internet has brought the most remarkable people into my physical world).

though we really only had the opportunity to become friends and hang out for a short time before he moved to New Orleans, there was an instantaneous connection in our conversations and ways of viewing and loving the world. 

from our common ideas on rewilding, our mutual experience of feeling a little-bit different than everyone else around us, to answering the call of leading and living a life counter to what our society told us to live.


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