A Palette of Place

I have been quietly working away at my Arts Council England funded project, taking notes, collecting dye-stuff, sketching and stitching. Part of me is fascinated by the physical geography of the land and what the stories that were long ago connected to it might be.

Garlick Lane, in fact the whole area, is on chalk with a rich flint seam running through it - the echo of a long-ago, warm sea. Both flint and chalk are important building materials locally and are easily found along the lane without any digging.

And so the desire to add local chalk to my #paletteofplace has grown.

I started by collecting some lumps of chalk from my walks. I then ground a small amount (wearing a mask) to a fine, white powder, before adding enough soya milk to create a 'single cream' consistancy.

I then painted my fabric with plain soya milk, before applying the chalk paint with a brush.

I love the ghostly effect I've achieved and had fun experimenting on different samples and weavings, before making some black, charcoal paint using the same technique.

Once dry, I will let it cure for a week or so, before rinsing.