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| Harvest 2010 |
Autumn is here the leaves are falling and the air is crisp, this is a great time for me to collect supplies for creating art. There are so many things I can collect to make great teas to use for mud cloths, such as, leaves, acorns, pine cones, walnuts, broken twigs and wild berries. Collecting cranberries are my favorite. They give my cloths a beautiful color and they work very well with the mud I use.
What I find enjoyable about mud cloth painting is that I am able to use nature to create beautiful art. I collect mud all through the year and colors are wonderful. When I combine that with the colors made with the teas from leaves and berries, it makes the cloths more interesting.
Today leaves are falling everywhere. It has been raining for many weeks. Most people would be sad that it would rain for so long. I love it! Nature is helping me make tea for mud cloth painting. When the leaves fall into the rain water, it creates the tea needed to apply to the cotton cloth allowing the mud to dye it. All I have to do is to wait for the rain to stop and the sun to come out. It will warm the water with the leaves and I have tea ready to use for my next class. Last year I brought my rain tea to my classes in Ithaca, New York and Laurel, Maryland and my students loved it. Many of the women and children from my classes told me that they will never look at rainy days the same way again. I think that is my favorite part of mud cloth painting. To show people that using something as simple as rain water with leaves, berries, nuts or twigs can help you create art.
