full heart

a neighbor, who happens to be a tax client of my husband’s, has followed my recent explorations into botanical dyes and inks, an brought me this amaranth, which is currently macerating in a five gallon bucket on my front stoop, and creating the most beautiful magenta colored liquid. thank you kendra. you are a kindred soul. and i hope my husband gets you an enormous refund this year.

hopi red dye amaranth 

fade to white

this completes a short series of melons sliced so that they disintegrate into the white background. first there was watermelon then canteloupe and today honeydew. i feel as if there is something a tiny bit cubist about these arrangements. something that is both vegetal and abstract, and i like how my perception hops back and forth between the two visions.

honeydew melon

rubber bands

i just want to slip my thumb into each one of these poblano pepper slices, and stretch it tight with my other hand, and send it flying toward my brother’s forehead.

poblano peppers (Capsicum annuum)

i warned you

yes, more papyrus today. in fact, more carrot papyrus. this is white carrot, and after i took this photo, i pressed the weaving, and part of me cant wait to lift this from my plant press, and start improvising hieroglyphics on it, in one of my homemade plant-based inks. no promises, but maybe stay tuned on my instagram page. who knows…

white carrot

papyrus

when i first pulled up this image, i thought, “carrot paper,”  but if it is anything like paper, then it is technically a papyrus, not a paper, because it is made from slices of plant material, and not from pulp. let me be clear. i’m not mad at the possibility that i may have made carrot papyrus today, instead of carrot paper. i hope you, on your end, will not be mad if you see more examples of vegetable papyrus in the coming days. i’m a little bit smitten.

carrot