g. roslie’s natural dyed textile + paper collage “carp”

inspiration comes in many forms. an inner or outer lit landscape, a poem that confirms or shifts my perspective, resonant words, symbols or energy felt deeply in this & other dimensions. wherever the muse appears, the use of natural dyes and textiles to create art is a joy making process for me. over the years i have been making textile art in the form of wall hangings and in the process, i have accumulated an abundance of beautiful natural dyed fabric remnants too small to incorporate into my sewn work but too precious to let go. living a natural lifestyle and walking gently on our environment is important to me and minimizing waste by utilizing the small pieces of fabrics and turning them into a collage completes the circle of my sustainable art practice. within the collage work, i find great freedom to experiment with shapes and sizes that sewing does not readily allow and a floodgate of new possibilities open up. i love both processes, clean closed seams and raw cut exposed edges, both metaphors for life… switching back and forth stimulates my creative center evermore.

carp

natural dyed flax linen, mixed media paper, glue

14 h x 11 w float hinge matted (set in ultra thin brass toned aluminum frame)

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The Osprey by Mary Oliver

This morning

an osprey

with its narrow

black-and-white face

and its cupidinous eyes

leaned down

from a leafy tree

to look into the lake – it looked

a long time, then its powerful

shoulders punched out a little

and it fell,

it rippled down

into the water –

then it rose, carrying,

in the clips of its feet,

a slim and limber

silver fish, a scrim

of red rubies

on its flashing sides.

All of this

was wonderful

to look at,

so I simply stood there,

in the blue morning,

looking.

Then I walked away.

Beauty is my work,

but not my only work –

later,

when the fish was gone forever

and the bird was miles away,

I came back

and stood on the shore, thinking –

and if you think

thinking is a mild exercise,

beware!

I mean, I was swimming for my life –

and I was thundering this way and that way

in my shirt of feathers –

and I could not resolve anything long enough

to become one thing

except this: the imaginer.

It was inescapable

as over and over it flung me,

without pause or mercy it flung me

to both sides of the beautiful water –

to both sides

of the knife.

>>>>>>

the beauty of natural dyed textiles is in the variation of colors and natural imperfections that occur during the dyeing process. the perfection of imperfection, akin to the ‘wabi-sabi’ principle is very much a part of my textile art which makes it wholly unique, one-of-a-kind and of nature.

note: please hang collage away from direct exposure to sunlight or harsh artificial light as well as direct heat source or moisture rich area to prevent premature fading and degradation of the naturally dyed textile.