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Love Letters to the Land; Gartur Farm

This week I took part in the exhibition "Love Letters to the Land" at Fodder and Farm, Gartur Stitch Farm, Port of Menteith in the middle of Scotland.

I was showing with a couple of other artists whose work is inspired by the land - Eilidh Weir and Celia Ramon.

The exhibition was in an old barn - whitewashed walls with swallows swooping in though the large doors. I give a tour of my pieces in this video and Eilidh can be seen hanging hers in last week's blog post.

Relax into the weekend with my Friday Letters delivered straight to your inbox.

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Botanical Dyeing Press workshop, Fodder and Farm

Botanical Dyeing Press workshop, Fodder and Farm

Hanging the Love Letters to the Land exhibition at Fodder and Farm

Hanging the Love Letters to the Land exhibition at Fodder and Farm

Tags: exhibition botanical printing

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A few people have asked for a list of the restaurants in Hvar that we loved best. To be honest we didn’t have a single bad meal - the food is beautifully sourced and cooked, informal, seasonal delicious. But there were a few places that were particularly good. First if you are flying into Zadar airport and have time to spend in the town then @konobastomoricazadar is worth a visit. The cuttlefish and chickpea soup/stew was the best thing I’ve eaten this year. In Hvar itself @konobamenego is a cosy restaurant with a great menu of traditional food, including vegetarian options, we shared a plate of marinated fish (eel I think) and then I had courgettes and aubergines in a sweet and sour sauce prepared to a family recipe. Go early as once they are full that’s it, there is no squashing in extra sittings, the kitchen staff need time off. I loved this. Our nearest town was Stari Grad and we lived @antikastarigrad - tables set outside so we could people watch, great food. Celery and smoked mussel soup with pine nuts 👌🏻 The dog is the photo was snapped at #konobahumac - a deserted hilltop village which featured in last week’s Friday film. There is a small restaurant with a wood fired kitchen - you can either order 24 hours in advance for traditional dishes cooked under a dome or have simple grilled meats and salads. Simplicity is wonderful. I’ll continue this in the comments.
Back from holiday, looking a little less frazzled than my pre-holiday photo and I'm trying to keep it like that (which is why Instagram posts are now in the afternoon - I'm reading in the morning). ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ In this week's Friday film I talk about the difficulty that I've always had in not working while on holiday and why that is a great mistake and what changed this year. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ For me getting proper rest is important for living my best life. It isn't a sneaky productivity trick - I don't want to rest on holiday so that I can work more efficiently when I get home. I want to rest so that I can feel more alive, stand taller, be more vibrant. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I've also added in a film of the sea, a courtyard garden and a deserted hilltop village to show you why Hvar is one of the best places to go if you need a little relaxation. The link is in stories. #hvar #mudridolac #smallbusiness
This is a woman who is about to head off on holiday but has packed absolutely nothing. Today’s Friday film is out - I’ll post the link in stories - and it’s all about why I’m deleting social media apps while I’m away, what is the kind of ‘work’ that I find revitalising on holiday and what stops me relaxing. And a tour of what I actually do day to day (minus the boring bits). Here till 5pm today and then away for a couple of weeks. Knitting is #heirloomquiltcardigan by @katrynseeburger
I seem to have spent this year writing about plants that have turned out to not be what they were meant to be . . but that I have grown to love more than whatever it was I thought I wanted. There were meant to be Hopi black dye sunflowers, Tceqa' Qu' Si, (Helianthus annuus macrocarpus). They clearly are not. I've never actually grown giant sunflowers - and these tower over the sweet pea tunnel, gawky, heads bowed. I love them. The birds will love them even more.
I'm not really a person who is very good at theory. I'm not enthused by swatches. I was never good at experiments in science class. I mean I appreciate the science in botanical dyeing, and I really, really appreciate the people whose brains work that way, but it just isn't me. I love the process but even more I love the result. I think that the most obvious example of this is the ongoing knitted blanket - three stripes from every plant that I try dyeing with in the garden. A record of sorts. The best I can do. At the moment a lot of the dyeing and making and embroidering that I do is centered around clothes - bought second hand and made more beautiful. I'm inspired by @prophet_of_bloom and @thedogwooddyer and they way they wear their creativity. I've bought this silk camisole from Vinted (it was described as vintage but I refuse to believe that the 1990s are vintage). I've now dyed it with fresh indigo for my younger daughter, a mermaid blue, gently mottled teal. The photos of the process are up on my blog - last night I gave it another coat of leaves so I am now waiting for it to dry to check the colour before I post it to Katie. #botanicaldye #naturaldyeing #prelovedclothes
In the early summer this rose - nicknamed the
This week's all about managing my energy - I go on holiday in a week and traditionally I've been terrible at pacing myself in the run up to a break. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Everything seems to get out of hand and pile up on my desk, leaving me exhausted and crabby. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ This year I'm determined not to let that happen so I'm building in plenty of the things that I know buoy me up into my days - rest, creativity, nature. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ The rest and the making are being combined in making squares for the Heirloom Quilt Cardigan - a wonderful pattern by @katrynseeburger - which I'm knitting in a linen/bamboo yarn that I botanically dyed a couple of years ago and have been hoarding ever since. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ You can see what I'm on about in stories . . . .
Often people tell me that they would love to learn to dye with plants but they don't have a garden, or they worry about foraging for plants or that they run out of time and never get around to it. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I completely get that. I am the same. Life is busy and unless things are easy I often let the desire slide. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ It is why I am spending time each day drying out the dye plants that I grow here and packing them up into sealable envelopes - each decorated with a drawing. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I want to make it easier for people to try out botanical dyeing with a wider range of plants than is generally available. So far I've been packing up willowherb and dahlia flowers alongside the more traditional marigold and dyer's chamomile. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I'm not completely sure what form this will all eventually take - kits that make everything easy perhaps, possibly a 'workshop in a box' kind of thing. I'm currently trying to work out all the practicalities while prioritising making sure the flowers and leaves are packaged properly so that they won't spoil while I work out the details. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ At some point, if you are on my newsletter list, you will no doubt get an email with some questions in it! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ But in the meantime let me know what you think - what would you value in a botanical dyeing kit? Help me make something that will inspire people to create something beautiful. #dyersofinstagram #botanicaldye #botanicaldyersofinstagram #tagetesdye
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About Snapdragon Life

At Snapdragon Life I help bring the changing seasons into your daily life, helping you slow down, so that you can experience increased well being, calm and creativity.

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