Printing in Woodlands, a FREE Eco Printing, Upcycling and Skills Sharing Exhibition at the Glasgow Botanical garden

 

Please Visit “Printing in Woodlands” on the 29th February and 1st March between 10am and 4pm in the Glasgow Botanical Gardens… It is a beautiful celebration of everything Eco, and sharing AND IT IS FREE.

When the world is worried about climate change and cutting down consumption many are trying to find a new way to live, work and create in a sustainable manner…. I don’t have to search too much… not wasting, not buying, recycling, sharing, reusing, remaking has been my way of life for the past 50 years at least … since I was a little girl in North of France and I learned about pollution…

I live my life as an Eco-Upcycler artist… I print the leaves from my local area on recycled fabric and this past year I have done so with my local community in the Woodlands Community garden… we produced beautiful pieces out of recycled bed linen donated by a local bed and breakfast in a big pot on a fire in the middle of the garden… the creators were the gardeners with next to no experience…

I love sharing my skills with people… not artist… just people because they push my boundaries further and make me stretch out my knowledge to “make it work no matter what we use”. I have just had so much fun working with the community. The printers were gardeners, not artists… and visitors to the project. The result was outstanding way beyond my wildest dreams… We produced so many nice pieces out of old rags… printing some local weeds…

I liked that project so much I decided to extend it when travelling to Northern Thailand recently  and to share my skills with the local community (artists, local weavers groups, university students). They taught me how to dye with Anneto seeds and maintain a fermented Indigo Vat… I learned about natural mordant  and I taught them to Eco Print… We worked with their local leaves out of their large pots and steamers and on a log fire outdoor… the cloth again was donated although sometimes very beautiful. I cant speak the language and this time I travelled in areas where next to no english is spoken… but its amazing how far you get out a few words and a smile. I came back with a few great pieces and some new friendships… Many places I arrived as a foreigner and left as a friend having to promise to visit again… I visited places where they don’t buy cloth… they plant the seeds, harvest, spin and weave… it makes very important that you make something beautiful out of what you are given. And we did…..

So it is important to me to share further and I have put together my favourite pieces and some friend artists at the Glasgow Botanical garden during the week end of the 29th Feb and 1st of March… Please join us in the Kibble Palace South Wing… from 10 to 4 both days we will celebrate… Eco Printing, Recycling, Friendship, Skill shares and many other creative things….   You will see there…

From Woodlands to Thailand pieces:

On display will be our beautiful Eco Printed pieces made in Glasgow and in Thailand, every piece is a celebration of sharing and learning together. Our communion with Nature. From the pieces made in the garden in Woodlands to the first time pieces made by remote weavers community from Northern Thailand every piece is unique.

Every piece is a celebration of my “village” work.

How Far does the Hand Reach:

On special loan will be the 100 eco printed pieces quilt of “How Far does the Hand Reach” … a story of sisterhood and communication with Nature initiated by Eco Artist Maria Clark Wilson in 2019. As a Master’s completion project Maria Botanical Being built a global community of 100 Eco Artist (99 plus me)  from Indonesia to Scotland via the USA who each printed a square of silk with their local signature. The quilt is a great story of collaboration and will be on loan for the week end.

On the 29th  we will share making :

Mann craft (Mann Craft instagram) my Thai friend from Sakon Nakkhon (the Indigo Capital of Thailand) will visit on the 29th and share his Tie Dyeing with Indigo

Carola Mokveld (Carola’s website) from Holland is a Cyanotype artist and she will share the magic of her printing on the 29th

Cassandra Barron ((Bookbinding with Cass FB) a bookbinder from Edinburgh will be sharing her bookbinding and showing her botanical books

The exhibition is FREE because everything we are using is RECYCLE…. because all the artists are donating their time… because the Botanical Gardens is welcoming us for FREE… Because it is a community project….   (Off course you can give a donation :))

IT IS NOT FUNDED BY ANY ORGANISATION !!!!  I want to share this with you because I want to believe that beyond political chat and funding bodies  we can do great things together without exchange of money, without damaging the Earth and when we come together and share our resources we can produce great things….

YOUR CONTRIBUTION IS TO VISIT AND TAKE PART…. I HOPE YOU WILL….

See you in the Gardens…

Love

Betty xx