Saturday

Natural dye workshop with Julia Billings at Woollenflower in Glasgow. I went to pull together some colours from the local environment and to observe how JB organises herself. Taking bottles for collecting dye bath in to reduce to my own inks, we dyed with 5 plant sources, 4 local and one exotic. We used both alum and alum + iron mordants which gave us 10 colours. The workshop was largely a lecture, and we were able to participate a little. It was a very efficient and well organised day. It was interesting to be workin

g alongside textile people again rather than artists. I was painfully aware of the hierarchy and the competitive atmosphere underlying the friendly chit chat. Arrive back to the Glen won

dering if I really want to rub up against other people much at all. I am sure that the MS fatigue contributes to my lack of enthusiasm for joining the melee. The trains strike didn’t help. I sat in Buchanan St bus station for 2 hours waiting for my bus home. The upside of which was observing the

faces of people about me and doing a little sketch or two. The more I draw the more I want to capture something of the atmosphere of the moment as well as a graphic echo of what I’m looking at.