by more jute
I am really enjoying revisiting this wonderful fibre! I’m surprised and pleased at all the comments the first jute post received.
Meanwhile some of the jute imagery has gone into a new print I’m currently working on so wish me luck on that one, it’s looking good so far. Here are a few pieces from long ago that also incorporated rope or jute: Paths XI and Paths XIII, and one I’d almost forgotten, a Head Dress!
September 30, 2011 in Being an Artist, Photoworks, Textures by Marja-Leena
Is the jute your own play? It looks like fun… And very dramatic on the black…
Yolanda left you a note in response to your note, by the by.
Marly, yes, these are sections of old macramé plant hangers that I made in the 70’s when it was all the rage. I still have one in use (not shown here) but this and the previous post’s were buried in a bag of odds and ends. As you know, I love to scan interesting textures. By the way, I think I have many balls of unused jute stored somewhere in the crawl space…. maybe I’ll take up macramé again in my old age as I’m not a knitter.
Thanks for the note about Yolanda – have responded.
That is a pretty headdress and hints of a lovely image. Am I detecting some macrame in this latest pair?
Yes, Susan, you certainly are!
I have to find a dictionary to figure out all the new words, at this point.
For your knowledge: last time, and it was maybe 20 yrs ago, I needed good, holding rope for my row boat for our summer shack, I managed to find hemp rope. No jute seen for decades here! Danes visit off and on, but Marja-Leena thought that the Jutes (people) mostly moved to England.
Or maybe they went back and forth. We still have a saying that it was that goddam Jute who did this or that, but the actual events were during the big sailing ships.
Ripsa, at least hemp is another natural fiber. Perhaps it is grown in Finland or close by?
I’m sorry, I should have put in the links for you (in the last post’s comments) as to where I learned about the Jutes: here . Please read it in Finnish: here . Yes, it says they did live in Jutland, Denmark but later raided England along with the Angles and Saxons and settled there. Raiders like the Vikings, I suppose.
That’s right, Marja-Leena!
I didn’t think of that. Of course, hemp would probably need more warmth, than is here! That’s the reason! Thanks for links!
This must also be somewhat of a history of big sailing ships, and we do have here every summer a tall sailing ship gathering, around Turku or Helsinki. Live and learn!
I have an inordinate fondness for knot/braid work. This is balm to my eyes, and I long to touch it.
The ‘Paths’ prints I admire but find slightly disturbing, I thing perhaps because they remind me of the ‘Moorleichen’, the corpses of iron-age (I think) people strangled, probably sacrificially, and preserved in bogs on the Danish/German border, which I saw on a visit when I was in my teens – the ropes were preserved along with the bodies and all had turned a silvery, sepia colour…
But 1970s macrame is a` much more cheerful subject! A pity in a way it went out of vogue, as some of the things (the plant holders, anyway, not so much the owl wall hangings!) were useful and attractive, and knotty type work is pleasant to do.
These scans are very effective and appealing.
The Jutes settled in large number in Kent, I believe, so some of their descendants may even be living in Tunbridge Wells!
well now i just have to learn macrame!
Ripsa, yes, the Jutes and their ships! We have had some tall ship festivals here sometimes as well. Aren’t they gorgeous?
zhoen, glad you like!
Lucy, ooh, the ‘Moorleichen’ do sound disturbing, sorry my work reminded you of that! My intent is nothing like that, just a coil of rope, a petroglyph, a fossil and a rock (Paths XII)…. Perhaps we will just have to bring macramé back in style! Yes, I read that about the Jutes…. hmm, are you thinking of a mutual friend of ours???
Elisa, yes, good idea!
Jute, of course, not hemp! It was great to come to your blog and see examples of how you have used the fibre in your prints. The Head Dress collagraph looks very interesting, and I look forward to seeing the new pieces you are working on.
Olga, thanks. The image for the Head Dress collagraph is very small, from the early days when I was limited to that size with the blog so it’s hard to see the details. I need to pull that print out for a closer look again for it was made so long ago that I can’t remember what fibres I used, I think a mix, including cheesecloth in the center. I’m looking forward to seeing more of your new collagraph experiments.