Bob and I hike frequently around the mountains and foothills of Western North Carolina. I have become proficient with identifying most common plants, however, my main love when hiking is finding the unusual shape, color, arrangement, or line grouping. An artist is always looking for unique items, you know!
 
So recently, we were out photographing plants for a survey and I became enamored with the one above.
 
Stop and look at how the stem comes out of the middle of the leaf--the body part of the leaf if you will. It fascinates me!! Most plants grow a straight stem and then a place for the leaf to sprout buds. Closely look at the stem--it not only grows through the middle of the leaf but also zig zags to connect each leaf. Now, my mind is racing as to how can I recreate this leaf image on a scarf with marbling?
 
First, I considered that I want to accentuate the scarf with a leaves and an off-center placement. Next, I consider color and pattern. An all over pattern is the ticket and a waved nonpareil gives the idea of a forest floor with different greens and neutrals. To further accentuate the leaf, I chose blue behind it to make it easier to see the leaves.
 
Connecting them is harder than I thought. I used “wild ginger’ color on a stylus and placed, slightly drew a line connecting the shapes in the resulting zigzag appearance on the scarf.
 
Throw this asymmetrical beauty around your neck to enhance your outfit in all seasons.
 
Each design created is different than the one before it.
 
I washed the scarf first to rid the fabric of manufacturing residue, then soaked the fabric in alum to fix the pigments on the scarf.  The 17th Century process of marbling is a dry garment to wet surface transfer.
 
After the scarf has been left to drip dry and rest for 7 days, then I carefully wash out the extra gel and paints to return the scarf to it's "soft as silk" nature!