Tuesday is dyeing day.........2,240 black teasels drying on a pole etc etc

First fine day I've had time to do this job. Indian ink in my hair, on my face and all over my clothes, but it is successful and quite quick to do. This number of teasels should cover one pole.....

Interestingly the shellac in the ink holds the teasel bunches together which is advantageous as the teasels are old and potentially crumbly. Once completely dry I'll have to find them a new storage place!

I've also finally cracked the best way of turning the teasels black. Spray paint too much mess, waste and smell. Black dye doesn't seem to get absorbed through outer layer. But Nina suggested Indian ink, so I tried some Quink first and then a small bottle of Indian ink and have now placed a large order! I hope to be able to dip the teasels in bunches and speed up the whole process. Indian ink is apparently made from soot.....

Can you tell the difference?

Teasels are taking over my life and my house. Spiders are leaving the teasels and spreading their webs all over this room. I now have over 4000 teasels bunched up in 'hands' of 40.

Teasels are taking over my house......Had very frustrating day trying to sort out best method to spray paint teasels. Lots of conflicting advice, and lots of different types of paint that I could use. But as to the results...... I'm not going to know if anything works unless I try it. Hoping I can borrow a compressor to use with a spray gun. That will make it cheaper but still very time consuming.

I've also been experimenting leaving my bark and seaweed balls outside in the recent rain to see what would happen.....

Have been trying to spray the teasels black while weather is warm and there is little wind but the way I'm doing it is not going to be cost effective. I need a professional or at the very lease professional equipment. They don't look too bad but obviously the flash highlights the defects. But,  I don't propose having them lit in the gallery.

Found a really good haul today AND the sun was shining. I've found another area of Brean Down which is more sheltered and hence there is less damage to the teasels. I also found some on the roadside near Burnham's Tesco! Sedgemoor certainly seems to have more teasels than around my locality so it has to be worth the petrol. I've also decided to cut them down to size before putting them in the car. This makes them a bit more vulnerable in transit but I can get more in.....

Mrs Coates from the Willow and Wetlands Centre in Stoke St Gregory (on the Somerset Levels) http://www.englishwillowbaskets.co.uk, has very kindly given me a small quantity of Dipsacus sativus teasels from their shop display. The Coate family grew these teasels up until the late 1980s and exported them to Iceland where they were used to raise the nap on high quality clothing. The teasels in the image below are the original Somerset 'hooked' teasels that were grown for use in the milling industry. I've now scanned the images of these teasels and hope to use them as part of my work for the Bhaam, http://www.bhaam.org.uk exhibition.

This one's a double!

Collecting teasels is an ongoing project but has been quite problematical what with the bad weather and finding a plentiful source. Brean Down has proved fruitful although the ones on higher ground have been damaged but the wind and rain.

I've started cutting them off the main plants and test spraying them black before assembling them into bunches of 40 (a small hand).

Disaster has struck.....some of the teasels, which cannot have dried out completely, have disintegrated in the barn. I have lost a significant number of my hard won crop. I know just how the farmers must have felt when they saw their profits disappearing! So the hunt goes on.....

Tinder for the bonfire