A Nomad's Blanket

Woven in and of the mountains and desert.  

Archaic memory of a time when blankets were warmth and life and livelihood is palpable. The beauty and utility of a blanket is felt without touching, though touch brings a visceral comfort.

This piece is the first in what will become a series of large scale naturally dyed blankets. It was woven with both a warp and a weft of black walnut dyed merino. Woven in panels and stitched together, this blanket is inspired by by the shawls woven in Gaddi people in the Himalaya. (though this style of construction is found the world over)

The dyes used for the weft are indigo, cochineal, black walnuts, sandalwood, marigolds, fustic, madder, blanketflower, mulberries, and likely more that I am forgetting now.  

A Nomad's Blanket, in naturally dyed merino, by Jeannie Ortiz
A Nomad's Blanket, in naturally dyed merino, by Jeannie Ortiz
A Nomad's Blanket, in naturally dyed merino, by Jeannie Ortiz
A Nomad's Blanket, in naturally dyed merino, by Jeannie Ortiz
The construction of a Nomad's Blanket by Jeannie Ortiz
A Nomad's Blanket, in naturally dyed merino, by Jeannie Ortiz
A Nomad's Blanket, in naturally dyed merino, by Jeannie Ortiz
A Nomad's Blanket, in naturally dyed merino, by Jeannie Ortiz
A Nomad's Blanket, in naturally dyed merino, by Jeannie Ortiz
A Nomad's Blanket, in naturally dyed merino, by Jeannie Ortiz