A Celebration of Life

A Celebration of Life

Lois Elta Treloar Sylvester

September 21, 1925

July 24, 2016

Why are there so many songs about rainbows

 and what’s on the other side?

Rainbows are visions, but only illusions,

 and rainbows have nothing to hide

.So we’ve been told and some choose to believe it.

I know they’re wrong wait and see.

Someday we’ll find it, the rainbow connection.

The lovers, the dreamers and me.

Who said that wishes would be heard and answered

 when wished on the morning star?

Someone thought of that and someone believed it.

Look what it’s done so far.

What’s so amazing that keeps us stargazing and what do we think we might see?

Someday we’ll find it, the rainbow connection.

The lovers, the dreamers and me.

All of us under its spell.

We know that it’s probably magic.

Have you been half asleep and have you heard voices?

I’ve heard them calling my name.

Is this the sweet sound that calls the young sailors.

The voice might be one and the same.

I’ve heard it too many times to ignore it.

It’s something that I’m supposed to be.

Someday we’ll find it, the rainbow connection, the lovers, the dreamers and me.

Someday we’ll find it, the rainbow connection, the lovers, the dreamers and me.

Kermit the Frog

Today is a day of celebration.  We shall celebrate the life of Lois and in so doing celebrate our own lives as well for they are all separate but one in the same.   Her life was long and full, reared by a good mother and father, a safe home, siblings who she tortured yet loved and a husband too dear to part with so early.  She loved her children and taught them with a sternness that she knew as love.   She was a good mother, sister, daughter, wife and friends to many.  She will be remembered for those good things and the happiness and joy she brought to those who knew her.

Joyous Days

I see her coming down the street,
I watch her gaily dancing feet;

Her little face is wreathed in smile,

She brings me joy all the while.

I walk to meet her on the way

.For me, this is a happy day’

She clasps her little hand in mine,

No sweeter love, I ‘ll ever find.

I know that there will come the day.

When she’ll be grown and far away;

And all these joys that I now know,

Will just be memories that glow.

And I shall see her in the street

,And I shall watch her dancing feet;

And I shall hear her happy song,

To cheer me when the days are long.

Myrtle A. Treloar

Prayer for Her Passing

She was always busy, always working

,her days were long, her spirit strong,

many things always got done, by this one

,if a need was found, there was always the sound

of her bustling, efficient, energy, doing the job.

Her heart was kind, her spirit strong,

each day of her life, found her willing

to dance the dance and walk the walk

,it was a pleasure, when she had the time to talk

.Her favorite things, were the people she knew

,her family, her friends, and me and you,

often she shared a smile and a wink,

she often made you puzzle and think

.Her days were many, and were enough,

saying what she meant, with never a bluff,

acting in kindness, to all she met

,on this heart, may the sun never set

.Her wisdom lives on in those she knew,

Thank You dear Lois  We will never forget you.

I'm Free

Don’t grieve for me, for now I’m free

;I took His hand when I heard Him call;

I turned my back and left it all

.If my parting has left a void;

then fill it with remembered joy.

My life’s been full, I savored much;

good friends, good times,a loved one’s touch

.A friendship shared, a laugh, a kiss;

ah yes, these things, I too, will miss

.Perhaps my time seemed all too brief;

don’t lengthen it now with undue grief

.Lift up your hearts and share with me;

God wanted me now, He set me free. 

God Looked Around His Garden

God looked around His garden

And found an empty place

.He then looked down upon the earth

And saw your tired face.

He put His arms around you

And lifted you to rest

.God’s garden must be beautiful

He always takes the best

.He saw the road was getting rough

And the hills were hard to climb,

So He closed your weary eyelids

And whispered “Peace be thine.”

It broke our hearts to lose you

But you didn’t go alone,

For part of us went with you

The day God called you home. 

The Crossing of the Bar 

   

Sunset and evening star,  

  And one clear call for me!

And may there be no moaning of the bar,  

  When I put out to sea.

But such a tide as moving seems asleep,   

 Too full for sound and foam,

When that which drew from out the boundless deep  

  Turns again home!

Twilight and evening bell,  

  And after that the dark!

And may there be no sadness of farewell,  

  When I embark;

For though from out our bourn of Time and Place  

  The flood may bear me far,

I hope to see my Pilot face to face 

   When I have crost the bar.

Alfred Lord Tennyson

Day is done, gone the sun,

from the hills, from the sky.

All is well, safely rest,

safely rest, all is well

.Fading light dims the sight

,and a star gems the sky

,Gleaming bright from afar

,drawing nigh, falls the night.

Dear one, rest! 

Twenty-Third Psalm

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want

.He maketh me to lie down in green pastures;

He leadeth me beside the still waters. 

He restoreth my soul; 

He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

 I will fear no evil: 

for Thou art with me;

 thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. 

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: 

Thou anointest my head with oil, 

my cup runneth over.

 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: 

and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. 

Death is nothing at all, I have only slipped away into the next room.

I am I, and you are you. 

Whatever we were to each other, that we still are.

Call me by my old familiar name, speak to me in the easy way you always used.

Put no difference into your tone, wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow.

Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes we enjoyed together.

Play, smile, think of me. Pray for me.

Let my name be the household name it always was.Let it be spoken without effort.

Life means all that it ever meant. It is the same as it ever was.

Why should I be out of your mind because I am out of your sight?

I am but waiting for you, for an interval, somewhere very near, just around the corner.

All is well, nothing is past, nothing is lost.

It will be a brief moment and all will be as it was before, only better,infinitely happier and forever. 

We will all be one together.

Remember Me:

To the living, I am gone.

To the sorrowful, I will never return.

To the angry, I was cheated

,But to the happy, I am at peace,

And to the faithful, I have never left

.I cannot be seen, but I can be heard.

So as you stand upon a shore, gazing at a beautiful sea

 - remember me.

As you look in awe at a mighty forest and its grand majesty

 - remember me.

As you look upon a flower and admire its simplicity 

- remember me.

Remember me in your heart, your thoughts, 

your memories of the times we loved

,the times we cried, the times we fought, the times we laughed

.For if you always think of me, 

I will never be gone

- remember me.

Do not stand at my grave and weep

I am not there. I do not sleep

.I am a thousand winds that blow.

I am the diamond glints on snow

.I am the sunlight on ripened grain.

I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you awaken in the morning’s hush

I am the swift uplifting rush

Of quiet birds in circled flight

.I am the soft stars that shine at night

.Do not stand at my grave and cry;I am not there. I did not die.

 

Shibori Discharge Silk Scarves

For a very long time, I have not participated in online shops.  Well, now that roaming around the country and setting up shows is becoming a thing of my past, it is time to become part of the twenty first century and get on line.
My first group of photos have included my discharge silk scarves. Here are a few.   The discharge work has all been done on the black scarves bought from dhrama and using their discharge procedure with a bit of Janet's philosophy thrown in.  ( If a little works add more.)  So here are some shots of my scarves- hope you enjoy.

This scarf is 11 x 60 Habotai Scarf.  The procedure is what is called in Shibori  ITAJIME .
This process means fold and clamp.

When making folds (these folds must be accordion or fan style- which means don't fold over a fold-this double up of thickness makes it very difficult for the dye to penetrate) one must be precise and make sure that the folds must lay flat and are equally spaced.  There are many ways to make little boxes to help make perfect folds if one enjoys making helpful tools.  old your fabric or scarf length wise and then fold that long piece into the final shape.

  Fold your fabric so the final piece is a square, rectangle or triangle.

 Itajime works best with widths of fabric that are about 14 inches wide.   These techniques were used in the making of Kimonos which uses fabric only 14 inches wide.  After the fabric has been properly folded (I do mine very damp so I can hand pleat the fabric - I feel this easier than using an iron) it is time to apply the  blocks.

Blocks should be a simple shapes usually made of wood or plastic.  Any 2 rigid shapes can work.  Place a piece of plastic wrap between the block and fabric on both sides.  Position the 2 blocks directly on top of one another. On the piece above clamps were used to hold the circles in place.

The piece was then placed in a discharge bath and left until I felt the process was complete and then washed and cleaned.

Another example of Itajime but after the discharge the scarf was placed in a procion mx dye solution after the discharge  to add color.

                                                       This example of Itajame did not use clamps but sinew.  

The blocks were placed on the fabric and then just wrapped tightly to prevent dye from getting under the block.

  

This is another method of Shibori called Arashi meaning "Storm" or can be called Bomaki.  This technique is made by folding and wrapping your fabric around a pole.  The poles can be a broom handle to a pipe of a very wide pipe.  This form of Shibori is like all Shibori in that the excitement is when you unroll your piece and see what wonderful designs you have created.

More Arashi Shibori that is made by folding and placing on a wider pole and then wrapping with a resist such as string and pushing it down tightly on the pole.   Many of these designs will remind you of animal prints and can add much excitement to a basic black dress.

Tesuji Shibori which means pleated and bound.   This scarf was so easy to do.  The fabric was folded in half and then accordion  pleated length wise.  It was then loosely bound and allowed to sit in a bath of discharge.  Not very interesting in this piece but this technique can be exciting making vertical and horizontal stripes with numerous dyes to form complex color designs.

Well, it is a start.  I have a few up on my esty page under JanetSPlatzArts but have not found how to link the two together as of yet.  So I will call it a day and post this and find some comfort in doing nothing for a bit.

Thanks

Glad you stopped by and drop me a line.  I will post more on Shibori with my Rayon Scarves and Tee Shirts shortly.

 Waves as she watches you drive by.

JANSYL RETURNS And the Circle Goes Round

.     JANSYL RETURNS AND THE CIRCLE GOES ROUND

Winter Cardinals   Medium Round

Well, never say never as the saying goes.   I have been staring at my little pins called Jansyl and decided to try to sell some of what is left.  Those were such good years, so very busy with good sales and lots of good times on the road.  Now, not wanting to be away and no longer able to have a company personally press my own porcelain recipe what remains is the end of a productive and profitable part of my past.

My brother in law's new wife Heather is insisting that I remove myself from being Queen Midas with my hoards of handmade items and get my product out on the web.   My first experience with this will be with my Etsy site- Just Pretty by Jansyl.   I decided to give it a whirl with Jansyl and today my first order appeared.  OH my Virginia, there are sales on the internet after all.  So, I thought that maybe I should give it a little boast with a blog entry.  So here we go!!

Just if you have any interest.  Jansyl came to pass almost 20 years ago when my husband got out of the Navy.  It is a pretty little pin for almost any occasion and is made from very fine translucent porcelain and then glazed to a shear glass.   At that point a decal is placed on that glaze and it is completely melted into it  giving it a wonderful reflective look. To finish it off, each piece was edged in a 20 carat liquid gold that came to it's luster during the final firing.   Jansyl was a very busy business most likely due to the end result being a product that is truly a wonderful little gift for any lady any time and any holiday that is still well priced.

I have posted on my esty site 10 Christmas and holiday pins.  Here are pictures of each.  Enjoy.

 Cornucopia Large Oval

 Currier and Ives   Round

 

Holiday Bow  Medium Round

 Holiday Holly  Medium Oval

 Santa and Staff  Rectangle

 Santa and Tree   Small Oval

 Snowman Birdhouse   Round

 Snowman Friends   Small Oval

Snowman Couple    Round

I hope that you have enjoyed the little travel back in time with me to the Jansyl years and if you think you have a holiday outfit that needs a Jansyl pin try my etsy site- Just Pretty by Jansyl.    Thanks again for stopping by and if you are just passing by let me give you a big wave. 







Japanese Padded Jackets - Shibori and Low Immersion Dyed Coats

Hello All,

Well, here are a few new pieces I thought were good enough to share with my friends today.   I so enjoy creating historically influenced pieces and once again here I am.   If anyone has had the opportunity of seeing my pottery and other things I create, they would say there is deffinately an Asian part to each.   These coats are reproductions of the Japanese Padded Field Jacket and are certainly much fun to create.  A bit of a puzzle as the pieces work together so that the lining, the padding and the outside fabric all become one.    

Silk Noil Jacket- Japanese Padded Field Coat
  This jacket was dyed using a low immersion procion mx dye technique.  There is about 5 yards of fabric.  The fabric was prewashed and shrunk then cut into close sized pieces and then dyed.   It was then constructed using a straight stitch sewing machine over a batting and then
finsihed with hand stitching closures.

 

Front of Silk Noil Low Immersion Dyed Japanese Padded Field Jacket

 

Back

 

 

Inside Front

 

 

Inside Back

 

 

Silk Noil Unlined Kimono Style Loose Fitting Jacket
This original pattern jacket was dyed using a folded Shibori technique with procion mx dyes. It was then constructed as an unlined garment using French seams and finishing with hand stitching.

 

 

Cotton Shibori Arashi (Pole Wrapped) Japanese Padded Field Jacket

This coat was my first padded jacket and oh what fun.  The yardage was a lot to put on a pole so I cut the yardage in half and placed the folded pieces on each half of my pole.  It was then wrapped and pushed and finally vat dyed.  The cotton fabric I started with has a tiny polka dot that helps give the piece some added texture.  This little jacket is toasty warm and light as a feather.

 

Front

 

 

 

Back

 

 

 

Inside Front
Notice that I did not have quite enough of my shibori fabric to finish off my sleeves.  Operator error - learned that one should always make an extra yard when making garments.

 

 

Inside Back

 

 

Well, that completes this blog entry.  Hope you enjoyed.  Thanks for stopping by- drop me a line if you would like-

waves as she watches you pass bye.