Morgen Bardati

Some quick phone photos of some new botanical ink drawings I've been working on. I use a dip pen over wet on wet with black walnut, logwood, weld, carbon black, brazilwood, cochineal, Indigo, copper oxide and acrylic white ink.

Copied and pasted because Facebook prevented me from sharing directly from the page of Palestinian artist Sliman Mansour.

"How the woman embraces the core of the Palestinian homeland resembles the resilience and strength of the Palestinian people, who carry their cause wherever they go. The way that people from varying backgrounds and nationalities gather throughout the world to voice their rejection of the carnage in Gaza shows that the Palestinian cause is in the heart of every person with a seed of humanity, carrying it dearly until Palestine is Free.
A woman carrying Jerusalem (إمرأة تحمل القدس), oil on canvas, 1979"

This amazing event is happening in our community on January 20th - a benefit for Doctors Without Borders with International music and food as well as a silent auction.
Though you may not be able to attend the event in person bidding on auction items can occur by proxy. If you are interested in bidding on this beautiful large sized scarf please let me know and I will share directions on how to do so. Follow the event shown in this post to see more auction items and I will also post the benefit poster soon.

“Circle in A Square” indigo and rust 100% silk scarf (90” long by 22” wide) by Morgen Bardati.
Each of the small square shapes on this silk scarf have been made by binding linen thread around a cherry seed and then dyeing the cloth in an indigo vat. When the bindings are released and the seeds removed, beautiful organic squares remain. The larger circles were also made by binding. This piece was done in layers with the bound shibori resist patterns created over a layer of rust printed patterns.
Morgen Bardati lives in New Denver BC and is a nature inspired artist who works with a variety of media including botanical dyes, printmaking and drawing.
Website: https://www.morgenbardati.com/
Value of item: $175.00
Minimum bid: $70.00

I am so looking forward to having a booth at this local Slocan Valley event.
The Vallican Whole Hall will be filled with local artisans from up and down our beautiful valley. Music will be happening on stage throughout the day and delicious food will be available from the kitchen.

Sleeping Bear amulet pouch.
A little handmade necklace pouch for keeping medicine close to the heart. For treasures of the heart, crystals, amulets, herbs or precious words.

https://www.morgenbardati.ca/product/sleeping-bear-amulet-pouch

Lot's of new silk scarves, purses and amulet pouches listed on my website now. If there's something you would like but don't see in my shop please message me. I'll still be adding a few more items over the next couple of days.
https://www.morgenbardati.ca/products

New items in my shop at last https://www.morgenbardati.ca/
I’ve been working on photographing and listing scarves and zipper purses and was waiting until I had it filled before announcing it here but items have begun to sell already. Please check back as I will be adding new items over the next couple of days.

I’m so looking forward to this local event tomorrow in Silverton where you’ll find me as well as 24 other fabulous local artists and craftspeople.

After so many requests for these phone sized purses to be made with shoulder straps here they are - hand dyed screenprinted organic cotton with adjustable straps. They will be in my booth tomorrow at the Silverton Holiday Market in the Silverton Memorial Hall from 10am to 4pm along with my botanically dyed silk scarves, silk scrunchies, coin purses and wristlets, and some of the new table runners and napkins.

Some of this season's large silk scarves - with botanical dyes, ecoprinting, indigo and rust printing on habotai and flat crepe silk. Available at the Silverton Holiday Market in Silverton on November 25th (this Saturday) 10am to 4 pm and also at the Vallican Whole on December 9th (details to follow).

Vintage linen reworked with ecoprinting, screenprinting and indigo. I've collected beautiful old linens for years and have decided to destash and add my own touch to their surface design. I will have some of these napkins and runners in my booth with my silk scarves and printed purses at the Silverton Holiday Market this coming Saturday.

After a week of fire scares followed by glorious rain, tomorrow looks like it should be a perfect day for visiting our local market in in the heart of New Denver - 9.30am to 1.30pm.
The Slocan Valley is enriched by our local artists and craftspeople who turn their hands to the making of beautiful and functional objects offering an amazing diversity of products. Many of them will tell you that their inspiration comes from the wonder of our natural surroundings.
Our vendor list for the 2023 season can always be found as a pinned post on our page. Also, all images of our vendors have their links in the caption.
See you tomorrow!
Photo credit: photo of Morgen Bardati taken by Whitney Taylor - https://www.instagram.com/whitneylynn_/

At the Kohan Reflection Garden today for the artist showing.

I am busy preparing some of my recent work for a local artist showing at the Kohan Reflection Garden in New Denver this Sunday, July 30th from 11am to 3pm.
This beautiful garden is my absolutely favourite local venue and over the years I have participated in a variety of art events and solo garment shows in the company of the extraordinary trees and plants who live there. There is no place that I feel more at peace than in a garden and I have so much gratitude for the amazing folks who volunteer for the Kohan Reflection Garden and who work so hard to maintain this treasured community space. Thank you so much for this offering to our artist community.
This is going to be an event not to be missed and I hope to see you there.

It seems that in these tumultuous times so many folks working with fibre are feeling drawn to create small vessels for holding precious things close. I’ve felt a kind of poignant joy in making these tiny offerings- little pouches for holding medicine close to the heart. There’s a unique sweet kind of love that infuses into the delicate making of tiny things and I hope that they can be worthy vessels for medicine and small amulets.
Several years ago I made cloth jewelry and these are also a more meaningful continuation of those necklaces. They are made out of all the small pieces of precious cloth I’ve worked on and kept over the years - linen, cotton and h**p - with combinations of botanical dye, natural earth pigments, shibori, stitching, embroidery, beadwork, printing and anything else that the fibre fairies whisper in my ear.

My Open Studio day at the Silverton Gallery is almost here. Drop in between 10 am and 2pm this Saturday. My demo is at 11 am.

These are going to be fun little happenings. I will be the artist hosting on March 4th - please join us 😊

We are opening our SLAC Studio doors to anybody that wants to come make their art and gather with like minded people!

Four consecutive Saturdays starting February 18, 10am - 2pm.
Bring your own supplies or use our assortment for a small fee. Drop-in by donation. At The SLAC (408 4th St Silverton BC.)

Every week a different local artist will be present as a host! They don't instruct, but are there for you. Your hosts and more info:
February 18: Petra Hekkenberg https://tinyurl.com/bdfczex5
February 25: Sabrina Curtis https://tinyurl.com/2a5yfkvy
March 4: Morgen Bardati https://tinyurl.com/yzvm9m8b
March 11: Louise Ducharme https://tinyurl.com/2p943m2w

See you there!

Find me at the Silverton Holiday Market this Saturday, November 26th from 10 am to 4pm in beautiful Silverton BC on the Slocan Lake. 🧡

Finally I have some new pieces to show you. This one is like a gift from my garden - it reminds me of Monet’s garden with a stream flowing through the centre. And it’s painterly 💚
I went through a couple of months moving my studio home and I just have’nt had the time or space to create new work. I transformed all the stuff in my large studio into 2 smaller spaces at home, and had to part with lot’s of art supplies, art work, furniture and books. It feels great to be back at home closer to my garden and the flowers and trees that I love. I feel lighter and more inspired.
I’ll be bringing some of my new work to the Silverton Holiday Market this Saturday, November 26th, 10am to 4pm. Watch this space for more of my new pieces.

The best market in the world 🧡

I have been so looking forward to this wonderful event happening in the Kohan Garden in New Denver tomorrow. Find me there with my silk and organic cotton scarves and wraps, as well as my newest collection of rust and indigo purses. I’ll also have a kind of ‘show and tell’ display set up in my booth to share a bit about my many techniques and processes.
See you there! 🧡

I love getting joy out of old prints and integrating them into new dye techniques. I’ve also been working on some new botanical print designs. Every now and then I get inspired to create new ones and usually create them in series. This time it was the markings of the rust prints and the indigo blue that I could see printed with stylized art nouveau botanical designs - so I responded with my ink dipped pen and brush. I’m still working on getting some of these new designs up and running on silk screens but you can see two of the new ones here. (The butterfly and tiny cosmos flower are older designs).
I’ll be at the Friday Market in New Denver tomorrow from 9.30am to 1.30pm in downtown New Denver. We are (right in) the heart of the village.

And it’s finished!

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cf5s1wjr5r1/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

This first piece in my Vesica series was completed weeks ago and I managed to finally get around to photographing it. The finish was quite nerve wracking as I bashed the edges on an anvil with a small hammer, hoping that I did’nt slip into the stitching or remove too much of the cloth. But also it was somehow exhilarating to take a hammer to something that I spent hours and hours working on - a way of releasing the piece from my hands. The colours here are not showing very accurately though as I struggle sometimes to capture certain colour palettes in my studio. Vesica Piscis with the image of maple seeds and my own hands. It’s about how both hands and seeds release new life into the world. I used cotton and silk thread on two layers of cloth - the hands are on rust printed and indigo dyed linen, and the maple seeds are on a layer of silk over the linen. •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• #kootenayartist #stitchdrawing #slowstitch #vesicapiscis #vesicapiscisart #canadianfibreartist #surfacedesignorg #seedart #slocanvalley #botanicaldyes #contemporarystitch

I’ve been working on something new which I hope to grow into a series. Small vesica piscis shaped works with themes of seeds and the elements, hands and gesture - portals into growth, rebirth and change. This first one is still in process and has two layers of cloth - indigo dyed vintage linen with hands stitched in cotton thread and the top layer is rust printed silk organza with winged maple seeds in silk thread.

"All circles have an invisible square on the outside, but these magical squares have an invisible circle on the inside.
Each of the square shapes on this silk scarf have been made by binding linen thread around a cherry seed and then dyeing the cloth in an indigo vat. When the bindings are released and the seeds removed, beautiful organic squares remain. This piece was done in layers with the bound shibori resist patterns created over a layer of rust printed patterns."
I have just listed this silk scarf in my shop and will be adding more of my rust and indigo pieces over the next few days.
https://morgenbardati.bigcartel.com/product/circle-in-a-square-indigo-and-rust-silk-scarf

This is one of the rust and indigo pieces I have been working with recently. This free form use of shibori is not something I do often but I'm liking what it offers. A mix of stitched and bound resist over the top of a patterned rust printing on a 6ft length of habotai silk. I'm enjoying the spontaneity and the wabi sabi aesthetics it brings to a wearable piece, with lot's of sweet little details that draw your eye in to playful contemplation. I think it would be a lovely piece to wear when you have time on your hands, like waiting in an airport. It reminds me of gazing through shallow water and floating leaves to catch glimpses of weeds and debris below the surface.
The last image shows the silk with just the rust prints and the shibori stitching and binding just before going into the indigo vat.

Thank you to The Slocan Valley for the really sweet article 🧡 I will be opening my studio today for a short bit from 11.30 am to 2, or by appointment any time.

Morgen Bardati is a familiar face in the Slocan Valley. She is involved with so many different community initiatives, including Handmade Heart and the New Denver Friday Market, but at her core, she’s an artist and maker who has made her home in the beautiful village of New Denver on Slocan Lake.

“Hatched and raised out of the red dirt and sunny beaches of Southern Africa”, she eventually migrated to Canada where she felt equally at home surrounded by lakes, mountains and the cold northern forests of her dreams.

The art she makes, including the collections of botanically dyed silks, screen printed purses and soft fibre jewelry are reflections of who Morgen is, where she lives and what inspires her.

“I’ve always had an intense curiosity about the natural world around me and the magical alchemy of making and creating from nature's gifts,” says Morgen. “As an artist, my prints, drawings and fibre art reflect ideas of human movement, economics and our relationship with the environment. As a maker of wearable fibre art, I am entranced by the magical botanical alchemy that occurs when cloth meets the vibrant and earthy colours of plants and minerals.”

Two things have always been a constant for Morgen - being an artist and being a gardener.

“Our garden is filled to the brim with food, plant medicine, dye plants and beauty,” she says. “Most of the art I make revolves around nature, the plant world and my relationship with them. The act of creating with our hands naturally connects heart, mind and spirit. I feel more whole in myself as I connect through my art to the living breathing world around and in me.”

You can find Morgen’s work at various artisan fairs throughout the Kootenays and on her online shop → www.morgenbardati.ca

Check out more Slocan Valley Artisans here --> https://slocanvalley.com/cheer/

Tomorrow - Wednesday 15th - is my last planned opening of my studio before Christmas. I will be there between 12pm and 4pm. I am considering doing a pop up opening this Saturday and will keep you posted. Also, I’m still available to open up for a time that suits you - please message me here or contact me through the email on the poster. Thank you so much for those of you who have already stopped by and shown your support for local artists - I appreciate you 🧡

Organic cotton bandanas with indigo, plant tannins and metal oxides from rusted objects. There are several available in my newest batch of textiles. I have one more open house in my studio - this Wednesday the 15th, from 12pm to 4pm, I’m also available to open the studio by appointment, and may do one more pop up opening before the holidays.

My studio is open again from 12pm to 4pm this Friday, Dec 10th. You can find me at 713 Josephine Street in New Denver - door to the left of the liquor store, up the stairs and keep right 🧡