ArtSpace
By Sharmini Jayawardena
Today, I gave my soya milk mordanted paper which I dried over four to five days, a bath in dried Roselle Calyces is the plural of calyx, as in the calyx of a flower.
So there you go. Roselle can also be drunk as a tasteful beverage. When we arrived at Four Seasons Resort Langkawi, they greeted us with a welcoming drink of Roselle which was very flavorful.
On to the dying process –
I used 15 gm of dried Roselle calyces boiled in 400 ml of water.
I placed two copy papers mordanted with soya milk in an aluminum tray.
Then I strained liquid into the tray through a sieve lined with cheesecloth/ muslin.
It was allowed to remain there until it turned cold. Then I transferred the papers on to old towels to dry under the fan with my windows open.
The papers getting a bath in the Roselle and the remaining calyces on the cheesecloth lined strainer.
So this is the process.
I used it over once again and dyed a copy paper without mordant and it turned out not so dark in colour. This may be due to my using the calyces for the second time.
Whatever it is, I have noticed the colour adhering better to the paper and giving it a darker shade when the paper is mordanted.
⭐️ The color faded with time. But it may return to the darker shade it was originally in, with time. If you leave the color to dry on the paper, you will get a much darker result.
The mordanted paper have turned an indigo. I just love this shade. This paper is only for decorative purposes in your journal and not for journaling or writing on as Roselle is acidic. So your paper may not last long.
The unmordanted paper is a lighter shade. This may be due to my using the calyces for the second time in the second round of dying.
I’m very happy with the way it turned out in indigo as I’ve been searching for something dark to add to my next journal in the making.
Oops !!!! I forgot to take pictures of the dried papers. I’ve already used one yo create a Z folder and a flip up and now I have just the one with mordant and one without !
And, here they are:
The left hand side is dried Roselle calyces dyed paper without mordant and the right is with mordant
