Lichens to dye for!

  I was pulling weeds in the garden spaces this morning when my hand hit something soft.  It was fluffy soft not squishy soft so it did not alarm me in the least.  Squishy soft makes me ponder if I have grabbed ahold to a slug or something even worse but fluffy soft cannot be that bad.  I mean think about it.  Fluffy soft can be a bird's feather, a baby bunny or, in the worse case scenario, a wad of dog hair.  Fluffy soft usually means not harmful in my brain.

  Looking down, I found lichen.  A lump of lichen had fallen from the Black Gum tree and I had grabbed it along with a clump of weeds.  (I suppose I should be happy that it was lichen and not another wolf spider. They are not particularly fond of being squeezed in a handful of rattlesnake weed.)  The lichen, on the other hand, was not putting up much of a fight at being grasped.  Still, the lichen demanded my attention.  This clump was a beauty!  From the pastel, mint-green color to the multi-limbed structure, the lichen was quite fascinating.  There had to be more to this lichen than just being a decoration on the tree!  Searching the ground, I found about a dozen more clumps.  Obviously, the stiff winds of a few nights ago had whipped the tender lichens from the tree branches.  For whatever reason, I gathered all I could find and sat to examine them even further.  I pondered just what these little things had to do with the whole scheme of life.  Somehow I am quite sure that if all lichens were eradicated, we would all suffer a great loss.

  Actually, scientists have discovered that about fifty percent of lichens have antibiotic properties and have shown great promise in treating a lot of diseases.  Herbalists have known this for years and have been using different lichens to treat a number of problems.  This often overlooked life form might hold the cure for some devastating illness!  Of course, I will never be the one that finds that cure but that does not stop my curiosity about lichens.  From the artist's point of view, I am more interested in the use of different lichens to produce dyes.  I pulled the lichens aside with grand intentions of experimenting.  Wouldn't it be interesting to make dyes like so very many years ago.  The rich blues and purples used in royal robes of early Europe and reds, browns and greens used in Scottish plaids were all made from lichens.  I have often threatened to experiment further with natural dyes so this little clump of lichen might kickstart my experiments!  Oooh!  A new art medium!  And to think it all started with weeding the garden!