My visit at the flaxfields
The moment I thought I want to produce linen plaids/blankets, I immediately knew that this had to become linen and also that I wanted to make the connection with Poland. Linen is a very popular fabric in Poland and in Poland there is also a large factory that produces the bobbins. I came in touch with a supplier who has helped me enormously in the entire linen process. What initially seemed that I would buy everything through him, ended up in all my direct contacts so that I can follow the process exactly. And the idea about the film came up soon as well, more about that later!
Through Poland I came in touch with France - where the largest flax plantation is actually located. From there I get in touch with vd Bilt Vlas & Zaden in Zeeland – Netherlands. I reached out to them and at some point I received an email that I had to come by tomorrow or the day after because the flowers are in their best bloom. Flowers? Does flax have flowers? What does flax actually look like? Google is of course my best friend in this case, but wow I had no idea. I called Marc - the photographer & my former colleague - and planned to go to the fields as early as possible to catch the sunrise. This was a night ride of about 2.5 hours, fine, we do it all for the best shot. Our contact would be there at 7 am, but we wanted to go ahead so we could explore the location. At 5:30 am we were taking pictures of a beautiful field with the most beautiful dew and sun. One picture was even more beautiful than the other. At one point I did a quick Google search and, OOPS, this is not flax at all. It indicates how little I knew about it;) But also how much I would like to tell you all this.
At 7am Bart came there, he drove us to the fields and we were incredibly surprised at the beauty of that flower. We still had the morning sun with us and the flowers opened more and more. The purple colour was really beautiful. I never knew that this would eventually become linen. Bart really took the time to explain everything about the whole process to me. He really knows everything about the process. The fun fact I found that the seed from which flax grows is linseed. Again; This is how beautiful nature is. However, it is true that the linseed that we eat is used for oil flax plants – which is tested on Omega3 values. The textile flax plant is for linen production - these seeds are reused for a new harvest.
This day was so valuable in terms of information and inspiration for the story. I got more and more excited to discover the further process and to actually receive my first design one day. The beauty of the plant, the fields and the factory where the dried flax is processed have given me more than 1000 photos that are all beautiful!
