Sunday Visit: Dream Making with Sara Buscaglia

For Sunday Visit, Botanical Colors sits down for an interview with a luminary in the natural dye, textile and art world. This week we sit down again with our inspiring friend Sara Buscaglia of Farm & Folk. Sara is an organic farmer, natural dyer and textile artist residing in the high desert of southwest Colorado. Her inspiration is found in the paradigm shifting slow processes of tending soil, seeds, and plants. Through her experience of being directly connected to food, natural color and fiber she has gained an understanding and appreciation of their true value. We hope you join us for her upcoming … Read more

Sunday Visit: Youngmin Lee

For Sunday Visit, Botanical Colors sits down for an interview with a luminary in the natural dye, textile and art world. This week we hear from renowned Korean Textile artist Youngmin Lee to talk about her upcoming workshop with us, her love of textile and her new book! Grab a cup of tea and settle in to learn about someone you never knew! Catch up on all our Sunday Visits HERE. We are exciting a workshop with her soon! We are so excited to host you next year. Can you tell us a little bit about your love of textiles and … Read more

Sunday Visit: Natalie Stopka, Materiality & Multitudes

For Sunday Visit, Botanical Colors sits down for an interview with a luminary in the natural dye, textile and art world. This week we visit with our resident Lake Pigment expert Natalie Stopka to talk about her upcoming workshop with us! Grab a cup of tea and settle in to learn about someone you never knew! Catch up on all our Sunday Visits HERE. What first sparked your interest into natural plant color? About 15 years ago I had the realization that instead of purchasing all the materials for a piece of art (an artist book in this case), I could … Read more

Mordant Monday: Foraging Instead

Today I was supposed to write about mordanting, but I had a foraging date to scout out potential sites for our upcoming workshop with Julie Beeler, so I headed out this morning to get a sense of what we might discover during our workshop. I am a mushroom foraging novice, and will stare for a long time at the forest floor and see absolutely nothing. I simply don’t have the eyes yet to distinguish between a brown leaf and a bolete. But to my surprise, there were some mushrooms that give color that very happily announced their presence right in … Read more

Sunday Visit: Kristin Field of Field & Gardener

For Sunday Visit, Botanical Colors sits down for an interview with a luminary in the natural dye, textile and art world. This week we visit with the inimitable Kristin Field of Field & Gardener who has an upcoming workshop with us! Grab a cup of tea and settle in to learn about someone you never knew! Catch up on all our Sunday Visits here. We are huge admirers of your Shibori bursts, can you tell us about how this process originated for you? Thank you so much! When I first learned about capping, the thought of putting an ecoprint in the … Read more

Mordant Monday: Middle Mordant Magic

In this week’s Mordant Monday, we discuss Middle Mordant. Middle Mordant is a technique that I learned about from The Art and Science of Natural Dyes. It’s considered to be a Japanese technique and is a simple way to create rich color on silk. Middle mordant uses room temperature dye baths and you can repeat the process until the fabric is the color you want. The purpose of middle mordant is to deepen the depth of shade and most of the examples I’ve seen use silk fabric and alum mordant. There are somewhat similar techniques that old dye books discuss, … Read more

Sunday Visit: The Storytellers Studio Coat with Jody Alexander

For Sunday Visit, Botanical Colors sits down for an interview with a luminary in the natural dye, textile and art world. This week we visit with the inimitable Jody Alexander who has an upcoming workshop with us! Grab a cup of tea and settle in to learn about someone you never knew! Catch up on all our Sunday Visits here. We are so excited to host you this October! Can you tell us a little bit about the origin of the Studio Storyteller Coat? I love the ethos of mending and repair as a thread that ties your work together. We … Read more

Mordant Monday: A NERD’S GUIDE TO MORDANTS

Kathy is currently creating magic at Sanborn Mills for her Nerd’s Guide to Mordants workshop. We decided to give you a little taste into all of the beautiful mordant variations she is creating for this workshop and some of the key considerations you should take into account when beginning to mordant. For all of you budding mordant nerds out there, here are some highlights of what is covered during the class. We are working on bringing this class to you in online form, so here is a little teaser while you wait! What is a Mordant? A mordant is a … Read more

Sunday Visit: Monica Medeiros of Bricolage Press

For Sunday Visit, Botanical Colors sits down for an interview with a luminary in the natural dye, textile and art world. This week we visit with Monica Medeiros of Bricolage Press. Learn about Monica’s history of print making and how she blends her love of letter press with natural dyes. Grab a cup of tea and settle in to learn about someone you never knew! Catch up on all our Sunday Visits here. Tell us about your origin story? How did you first find the medium of natural dyes? I started natural dyeing in earnest when I started gardening and trying … Read more

Sunday Visit: In Tangier With Hicham Bouzid

Every Sunday, Botanical Colors sits down for an interview with a luminary in the natural dye and textile world.Grab a cup of tea and settle in to learning about someone you never knew! Catch up on all our Sunday Visits here. Hicham Bouzid is a creative director, editor, and curator based in Tangier, Morocco. With over 13 years of experience collaborating with cultural institutions and foundations worldwide, his work delves into the intricate interplay of Morocco’s urban and social landscapes influenced by neoliberal policies over the past quarter-century. In 2016, Hicham co-founded Think Tanger, an innovative cultural organization working at … Read more