Cara Piazza, Author at Botanical Colors

Sunday Visit: The World of Arielle Toelke

Arielle Toelke’s visual work spans mediums, influences, and universes. She is always interested in adventurous collaboration. Arielle Paints Visions and uses a variety of mediums in her collages. She is the author of the Cooking Color Natural Dye Book. For this Sunday Visit, we learn how Cooking Color came to be, and the Aha! moment that drew her to natural dyeing. Arielle! Give us your backstory. How did you come to be you? What was the moment where you started to work with natural dyes? Ten years ago, I took an indigo dye workshop at an artists studio in Brooklyn. … Read more

Sunday Visit: Grand Prismatic Seed

Guy Banner and James Young are the co-owners and farmers of Grand Prismatic Seed, a small seed farm located in Northern Utah. They are committed to growing high-quality open-pollinated seeds that can withstand the stresses associated with high desert crop production. They specialize in growing seeds for dye plants and plants native to their bioregion, and also offer a curated list of seeds for their favorite cut flowers, vegetables, and herbs. All of their offerings are grown using organic methods. We are so excited to feature you and your incredible seeds and farm. Can you tell us a little bit … Read more

It’s Time to Start Seeds!

START YOUR DYE GARDEN TODAY Dear Plant Enthusiast, Are you ready to embark on a colorful journey? Imagine harvesting vibrant hues from your very own garden to create stunning textiles of nature. It’s time to start your natural dye garden. If you’re ready to sow the seeds of creativity, here’s a list of organic seed providers by region to help you get started: Northeast: High Mowing Organic Seeds (Vermont) Hudson Valley Seed Library (New York) Fruition Seeds (New York) Southeast: Bluelight Junction Southern Exposure Seed Exchange (Virginia) 3 Porch Farm (Georgia) Midwest: Seed Savers Exchange (Iowa) Prairie Moon Nursery (Minnesota) … Read more

Sunday Visit: Katrina Rodabaugh, Mending Matters

Sunday Visit is our interview series where we speak with an incredible maker in our community and learn about what makes them tick. Katrina Rodabaugh is an author and artist working at the intersection of sustainability, craft, and design. Using visible mending, natural dyes, and textile redesign in fashion, art, and home. She combines her training in sustainability with her experience in fiber arts to build eco-friendly solutions for modern lives. We sit down with her to learn about her practice. Katrina, you have been a friend of BC for a long time. Tell us a little bit about your … Read more

Sunday Visit: Ryan Scails Nuance & Materiality

For Sunday Visit, We are excited to sit down with the multi-hyphenate Ryan Scails. Based in Philadelphia, PA he examines the nuances of materiality within the built world and how intentional shifts in details can give humans context in ways that confront the limits of their bodies. By using fiber to create hyper specific structural relationships, his work highlights the potential in substantive engagements between the human body and our environment. In a manner that leans heavily on the sequential harmony of physical labor his work seeks to foreground pre-colonial technologies by riffing on fractured schematics, glyphs, and vernacular tools … Read more

SUNDAY VISIT: Kristin Arzt & Her World of Rainbows

Sunday Visit is our interview series where we sit down with a luminary, visionary and creative in the Natural Dye world. We want to bring you the best of what is out there and show off all of the amazing work being done in our community. This week we sit down with Kristin Arzt, who we fell in love with when she made her incredible rainbow coveralls. We catch up with the new mama, and learn all about her practice and what makes her tick. Tell us all about you! How did your practice come to be? I’ve always been drawn … Read more

Mordant Monday: How do I dye Green?

We receive a lot of questions about our favorite subject of natural dyes and two questions that I thought might be interesting to share are: – How do I dye jute or burlap? – How do I dye green? We detail information from each question and there are lots of links with how-to and recipes for further exploration! DYEING WITH JUTE Jute is a fiber from the Corchorus plant, and the largest global jute-producing region is West Bengal, India, and Bangladesh. Jute is an annual plant, rapid-growing, and produces long fibers in its stalk, similar to linen and hemp. The … Read more

Mordant Monday: A Rainbow Compilation!

We wanted to compile all of our rainbow tutorials so you could have access to them all in the same place. We love creating them for you, and seeing the beautiful creations you make with your tutorials. Tannins provide a rich base for creating a rainbow of color. Please tag us on social media so we can see what you make! Try making the rainbow yourself!

Mordant Monday: Tannin Extravaganza!

TANNIN A TIMELESS MORDANT For Today’s Mordant Monday, we are highlighting all things tannin. Tannins are a bitter and astringent compound found so abundantly in many plants. In food, they serve as the slight pucker in black coffee and tea, and the “oaky” flavor in aged wines. Tannins are used in medicine and for leather tanning. For us, they are the natural dyer’s not-so-secret-weapon to beautiful color. For the natural colorist, tannins provide a rich base for unusual and eye-catching combinations, and they’re particularly effective on plant fibers such as cotton and linen. We have a variety of tannins for … Read more

Sunday Visit: Jasen Bowes of ELSEVVHERE

We are excited to introduce you to the man behind our new offering of mordanted T-shirts and blanks. Jasen Bowes of ELSEVVHERE. Jasen Bowes is passionate when it comes to the planet, design, and food. A multi-hyphenate whose creative work is driven by a connection and commitment to the natural world, Jasen strives to highlight ways to work with materials from nature that can be recycled completely or can offer many alternative uses. He has years of fashion industry experience leading him to create a great product we’re excited to present to you. What initially drew you to the medium … Read more