Cara Piazza, Author at Botanical Colors

Mordant Monday: Celebrating Earth Day & Vibrant Valley Blue

At Botanical Colors we believe that every day is Earth Day. To celebrate in a meaningful way, we are excited to launch a new indigo collaboration with Vibrant Valley Farm: meet Vibrant Valley Blue Indigo Paste. After seven years of intensive growing, harvesting and fine-tuning their extraction processes, Vibrant Valley Farm is thrilled to share their indigo pigment paste with the world. It is an exceptional product and is perfect for artisans, dyers, and makers alike. Paste means that the product combines easily in a classic 1-2-3 vat and yields beautiful, brilliant blue shades. We can’t wait to share it with … Read more

Experience the Colors of Tangier

Botanical Colors is thrilled to present an excursion to Tangier, Morocco this August: EXPERIENCING THE COLORS OF TANGIER workshop and retreat with Yto Barrada & Cara Piazza. Each day will be a mix of creative textile exploration and soaking up the sights and highlights of Tangier. We have gathered short profiles of some of the exciting places we are going to visit during our time in this magical city as well as places that invite exploration and personal discovery. Tangier is located on the Strait of Gibraltar and sits at the crossroads of Africa and Europe, where the Mediterranean Sea meets … Read more

Mordant Monday: Walnut, Madder, Iron and Indigo

Black Walnut Juglans nigra is one of our most interesting tannins and it’s a color that’s native to the North American continent. The entire tree contains color but it is in the green hulls that we find a strong concentration of dark tannins yield light beige to golden brown on cellulose. On wool, black walnut really shines and makes a rich brown shade. Walnut Hull Powder from black walnut (Juglans nigra) is a common source of brown dye throughout North America. The fleshy hulls are full of tannin, juglone and other pigments and are the primary source of the dye. … Read more

Sunday Visit: Kara Gilbert on Vibrant Valley Blue

Every Sunday, Botanical Colors sits down for an interview with a luminary in the natural dye, textile and art world. Grab a cup of tea and settle in to learning about someone you never knew! Catch up on all our Sunday Visits here. This week we sit down with force of nature Kara Gilbert of Vibrant Valley Farm. Vibrant Valley Farm works diligently to care for this earth in everything they do. They farm vegetables, flowers and dye plants and in each step of the process, honor sustainable practices to create healthier communities locally and globally in their outreach, education and daily … Read more

Mordant Monday: Spotlight on Quebracho Moreno

Today in our tannin series we move on to Quebracho Moreno. Quebracho (Schinopsis balansae and Schinopsis lorentzii) is an evergreen tree that grows wild in South America. It grows mainly in Argentina and Paraguay in dense sub-tropical forests which also include a variety of other trees and vegetation. The name is due to its hardness, and comes from two Spanish words, quebrar and hacha, meaning “axe breaker”. In fact, quebracho has been used locally for posts, telegraph poles, bridge timbers, railway ties, paving blocks and for any construction where great durability is desired. Quebracho Moreno (we used to carry a Quebracho Rojo, so we called this one … Read more

You Ask, Kathy Answered: Do I mordant before or after shibori stitching?

Questions about Shibori & Mordanting You Asked: My question is, would it be a good or less good idea to do the shibori stitching after scouring, but before mordanting the fabric? If the idea is to mordant so that the dye bonds to the fabric, it seems to make sense to stitch before mordanting, thus ensuring the resist that the stitching is meant to achieve? Kathy Answered: If you want to use a mordant dye for shibori, then stitch first and mordant after the stitching is pulled and tightened. You also want to soak the fabric in lukewarm water for … Read more

Mordant Monday: Tannins and Teal, Osage Edition

We have a new type of Mordant Monday for you today where we dive into the world of Tannins! We want to show you how to use our tannins to mordant, either in combination with aluminum sulfate, to get rich long lasting and substantive color, or to use as a base for color mixing. We will explore our tannins over the next few weeks. In the photo pictured above we dyed our hemp towel irregulars first in an Indigo Henna Vat. We then used a 15% WOF bath of our osage saw dust to get this beautiful hue. Osage orange … Read more

Sunday Visit: Some Kind Of Blue with Kenya Miles of Blue Light Junction

Every Sunday, Botanical Colors sits down for an interview with a luminary in the natural dye, textile and art world. Grab a cup of tea and settle in to learning about someone you never knew! Catch up on all our Sunday Visits here. This week’s Sunday Visit we catch up with Kenya Miles, to have a deep and meaningful conversation around what the color blue means. How Blue Light Junction came to be and how through community and craft we can hold space for each other to learn to learn. We had a wonderful phone interview that honestly left me … Read more

Annatto & Hibiscus Dyed Easter Eggs

Everyone from kids to adults love to get their hands messy when they dye Easter eggs with natural dyes. This is a fun tutorial for adults and kiddos (parents help, please) to make a little Easter magic. First things first, let’s talk about health & safety: We always recommend working in a very well ventilated area. Although natural dyes are non-toxic, when using fine powders it’s best to wear a mask, and keep the windows open. Be mindful around little ones and pets as you don’t want anything going in mouths that shouldn’t be there. Also, when beginning to set … Read more

Sunday Visit: Maibe Maroccolo on Native Brazilian Flora and Fostering Creativity

This week’s Sunday Visit we catch up with the inimitable Maibe Maroccolo she is the founder and creative director of Mattricaria based in Brazil. She has a master in sustainable development from the University of Arts London. After a period of studies and specialization in the United Kingdom, Maibe delved into her Brazilian roots and dedicated herself to researching and mapping dye plants, with a focus on textile and artistic applications. Since 2013, her research has revolved around the potential of natural dyes from Brazilian flora and Matricaria was born. The studio also records traditional methods aimed at artisanal practices. You have … Read more