Blog

Last week was our 100th episode of FEEDBACK FRIDAY and we welcomed Rome-based, Czech-American artist Marta Abbott. Marta uses “organic, botanical materials to extract and convey that which she finds essential to the human experience of nature and beauty. Marta does this through combing concept with intuition, elements of control with those of contained chaos, […]

This year, as we celebrate and honor the (now federally recognized) Juneteenth holiday, we look back on the stories eight black, natural dye artists have shared with us. As we all continue to learn and grow from these stories, we urge you to reach out within your regional natural dye and fiber communities to usher […]

Last week on FEEDBACK FRIDAY, we welcomed back Malian artist, educator, indigo farmer and friend, Aboubakar Fofana. Aboubakar took us for a live tour of his Bamako studio where we saw him harvest indigo, do some indigo dyeing,  got to meet his artisans and see all the amazingness that is Aboubakar on his home turf. […]

Last week on FEEDBACK FRIDAY, we had the amazing, thoughtful, community building, textile whisperer, Zak Foster of Zak Foster Quilts. Raised in rural North Carolina and now living in Brooklyn, New York, Zak is a self-taught artist whose work draws on Southern textile traditions while incorporating found fabrics and natural dyes with an eye for […]

You can totally create your natural dye garden as easy as 1-2-3 with tried and true dye plants that will keep giving all summer. It’s spring on Cape Cod. Catbirds, orioles, and osprey have returned and bees hover in the flowers of my rosemary shrub. The seeds I started in winter have now grown up, […]

Last week on FEEDBACK FRIDAY, we had Manitoba, Canada based Lourdes Still talking about the Masagana Flower Farm & Studio. According to Here’s How It’s Done: First-hand Stories From Enterprising Women In Manitoba, “Lourdes Still is the first to admit it’s a winding road that landed her in business. She’s gone from big-city living in […]

Last week we welcomed world-renowned fish skin tanner and dyer, Sweden-based Lotta Nelson-Rahme. Lotta took us on an interesting journey into how she got into tanning and her travels around the world in search of knowledge. She also showed some leather work and a spotlight on an exhibition she recently made to honor and thank […]

This is a Botanical Colors coral natural dye recipe for a classic, madder color in a soft salmon hue guaranteed to sing you into spring. Dyer’s notes: You can use the same coral natural dye recipe for animal or plant fibers. We recommend mordanting to achieve the best results. Your mordant options are aluminum potassium […]

Last week on FEEDBACK FRIDAY we welcomed artist, writer, educator and founding director of the Nomad MFA Carol Padberg. Carol has an art and ecology studio where she weaves with living Oyster mushrooms, using yarn that is colored by plants from her backyard dye garden. She uses regenerative agricultural strategies to maintain a city micro-farm […]

On our last FEEDBACK FRIDAY we had Karen Vaughan of The Art of Soil. Karen is a researcher, educator, and creative who is passionate about sharing soils knowledge and beauty with all who are open to receive. She is a pigment forager and paint maker as well as an associate professor of pedology at the […]