Blog - Page 19 of 60 - Botanical Colors

Video From FEEDBACK FRIDAY: Masagana Flower Farm & Studio

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 the Philippines to rural life in south-eastern Manitoba. From growing flowers on the balcony of her city apartment to launching Masagana Flower Farm & Studio. There’s no doubt that it takes ambition and a lot of hard work to run a small scale flower farm … Read more

Video From FEEDBACK FRIDAY: Fish Skin Tanner + Dyer Lotta Nelson-Rahme

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 the women who share their knowledge with her. Lotta also went into more detail about tanning fish skins and how she dyes the skins using heather, rhubarb, pine cones and iron. We got lots of emails and messages on social media about how much you … Read more

RECIPE: A Coral Natural Dye Recipe To Sing You Into Spring

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 sulfate (for animal fibers), or aluminum acetate or symplocos (for plant fibers). Symplocos is an alum bioaccumulator from dried leaves and we’ve used it successfully on both animal and plant fibers. In its native Indonesia, it’s used mostly on plant fibers. Step 1 – Weigh … Read more

Video From Live FEEDBACK FRIDAY: Carol Padberg

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 called Nook Farm House. Carol Padberg’s FEEDBACK FRIDAY presentation took us into the world of interspecies art, in which a flock of sheep, a dye garden, soil organisms, Oyster mushrooms and a human being weave their stories together. The resulting living textile art is designed … Read more

Video From FEEDBACK FRIDAY: The Art Of Soil

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 University of Wyoming. Karen has long been fascinated by color – from the information we gather from color to the way it makes us feel and the unique connections we all have with color. Through the Art of Soil, she crafts watercolor paint made with … Read more

Video From FEEDBACK FRIDAY: Shradha Kochhar

On our last FEEDBACK FRIDAY we had Shradha Kochhar. Shradha, born in Delhi, India, is a textile artist and knitwear designer now based in New York. Best known for her home spun and hand knitted ‘khadi’ sculptures using ‘kala cotton’ – an inherently organic cotton strain indigenous to India, her work is at an intersection of material memory, sustainability and intergenerational healing. Focusing on generating a physical archive of personal and collective south Asian narratives linked to women’s work, invisible labor and grief, the work is large scale and will exist beyond whispers over generations. Check out Shradha’s work on … Read more

Video: FEEDBACK FRIDAY Hari Baru’s Japanese Zabutons

Our last FEEDBACK FRIDAY was with Godelieve Keulen, the founder of Hari Baru Paris. Godelieve’s background is as a fashion designer specializing in knitwear but all of her designs are inspired by natural dyes. We found her through Instagram and fell in love with her beautiful zabutons, Japanese sitting cushions traditionally used for sitting on the floor. Watch the video recording here. From Godelieve: “I became interested in natural dyes during my sabbatical leave of 9 months in Kyoto, Japan. My husband was working at the university there. I immersed my self in the local artisanal crafts which one of … Read more

Video: FEEDBACK FRIDAY Q&A With Botanical Colors’ Founder Kathy Hattori

Last week on FEEDBACK FRIDAY we had Botanical Colors Founder Kathy Hattori. Kathy answered as many of your natural dye questions as she had time for (there were many)! Watch the recording below. FEEDBACK FRIDAY If you are not familiar with FEEDBACK FRIDAY, every week we speak with dyers, artists, scientists and scholars about our favorite topic, natural dyeing and color. Curated by Amy DuFault, Botanical Colors’ Sustainability and Social Media Director and presented by Botanical Colors’ Founder Kathy Hattori. We even have our own theme song thanks to musician Jimmie Snider (click here to hear more of his music)!

Video From Live FEEDBACK FRIDAY: MAIDA

This week on FEEDBACK FRIDAY, we welcomed Maida Branch, founder and director of MAIDA, a collective that supports the growth of Indigenous artists and preservation of their homelands through sustainable business practices. Watch the recording below. Maida Branch was born and raised in New Mexico and is of Pueblo, Ute, Genízara descent (Dilia & Mora, New Mexico) – her family has been living on Pueblo Territory since time immemorial. Inspired by her family and the land from which they came, she founded MAIDA in 2017 – a collective of Indigenous and Indo-hispano artists. Artists stories are told by Maida Branch … Read more

Video From Live FEEDBACK FRIDAY: The Mushroom Color Atlas

Last FEEDBACK FRIDAY, we had Mushroom Color Atlas Founder, Julie Beeler! Julie talked about her Mushroom Color Atlas which is a resource and reference for everyone curious about mushrooms and the beautiful and subtle colors derived from them. Julie says the atlas is also the start of a journey and a point of departure, introducing people to the kaleidoscopic fungi kingdom and our connection to it. Her hope is that everyone will be inspired to learn more about the mycological world, and begin to understand the importance of the networks, connections and symbiotic relationships that live in our forests. Most … Read more