Video From LIVE FEEDBACK FRIDAY: With Katazome & Tsutsugaki Artist John Marshall

This week, we’ve got video from our live FEEDBACK FRIDAY featuring katazome (stencil dyeing) and tsutsugaki (cone drawing) artist John Marshall. John Marshall is an American fiber artist specializing in natural dyes and the traditional Japanese techniques of katazome (stencil dyeing) and tsutsugaki (cone drawing). He is internationally noted for his use of color and line to create truly unique one-of-a-kind art-to-wear, turning traditionally inspired aesthetics into contemporary treasures for daily life. As a teacher he is recognized for his ability to adapt traditional recipes and methods to suit local climates, resources, and temperaments – and for his ability to … Read more

MORDANT MONDAY: Mordanting For Mixed Fibers + Blotchy Linen

We get mordant questions all the time at Botanical Colors so why not create Mordant Monday??? Got mordanting questions? Email [email protected] This week on MORDANT MONDAY… YOU ASKED: I tried the oak gall tannin and then symplocos method on linen and for the life of me I can’t get an even dye. The mordant looks blotchy. Not sure what to do. I get consistently blotchy pieces with linen.  KATHY ANSWERED: Hmm. Unevenness in mordanting and dyeing can come from a number of bedeviling sources. The first thing that comes to mind is the cleanliness of the fabric. If the linen isn’t evenly … Read more

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

Wholesale Purchase Program Application

Thank you for your interest in Botanical Colors! We offer high quality, non-toxic, natural textile dyes for artisans and makers. We sell primarily to textile artisans, textile-based businesses and select educational institutions.Β 

MORDANT MONDAY: Post-Mordanting With Iron + Preferred Method For Protein

We get mordant questions all the time at Botanical Colors so why not create Mordant Monday??? Got mordanting questions? Email [email protected] YOU ASKED: I recently purchased Ceriops Tagal Liquid Dye and have used it once already, I love it!! I am looking at your site and it says post-mordanting with iron to alter the color but I can’t seem to find what color it will produce. Does it result in a darker almost black shade like walnut would?  KATHY ANSWERED: Ceriops creates a very dark chocolate shade when immersed in an iron rich mud solution (check out this link from Threads of … Read more

Donations for Porfirio Gutierrez’ Weaving Studio

We’ve created a space for donations for Porfirio GutΓ­errez’ Weaving Studio in Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca Mexico. Porfirio is building a weaving, spinning and dyeing studio in Ventura, California to support his family and village while they await vaccination and a safer time to reunite. He has been separated from them since the start of the pandemic. Porfirio’s Oaxaca studio has been seriously impacted by the coronavirus as they are locked down to protect his elderly parents and tourism has declined in 2020 and 2021. Would you consider a donation to his family of Zapotec textile artists who have been using … Read more

Today’s Color: Madder Red

Madder is one of the historical dyes of antiquity and has been used throughout Europe, Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent for centuries.Β  It is possible to see antique textiles from the 16th and 17th century that have been dyed with madder and the colors remain rich and vivid.Β  The famous Turkey Red recipe was based on madder and incorporated many steps and immersions in different baths of soap, alum, dung, ox bile and oil to achieve the famous bright red color prized throughout Europe.Β Β BotanicalΒ Colors Β madder extract is easy to use and produces a deep, beautiful red without the hassle … Read more

Blue Alchemy, a Documentary on Indigo’s Rich History

According to the BLUE ALCHEMY: Stories of Indigo site, the documentary is a feature-length documentary about indigo, “a blue
 dye that has captured the human imagination for millennia. It is also about people who are reviving indigo in projects that are intended to improve life in their communities, preserve cultural integrity, improve the environment, and bring beauty to the world.” Mary Lance filmed BLUE ALCHEMYΒ  in India, Japan, Bangladesh, Mexico, El Salvador, Nigeria, and the USA. Have you seen it? Thoughts? BLUE ALCHEMY: Stories of Indigo Trailer from Mary Lance on Vimeo.

The Reinvention of the Color Black (A Historical Perspective)

Nautilus writes: “Black is technically an absence: the visual experience of a lack of light. A perfect black dye absorbs all of the light that impinges on it, leaving nothing behind. This ideal is remarkably difficult to manufacture. The industrialization of the 18th and 19th centuries made it easier, providing chemists and paint-makers with a growing palette of blackβ€”and altering the subjects that the color would come to represent. β€œThese things are intimately connected,” says science writer Philip Ball, author of Bright Earth: The Invention of Color. The reinvention of black, in other words, went far beyond the color.” From … Read more