Our 2 day natural dye class called Colors of the Prairie at Scattergood Friends School, a Quaker boarding school in West Branch, Iowa was so much fun. We walked with naturalists, did some prairie crawls, played in the classroom with indigo dipping and swam in the sweetest little pond every night. Here are some shots of our time there. If ever in West Branch, go say hello! Seriously, these are the nicest people ever.
National Geographic writes: “Striding along an overgrown path in the woods, Micaela Fachín stops beside an ishpingo tree (Amburana cearensis), strokes the bark and squints up the tall, straight trunk. ‘I planted this years ago,’ she says. ‘I won’t see it grow to maturity, but it will be here for my children or their children.’ Her grove of banana trees — for family consumption and for sale — is not far away, and there are some papaya trees here and there. But all around are forest species that have particular and, in some cases, peculiar uses. Some sprouted naturally, while … Read more
Our 2 day class Colors of the Prairie at Scattergood Friends School, a Quaker boarding school in West Branch, Iowa on June 27 and 28 is coming up! Scattergood is about 3.5 hours outside of Chicago, 1.5 hours from Des Moines and 15 minutes from Iowa City. Using low water and sustainable methods, we will be roaming Scattergood’s restored prairie and farm in search of interesting dye materials to create pieces that evoke a time and place. An organic indigo vat will add layers and complexity to our pieces. Lodging and meals are available for a song – $50 in addition … Read more
Designboom writes: “Dutch artist Herman de Vries represents the Netherlands at the Dutch pavilion for the 2015 Venice Art Biennale. De Vries’ background as a horticulturist and natural scientist offers visitors to the exhibition ‘to be all ways to be’ a look at both the unity and diversity of the world around us, presented through sculptures, works on paper, photography and an expansive range of objects.” “From Earth: Everywhere” is a wall sized tableau comprising 84 earth rubbings on paper. Designboom says that De Vries collected soil samples from different locations all over the world on his many travels, forming … Read more
What a fantastic new dye journal by PlantsPeople, based out of the Bay area and totally readable online. Contact Deepa Preeti Natarajan, founder of PlantsPeople if you’d like a hard copy otherwise read here. Including the brilliant minds of Rebecca Burgess of Fibershed, Sasha Duerr of the Permacouture Institute, Kristine Vejar of A Verb for Keeping Warm and BIOhue.
Mushrooms as a Source for Color The North American Mycological Association writes: “In the early 1970’s Miriam Rice, a fiber arts teacher from Mendocino, California, discovered that many species of wild mushrooms were a source of pigments or colors. These pigments could be extracted fairly easily in hot water and used to dye natural fibers, especially wool. With the help of her friend and illustrator Dorothy Beebee, they published their results first in 1974 in the book Let’s Try Mushrooms for Color, with a second book published in 1980, Mushrooms for Color. A more recent book published in 2007 and … Read more
Last night we had a lot of fun at the Textile Arts Center in Manhattan. As you might have seen here and there on social media, we are the natural dye sponsor for the upcoming Sewing Seeds fundraiser. If you are in New York City and can attend, this is going to be a great event not just in terms of the most amazing naturally dyed textile installation “Tumbleweed Colony” from Lost in Fiber’s Abigail Doan, but a wonderful event to meet friends old and new. To purchase tickets for the event at the Textile Arts Center, go here and … Read more
Thanks so much to the Washington state based Contemporary Art Quilt Association for this story on Kathy’s recent “Sustainable Color for Artists” talk. Check out the article here.
Join us in Albuquerque at Village Wools for a Natural Dye Workshop April 24-25, 2015. Las Arañas Spinners and Weavers Guild was formed in 1971 by a group of spinners and weavers in the Albuquerque, New Mexico area to provide education and learning experiences for its members and increase the awareness of and appreciation for fiber arts throughout New Mexico and beyond. For more info and to RSVP, go here.
Botanical Colors founder Kathy Hattori recently commented on an article titled “Mordant Madness!” on Buxton, Maine based Lana Plantae responding to a discussion about a person posting on a “social media page devoted to fiber arts,” that they were “attacked” by natural dyers at a fiber event because their wool was colored with synthetic vs. using natural dyes. Lana Plantae founder Marcia Macdonald writes: “I do suspect the word “attack” may be a little strong and used for dramatic effect. Immediately there was a long string of commentary and it was very anti- natural dye, anti-mordant and overwhelmingly these comments … Read more
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