Nothing makes me happier than being out in my dye garden, surrounded by pollinators, birds, a babbling water feature and the occasional toad, while harvesting dye plants that have been sources of color for thousands of years. I feel us humans are completely interconnected with all of nature. Being able to take what may not be visible to the naked eye in a dye source and reveal it in a print on fabric is an honor and a skill that fills my soul. What better way to make cooperation between nature and human visible! I am happy to be the bringer of nature’s color to light. I design each piece in my mind, mentally flipping through the colors available to me and deciding which combination of colors and leaf shapes I wish to use at that moment. Then, I pick and place my dye sources leaf-by-leaf, petal-by-petal. (Generally with the doors of my walkout studio wide open, the sun beating down - I love heat - and the bass turned up on the tunes.) Often, I will dye the fabric a solid color, also with natural dye sources, before I begin the printing process. My work is easily launderable. Use a pH neutral soap as changes in pH change certain dye’s colors. I hand wash, line dry and iron on a wool or silk setting myself.
