So I’ve really had to think about this and I have to say that I’m intimidated. I envision having an art shelf in my studio at home and in the classroom at school, and now that I’ve been reading into some of the documents on how to make paints I am recognizing that I am unprepared mentally. I have moved on to dyes and inks and still I’m not sure. I want to acknowledge that in food dyes I would rather just eat the precious berries that I grow or harvest so onion skin dye appeals to me in that, as Ivan said, you can still eat the onion. Acorn dye appeals to me as well as I don’t eat acorns anyways and there are a lot of them around here. With coffee, yes my husband drinks a cup every day, but we use the grounds as an integral part of our compost and coffee is also imported and not grown around here. This is all a long way of saying that I am going to dive deep into “Wild Color” and “Nature’s Palette” (although the second one is a 400+ page book that I am looking forward to picking my way through. Thank you for sharing that resource Ivan!). I would also like to do make my own charcoal as I think that will be a fun one to do with my kids and with students. Lastly I would like to look into making my own tools, but that will come in time but I want to leave myself open to it in case that’s the road I take along with dyes.
My biggest challenge? I am my biggest challenge. I tend to take on a big project and sometimes talk myself out of it, get worried, don’t have enough time and then put it on the back burner. To have you all here to help me be accountable will help a lot as well as having a presentation date. I have the time, I have the resources and the want to do it and I just need to get past the inertia of it all.
Short-term I want to play with the options I’ve chosen to see what really sticks for me. Long-term I would like to become proficient in what I’ve chosen and to gain a collection of dyes and knowledge of what I can forage and what I can grow. Ultimately I would like to have a dye garden that I plan out this year to plant next year. Thoughts? Help with this? Can I assume that planning a dye garden will be in one of the tabs that you’ve posted Ivan? Or are there resources you all would point me towards.
I apologize for this post being late, it was just a lot to process for me. I really want to understand what I want do and what I need help with, so thank you all for your patience. I look forward to comments.
Hey Sara,
Beginning your journey with natural dyes AND making charcoal might be too ambitious if you are worried about time constraints. But here are some tips I have from my experience, albeit very limited!
NATURAL DYES
I have very limited experience in this area, but last summer I did try to see what I could come up with using the variety of herbs and wildflowers growing on my property (as well as yerba mate and coffee). Ultimately my dyes came out very weak in color and faded quite fast. This being said, I did not use a mordant (which binds the color to the fabric), so I highly recommend using a mordant- or making sure you are working with a material that has a lot of tannins (i.e sumac leaves). From wht I understand, tannins help bind the color/dye to the fabric – so you’re both making the dye more durable and preserving the color. That being said, keep in mind that some organic tannins, such as sumac leaves, will alter the color slightly (toward a warm brownish color?). Lastly, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND DOCUMENTING YOUR PROCESS! I say this because that is how you can build knowledge through experience and replicate certain results.
CHARCOAL (re-sharing from my comment to Lizzy’s post)
Don’t forget to seal your tin container with a metal wire (i hammer a couple nail holes in the lid and upper rim of the tin can and thread the metal wire through those holes – the holes allow for oxygen and the wire keep the lid on so it doesn’t pop off). Also, as I mentioned, my favorite wood I’ve found so far is dried drift wood because it makes for smooth charcoal and its bark has already been stripped off. Make sure you submerge the tin can in flames for an hour. If you do it less you might find that the wood isn’t cooked all the way through. And if you do it for too long you might find that the charcoal has disintegrated too much? I’ve only done it a couple of times, excited to see what you discover! IAs for charcoal- I learned from Nick Neddo’s book “Organic Artist” (nickneddo.com/shop/the-organic-artist-book). A great resource for wild-crafting art materials! Please give reach out if you have any questions!
Sara, I think that joy has to be at the center of this. The level of enjoyment can suffer if the project seems too uphill. The nice thing about all the processes you’re interested in, is that they all allow for simple or deep explorations. So, I’d suggest you start with simple, little explorations and let that grow and advance as time goes by. The reality is that all the resources I shared with you are too much to digest in one month or even one year. They’re there and you can access them whenever you want, so take your time and I’d really recommend you start simple and little.