wild color workshop

Way back in May, my dear friend Beth of Squid Whale Design and I started scheming. As textile designers, we longed to collaborate and create together. It was difficult to find a way to work on a project when dyeing and textile work is a process and trade that is hard to translate without a physical presence. You see, Beth lives in Philadelphia and I live in Tennessee. Ultimately, we decided to become pigment pen pals ... each of us dyeing and creating in our home-states - but sharing with one another and everyone else through an e-space we call Wild Color Workshop. 

 Wild Color Workshop: The purpose of this project is to experiment and discover the natural hues of our Earth. We aim to harvest pigments both seasonally and locally while honoring the dyeing techniques of old and discovering ones of our own. Since we live 756 miles apart, this e-space is an area to share our progress, triumphs, and fails with one another and you. 

My first full post on Wild Color Workshop explores dyeing with marigold.  As Autumn persists the flowers, I eagerly want to with dye are reaching their end. On my way home from a pumpkin patch, I spotted marigolds bursting with color in a community garden. Vibrant yellows and resonant oranges inspired my next dye project. After collecting a hardy amount of marigolds, I went home to begin the dye vat.  Click through here to find the dye back recipe and read the full post.