Natural Dyes

Natural dyes have become a huge part of my practice, and have recently begun printing with mordants to achieve a level of pattern and intricacy on fabric. It never ceases to amaze me the level of richness in colour a can achieve from extracts, garden plants and food scraps!

The patterns achieved are block printed mordants, and the cloth was then dyed in one dye pot to achieve many different purples from one pot of logwood.

Eco-printing is a process in which plants are sandwiched inside cloth and then the bundles are steamed or dyed. They then print the leaves into the design, and the process is similar to opening a kiln in the way that I am always surprised and elated to meet the work!