When Linda Row asked if I would be interested in collaborating with her and three other artists on her ‘Foraged Colour’ project I was delighted to accept. I want my practice to be as sustainable as possible and this project certainly met with these objectives, using natural dyes and local materials (For further details please see www.foragedcolour.org). This project is funded by Arts Council England.
I met with Linda on several very cold mornings to help with and learn the dyeing process. There is something deeply satisfying about taking undyed British wool and transforming it using natural dyes made from locally foraged plants. The fleece that I have chosen comes from Blue Faced Leicester sheep.
What did I find out?
It is much harder to dye fleece than yarn and you need a very concentrated dye to achieve a decent colour.
You have to mordant the fleece to prepare it for dyeing - we used alum and cream of tartare.
The addition of iron, copper, rust or acid such as lemon to the dye bath will totally change the colour.
That with patience an amazing range of colour can be achieved from the most unexpected of sources - who would have thought that those annoying overhanging Eucalyptus leaves, that fill our gutters and drainpipes, would make a beautiful orange dye? (The Eucalyptus may not be a native tree but it still grows here so it counts as local). Suddenly I’m delighted to have them in my garden!
The unexpected also occurred in a negative way when I tried using Laver and Kelp seaweed with disappointing outcomes. After a very enjoyable morning collecting seaweed, I soaked it, simmered it for an hour (by which time the whole studio and I smelt decidedly of the seaside) and rinsed only to find that it had hardly changed colour at all. More research required - I will try again!
I have become much more aware of the seasons and the variety of dyestuff available at different times of the year in the form of fruits, berries, leaves, flowers, stalks, roots and bark. Even in my own small garden in the middle of Winter, I have found Dogwood, Bay leaves, Ivy berries and two types of Eucalyptus leaves and bark to make dye out of.
The challenge of different shades and colours has not been easy. It becomes all consuming and I have spent many an afternoon collecting, preparing and experimenting with dyeing the wool, only to find I achieve a disappointing similar tone of yellow! We call it ‘failing towards success’. It made achieving a distinctive new colour so much more exciting.
At this stage in the process I think I’m not too far off having identified a workable palette of natural dye to move forward with and have made a variety of samples.
The textiles produced using natural dyes become much more meaningful, with the provenance of each colour used holding a memory of days out foraging.
