Natural Dye Experiments

In 2017-2018 I was the artist-in-residence in the Textiles Department at Lillstreet Art Center in Chicago.I studied natural dyes with Akemi Cohn and Amy Taylor during my residency, and this is where my natural dye journey began. I devote a large portion of my studio practice to the palette that plants, flowers, bark and insects yield. My natural dye garden at our home includes weld and indigo. I save compostable materials (avocados and onion skin) and harvest bedding plants (zinnia, cosmos and marigold) and freeze them to use for future natural dye baths. This ongoing experimentation is important to my work as an artist. I am deeply interested in creating a specific palette, one that I grew and harvested at my home studio. I teach natural dye classes at the Lillstreet Art Center in Chicago and at the Morton Arboretum, in Lisle, IL.