Why
I don’t Eco-Dye Fabric
I do, however, dye,
paint, and print, my fabric with natural dyes.
Photo
courtesy of the Main Street Cultural District Ames, Iowa.
I participated in a local art walk last Friday and
after three hours of questions about my natural dyed scarves, artwork, etc., I
am once again reminded as to why I don’t call myself an eco-dyer, for the most
part nobody is interested in the craft of eco-dyeing!
While most people play lip service to protecting the
environment, sustainability, fair trade practices, and all things “green” the
fact of the matter is when most people found out that I was using tree bark,
mushrooms, leaves, bugs, and other stuff to dye my art cloth the response was
an overwhelming “that’s nice” or “that’s really cool”. "That’s nice" is the kiss of death, it's the Mid westerners
version of “so what” or “who cares”!
The whole experience solidified in my mind what I
already knew, while there are some that are truly concerned about the
environment and sustainability, the majority only cares if it saves them a buck
or two. Which leads me back to why I
don’t eco-dye my fabric, fibers, and threads, but in fact dye them with Natural
Dyes, to me it’s about the process and the relationships I form with other
dyer’s, and most importantly with nature that surrounds and inspires me.
Natural dyed silk scarves.
For me the process is not about immediate
gratification, but about discovery, learning, exploring, and most importantly
relationships. Unless a local woodworker
gifts me a bag of wood chips from their dust collection system or from their
lathe turnings, the wood, barks, and roots I use to create my designs are
collected over a period of years, often time’s decades.
My finished artwork was a hit with everyone with
plenty of people telling me they’d love to be able to stitch and sew like I do
and do I teach classes? The evening
wasn't a total bust, I got plenty of hits from women of all ages that are
interested attending a stitching party; the older women of course were very
excited about the wine aspect of said parties.
Click here to learn more about eClasses, Workshops, and my newest offering Out of the Box Art Parties!
Click here to learn more about eClasses, Workshops, and my newest offering Out of the Box Art Parties!
2 comments:
I don't like the term "eco-dye". I prefer to use the general term "plant dye", or reference the specific dyestuffs that I use. That way I can signal a respect for the environment without being preachy or political about it.
That's actually a really good approach. Generally when people ask I tell them which dyestuffs I've collected to dye the items with, which always goes into a discussion on how and where I collect said materials.
Post a Comment