BUILD YOUR FIBER ART LIBRARY ECO DYE Traditional Dye Work through a Contemporary Lens Fiber Art From our archives now VOLUME 2 elcome to Eco Dye, our second WFiber Art Library download! We hope that this eBook will provide inspiration and information for you, whether you are looking for dyeing resources or are just ready to be inspired by the work of other artists. You will fnd stories related to natural dyeing that have been previously published in Fiber Art Now and a full natural dyeing resource, researched and assembled by artist, teacher, and author, Wendy Feldberg. The FAN team is looking forward to sharing more free eBooks with you in the coming months, each concentrating on different areas of fber arts and textiles. CLICK HERE if you missed out on Fiber Art Now downloads, Volume 1: Book Reviews from the Archives. Fondly, Marcia Young FELDBERG WENDY OF COURTESY PHOTO Marcia Young ABOVE: Purple smokebush and fall leaves on paper. & The FAN Team “Eco dyeing is fber art with elemental appeal, combining simplicity of technique with enticing complexity of outcome. With eco dyeing, even a frst print can bear amazing results!” CREDIT 1 CREDIT —Wendy Feldberg, Researcher, Eco-Dyeing Expert 2 BUILD YOUR FIBER ART LIBRARY VOL. 2 | FIBERARTNOW.NET ©Fiber Art Now | All rights reserved | Fiber Art Now grants permission for any or all pages in this issue to be copied for personal use contentsLIBRARY DOWNLOAD VOL. 2 2016: ECO DYE ARTICLES 4 STEAMING & SIMMERING 6 ECO PRINTING Fiber Art Now, Spring 2012 8 UNEARTHING ECO DYES Fiber Art Now, Summer 2013 14 DYEING: CORROSION TO CREATION Fiber Art Now, Spring 2012 RESOURCES 20 Artists 22 Plants 23 Publications: Articles, Journals and Magazines, Books 25 Tutorials & Demonstrations 26 Sources for Natural Dyes, Mordants, Fabrics & Fibers 26 Links & Resources 26 Health & Safety 26 Permissions Fiber Art now EBOOK PRODUCTION STAFF Marcia Young .................Publisher and Editor in Chief Leanne Jewett ..........................Managing Editor Rosemarie Steele ....................................Editor Larissa Davis .....................................Designer This eBook was developed by Fiber Art Now, a print and online magazine, resource, and community with a passion for contemporary fber arts, textile design, and mixed media. PHOTO COURTESY OF WENDY FELDBERG WENDY OF COURTESY PHOTO ABOVE: Sumac leaf eco print. COVER PHOTO: Plants and dye powders on linen by Wendy Feldberg. ©Fiber Art Now | All rights reserved | Fiber Art Now grants permission for any or all pages in this issue to be copied for personal use FIBERARTNOW.NET | BUILD YOUR FIBER ART LIBRARY VOL. 2 3 ARTICLES STEAMING & Simmering BY WENDY FELDBERG CO DYEING (also known as eco printing) is a form of direct or contact printing, usually on cloth or paper. Steaming, simmering, soaking, or composting plant materials with water or dye extracts their pigments and produces strong Espontaneous prints, both lifelike and abstract. Metals, minerals, and soils are also materials that produce eco prints. BINDING: Plant materials are wrapped tightly in fabric–creating thick textile bundles–and tied with string, which give it interesting marks, prior to steaming. CREDIT 1 4 BUILD YOUR FIBER ART LIBRARY VOL. 2 | FIBERARTNOW.NET ©Fiber Art Now | All rights reserved | Fiber Art Now grants permission for any or all pages in this issue to be copied for personal use ARTICLES To obtain the basic eco-dye print with plants, these (and other) materials are bundled or layered in frm contact with pre-mordanted cloth or paper, placed in a covered cooking vessel, then steamed or simmered in water or natural dye, or perhaps soaked or composted for a time, in or out of the sun. Even a frst print can be successful! Ready to explore eco dyeing? Eco dyeing is fber art with elemental appeal, combining simplicity of technique with enticing complexity of outcome. It in- volves the whole person in creative processes that are earth-friendly, mindful, meditative, and kinetic. Body, mind, and spirit engage ABOVE: Plant leaves and fowers on silks and papers. in harmonious cycles of activity: growing dye plants in the garden and/or foraging them in season, tending a simmering dye pot, perhaps stitching stories, ideas, and feelings into fragrant, dyed cloth or as- sembling printed papers into artist books to satisfy mind and hand. With second-hand equipment, recycled fabrics and papers, easily-obtained local plants, and non-toxic mordants, ecology-conscious artists with a love of experiment can create extraordinary art that derives from and respects nature, and delights them with its surprises. Use this eBook to access a wide range of information relating to the work of artists and natural dyers who are not only delving deeply into the eco-dye genre but also generously sharing their experiences, inspiration, and practical direction. ABOVE: Rust and maple eco-printed scrolls on paper. ©Fiber Art Now | All rights reserved | Fiber Art Now grants permission for any or all pages in this issue to be copied for personal use FIBERARTNOW.NET | BUILD YOUR FIBER ART LIBRARY VOL. 2 5 6 BUILD YOUR FIBER ART LIBRARY VOL. 2 | FIBERARTNOW.NET ©Fiber Art Now | All rights reserved | Fiber Art Now grants permission for any or all pages in this issue to be copied for personal use ©Fiber Art Now | All rights reserved | Fiber Art Now grants permission for any or all pages in this issue to be copied for personal use FIBERARTNOW.NET | BUILD YOUR FIBER ART LIBRARY VOL. 2 7 HERE: Yvonne Dalton, Untitled (eucalyptus stained drapes); 2009–2012; torn cotton sheeting stained by eucalyptus species; E. cladocalyx; E. cneorifolia; E. diversifolia; E. leucoxylon; various lengths approx 260 x 45 cm. RIGHT: Fabienne Dorsman Rey, Vulnerability Cloth; 2013; organza silk, pongee 05 silk and wool gauze, hand dyed tussah silk threads, eco dyed and eco prints (leaves of eucalyptus, maple, and goldenrod, onion skins, logwood, madder), iron, and copper scraps; hand-stitched and intuitive embroidery; 25 x 34 in. “My printed and stitched textiles and papers, like scrolls, become botanical records uncovering nature’s UNEARTHING mysteries—making art, like science, in order to reveal the invisible.” Eco Dyes — artist and author, Wendy Feldberg BY WENDY FELDBERG Eco printmakers work in slow rhythm with the seasons, using materials they grow, fnd, share, or responsibly forage, discovering in them wide artistic applications. Tey juggle many variables, balancing their control of the process with the chance dye-magic of natural colors that surprise with varied shades and tones. Tese are challenges to relish. Te originality, immediacy, and directness of eco printing complements creative and frugal re-use of secondhand, natural materials such as linen, cotton, silk, wool, and other materials as substrates. Te artists intend that each element, including concept, material, and process, contributes meaning to the whole work. A print may seem fnished as soon as the bundle is opened, or it may become the frst stage in an art journey that continues with traditional techniques to make art for display or to wear such as wall art, sculpture, artist books, garments, or textiles for the home. From a wider perspective, eco printing links contemporary fber art, not only to respect for natural environments, but also to the recovery of lost dye- and plant-knowledge, and to an appreciation for handwork carried out from the heart and without hurry. Gleaning Techniques Making art with non-toxic and environmentally friendly materials “in” and “of” the Earth is the objective of the seven international fber artists featured here. Tey have adopted eco printing as a technique for direct or contact mark making on textiles or paper, employing a variety of approaches. Using kitchen-friendly extraction processes and readily available materials, the artists utilize natural dyes from plants, lichens, fungi, soils, mineral-rich rocks, and rusted metals to obtain a print. Teir work is a contemporary application of traditional dye knowledge gleaned from natural dye practitioners such as Dominique Cardon, Karen Diadick Casselman, Jenny Dean, India Flint, Lois Jarvis, J.N.Liles, and Kimberly Baxter Packwood, among others. Te artists use various terms besides “eco printing” (e.g., “eco dyeing”, “natural printmaking”, “organic printmaking”) to refer to their individual methods of obtaining nature’s marks. Te Mark Making Process Te mark making processes begin in nature. Arlee Barr forages along railroad tracks and down Canadian river ravines for leaves, berries, fungi, and lichens to mark fabric that she later richly FAYE MC GOLDRICK embroiders; Yvonne Dalton shins up Australian acacia and eucalyptus trees to swaddle their 8 BUILD YOUR FIBER ART LIBRARY VOL. 2 | FIBERARTNOW.NET ©Fiber Art Now | All rights reserved | Fiber Art Now grants permission for any or all pages in this issue to be copied for personal use HERE: Yvonne Dalton, Untitled (eucalyptus stained drapes); 2009–2012; torn cotton sheeting stained by eucalyptus species; E. cladocalyx; E. cneorifolia; E. diversifolia; E. leucoxylon; various lengths approx 260 x 45 cm. RIGHT: Fabienne Dorsman Rey, Vulnerability Cloth; 2013; organza silk, pongee 05 silk and wool gauze, hand dyed tussah silk threads, eco dyed and eco prints (leaves of eucalyptus, maple, and goldenrod, onion skins, logwood, madder), iron, and copper scraps; hand-stitched and intuitive embroidery; 25 x 34 in. “My printed and stitched textiles and papers, like scrolls, become botanical records uncovering nature’s UNEARTHING mysteries—making art, like science, in order to reveal the invisible.” Eco Dyes — artist and author, Wendy Feldberg BY WENDY FELDBERG Eco printmakers work in slow rhythm with the seasons, using materials they grow, fnd, share, or responsibly forage, discovering in them wide artistic applications. Tey juggle many variables, balancing their control of the process with the chance dye-magic of natural colors that surprise with varied shades and tones. Tese are challenges to relish. Te originality, immediacy, and directness of eco printing complements creative and frugal re-use of secondhand, natural materials such as linen, cotton, silk, wool, and other materials as substrates.