Ellen von Unwerth for Grey #5.

This classic Ellen von Unwerth image is from the archives of Fashion Preservation Foundation. I often scroll down the pages to find inspiration for my pieces. This is my cayenne series. Not actually cayenne pepper, but all natural madder and cutch, amped up with alum and cream of tarter. Over dyed with indigo gives the same color combination as the iron colored garment against the denim colored sky in the photograph.

A sailors forecast.

My father loved to predict the weather. One rule of thumb was if you saw a pasture where the cows were all laying down, that means it will rain soon. Another was to remember this saying:
"Red sky at night, sailor's delight.
Red sky in morning, sailors take warning."
These persimmon colored scarves remind me of those ominous red skies seen at sunrise.
Madder, Cutch and Quebracho Red were used here.

Another gray day in March.

Shades of gray. From Black to white and in between.From driftwood to charcoal, and Raven to dove. Gray is soft.

I love this dress from Shirin Moore.

Brazil bound?

A purple printed pareo would be all I need to scrunch up in a rucksack with a bathing suit and flip flops and I would be Brazil bound! That and the $2000.00 roundtrip ticket to Trancoso...
Gray and purple Logwood extracts helped to color this cotton voile piece, and the black "ink" I used with the antique Indian wood block print was made from the silty residue at the bottom of my cutch, madder and iron pot. Seems quite color fast, too!

Cristo from my dining room.

These images of my latest escapades in natural dyeing made me think of Cristo's "Gates" in New York City's Central Park. Orders for Spring inventory at Black Parrot in Maine and The One Well in Brooklyn have me slaving over a hot cauldron all day! With a view like this, I can't complain.

Vagabond Blue.

The most mystical and sacred of all natures contribution to the world of color- Indigo. A green plant that is composted and then fermented, it was the first and only blue dye for centuries. A blackish, oily looking green while swirling in the dye vat, it emerges and soon becomes blue once it becomes oxidized. Darkest blue the first dips, the color is absorbed by the fabrics until it is the palest of blues.
This silk organza shawl was dyed in indigo and then the dark end was soaked over night in the dregs of cutch and iron brew.