Mixing Up the Color

– Posted in: Color, Mixing Color, Uncategorized, Workshops
hand-dyed cloth

The last month has been filled with teaching. First off, I traveled to Fairfield Iowa, the home of Blue Fish. They are an indie clothing company—all organic and natural fabrics, designed, made and sewn in the USA, and hand-printed right in Fairfield. They have a passionate following and group of collectors, reaching back 30 years.ColorMixing-7

ColorMixing-8

My mission? To bring them an infusion of color, of course! They are relishing the opportunity to add more hand-dyeing into their mix. We dyed the samples on their luscious linen, which soaked up the dye beautifully! I brought custom families for them which reflect the Blue Fish aesthetic, and we were loving seeing all the colors emerge.dye concentrate

soda ash for dyeing hand-dyed cloth

They have a great group of artists on staff, and I enjoyed seeing their print tables full garments waiting for the distinctive Blue Fish designs, not to mention miles of racks holding their hand-carved printing blocks.hand carved stamp storage

hand-carved stamps

Did you know that Fairfield is the meditation capital of the USA? Transcendental mediation got its start there with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, and continues strong in the fields of Iowa. I mostly meditated on which garments to bring home with me! However, I have been reading some about the practice of meditation, and I think it could really benefit me….

Next up was ProChemical & Dye in Massachusetts.I was there for two weeks, and had a very enthusiastic group of color mixers for the first week from all over the US and Canada, also including one young mom from Norway. We had garment dyers and weavers and of course, quilters. I really love meeting so many wonderful people and learning about all the beautiful things they do with their dyes.dyepot

many hand-dyed samples hand-dyed cloth

The week following was Layers Upon Layers. Stay tuned for the exciting denouement…

6 comments… add one
Penny Gold May 15, 2016, 8:16 pm

What fun that you had a gig at Blue Fish! I didn’t realize they were based in Fairfield, IA–not so far from me. I’ve never found one of their pieces that looked great on me, but maybe if I went to a store-ful. . .

carol May 15, 2016, 9:21 pm

Some didn’t work on my body, either, but some did! Once I knew what to look for, it simplified things. Their fabrics are to DYE for!

Kay Sorensen May 20, 2016, 1:04 pm

I was one who didn’t think I could wear Blue Fish too, That all changed in 1997 when I went into a store that carried it and found a helpful sales lady. I still have the original 5 pieces I bought that day and still love and wear them. Over the years I can’t even begin to tell you how many pieces i have bought. They are all special and so ME as an artist.

janice novachcoff May 20, 2016, 1:38 pm

Looks like they had a great time. I really enjoyed the classes I have taken from you. So much good info

Jeanne Marklin May 20, 2016, 2:00 pm

Looks like you’ve had some wonderful classes and experiences! I’m going to check out Bluefish.
I’ve been using the app Headspace to learn to meditate. They do guided meditation in the beginning. I listen on my IPhone.

carol May 20, 2016, 8:17 pm

I will check that out!

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