The magical alchemy of Eco dye was taught to me by my dear friend Ananda. She in turn was taught by the guru of the process India Flint (google her - it'll be time well spent I promise!).
It is now my time to share this with others and as they say 'spread the love'...a premise I truly believe in.
So today, I began.
I invited a few families over and we started by gathering lichen with my trusty basket. The kids had so much fun spotting it in the grass, on fallen sticks and bits of wood in the fire pile.
Then it was time to make our 'witches brew'...
With the pot simmering over a warm winters fire we set to work arranging our leaves, lichens and metals on material and wrapping them up. Lots of laughter as we practiced letting go of desired outcomes, spattering coffee grounds on pants and playing with squishy berries.
Then we just had to artfully arrange the bundles as they were so damn gorgeous!
Everyone fell in love with their bundles:)
Then into the pot they went and it was time for us to sit around the fire with cups of tea and chat about life...and maybe do a spot of canoeing;)
I love this bit. Tending the fire to keep the heat up, watching the birds, being part of the dancing shadows...
Everyone's bundles were wrapped up to take home with the promise to 'wait til the morning to unwrap!'. Easier said than done, but delaying gratification is part of the process - in the old days dyeing cloth took months, years even decades to follow through to completion.
Thank you all for allowing me the opportunity to share my new bit of wonder with you. Here's to experimentation, slow process, kids and mess, smoke and colour!
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