justine aldersey-williams : animist colour lover

No sooner had I said out loud that I wanted to run a centre of excellence for natural fabric dyeing, a studio come shop come workshop space, than I found one, rented it and within a week found myself decorating and moving in!

It's timely really because if I spill dye down our cream painted kitchen cupboards again I'll probably find myself divorced! Things have got so busy lately that there are dye pans all over our garden decking and drain pipes stacked by the dining table. We won't talk about the indigo drops on our wooden work top because I don't think anyone's noticed them yet.

So, perfect that I should walk into Carr Farm Garden Centre to visit Christine at Voirrey Embroidery and happen to notice an empty unit. The Courtyard at Carr Farm is really quaint with lots of little sandstone cottages and outbuildings that are currently being renovated. I had a quick word with the boss, had a minor panic attack and rush of adrenalin t

India Flint is a world renowned textile artist from Australia, famous for her discovery of the eucalyptus leaf eco-printing technique. She travels the world (or whirled as she prefers to spell it!) exhibiting and teaching about sustainable fabric dyeing options which venerate rather than exploit our Earth.

The image above illustrates so many things that I love about her work. She kindly allowed me to photograph the amazing apron she was wearing during a workshop I attended at Big Cat Textiles in Newburgh, Scotland last August.

Apart from the fact that an apron is already a garment evocative of seemingly slower, gentler times passed (how many of us regularly need to wear an apron these days?) this particular example expresses so much about India's philosophy on textiles and life.

According to India, this apron will be a life-long creation that she started 15 years ago. It has been infused with natur

I'm thrilled to announce that The Wild Dyery has it's first stockist, the Bluecoat Display Centre in Liverpool. Not only is the Bluecoat the oldest building in Liverpool but they only stock a carefully curated selection of the finest arts and crafts in the U.K. so I'm flattered that my work has been chosen.

You can find the Bluecoat on School Lane in Liverpool or College Lane for the Display Centre entrance.

James Wood is a recent graduate now working on ‘The Foraged Book Project’ a collaboration with 30 artists who are creating a unique handcrafted book entirely from wild and foraged materials. He runs foraging, natural dyeing and paint making workshops in North West England.

I attended his “Dye and Paint Making” workshop on 9th May where we collected local dye plants, extracted and modified their colours on fabric samples and then created pigment and paints to take home. It was a fun and educational day and James kindly agreed to being interviewed afterwards.

How did you get into natural dyeing?

I got into natural dyeing through foraging which I started during my second year at University. The main reason was because I was producing art work. I was painting, making artwork about sustainability but at the time I was using store bought paints which were made from synthetic colours and petroleum based binders. I realised I was sh

The Wild Dyery are thrilled to announce our first live event taking place this May as part of Capstan's Bazaar in Liverpool's exciting creative quarter, The Baltic Triangle.

We will be launching our new product range of naturally dyed textiles which will be for sale on our stall and you'll be able to try indigo dyeing and shibori resist techniques for yourself by taking one of our drop-in workshops that will be running from 11am - 4:30pm.

You can choose to dye a cotton bandana (£7) or calico tote (£9) and will receive a handout showing you how to replicate your chosen shibori technique at home. You'll also experience the MAGIC of an indigo dye vat and can watch as your project changes colour before your eyes before reaching that rich indigo colour that is so fashionable.

Tickets are available in advance online. Booking in advance secures you a place but includes a small booking fee. Drop-in tickets will also be available on the day (first come, first

From the Earth Textiles are organising an exciting new event taking place next year.

"From the Earth is an event which is planned to take place in June 2016. Its aim is to promote ethical textile practices in the broadest sense, through the use of natural dyes and printing processes, natural fabrics and fibres, with particular reference to those produced in ethical ways, upcycling and incorporating other natural materials and ‘found’ items.

Currently, a month long exhibition is planned at the lovely PS Arts Centre, Datchworth, Herts. In addition to this, we are putting together a series of associated workshops by well known textile practitioners which will be held at nearby ArtVanGo in Knebworth."

The amazing Jenny Dean who featured in our first interview will open the exhibition and eco-print guru India Flint will be offering a workshop from 13th-17th June which is sure to book up fast.

From the Earth also have a Facebook page where you can fol

From today, you can submit your natural dyeing events for FREE here on The Wild Dyery website! Simply look for the drop-down link 'submit an event' when you hover over the top navigation bar 'events' title then complete the form.

Please ensure you have all the relevant information ready including:-

1. Name of event e.g. 'Natural Dyeing with Justine, UK' (please include teacher's name and country)
2. Location of event with full address and postcode
3. An enticing image (web resolution 72dpi no larger than 1000 pixels x 1000 pixels)
4. Date, start and end time
5. A paragraph of text about your event
6. A link directing people to your contact details or means of booking

Let's build an exciting central resource for ALL the wonderful natural dyeing events taking place worldwide!

We are offering this service free of charge. However, we would REALLY APPRECIATE it if you linked back to this website from yours and joined our Facebook discussion grou...