My focus in life has always been to be as organic as possible. Working with Natural Pigmentation is totally ORGANIC and BIODEGRADABLE. It can be recycled back to the earth as mulch and the old dye used to water plants. The extractions can be used diluted to dye fabrics, yarns, fleece, basketry supplies or any natural fibers. The concentrated extracts are great for staining. To create a painting medium the extracts can be added to gels, oils and other pigment thickeners.

The plants extracts bring out warm vibrant colors that create a palette that is compatible and blends with each other. From warm earth tones to brilliant reds and blues, to over-dyes to create greens as well as the simple but multiple beiges and tans, natural dyes are truly multitudinous and allow for great variety and experimentation.

I can't forget to mention the importance of mordanting, the art of fixing the dye color for permanence. Ancient recipes make use of all freely available mordanting plants that contain tannin acids to stabilize color intensity. There are also more contemporary quicker solutions available mainly through the use of metallic salts. However, I prefer the ancient recipes.

I deepened my knowledge of natural dyeing through a friendship with Native Cherokee Indians during that same stay in those sacred mountains. I was fortunate enough to befriend traditional Cherokee basket weavers who taught me ancient dyeing recipes and showed me how to harvest their traditional dye plants such as yellow root, blood root and walnut hulls. I rented a studio close to Penland where I housed a Swedish Glimakra loom on which I wove warm ponchos for the children, scarves and hats for many, rugs and blankets. The Penland School of Fine Crafts in the Western North Carolina mountains was a haven of knowledge and connections. I wove contemporary baskets under the guidance of Dorothy Gilles-Barnes and lead natural dye workshops at the dye shed, the oldest and most primitive building on the campus. This experience led me to teaching many dye workshops in many craft schools all over the East coast of the United States for many years, such as Guilford, CT; Arrowmont, TN; Womens' Studio Workshop, NY; John C. Campbell Folk School, NC; Peter's Valley, NJ; Sugar Maples, NY; Brookfield, CT as well as classes to many private guilds and clubs.