THE ODE SERIES

While exploring plant dyes and natural mordants, I discovered a process of using strong concentrations of the dyes as a medium for watercolor painting.  By first treating the paper in the way one would a cloth for dying, I was ecstatic to discover the variability and brilliance of the dye's reaction to paper. 

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I approach these paintings much like a textile artist, with the inclusion of hand-stitched pineapple and bamboo threads, woodblock stamps printed with thickened dyes, and references to ethnographic textiles. As a synthesis of opposites, I combine illustrations of dye plants, painted almost completely with natural dyes but with layers of digital media.

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It is my intention that these paintings bring us closer to our changing relationship with the natural world, to honor and refresh the art natural dyeing and to compliment the exquisite tales of the plants' worldly highlights.