This week’s Mordant Monday focuses on Gallo Tannin, also known as Oak Gall tannin, or Oak Galls. We used the extract made from Oak Galls in our gradation, but a similar result comes from oak galls that have been crushed or pulverized. Gallo Tannin is one of the ancient tannins with many uses, including making black ink, leather tanning, and in traditional Asian medicine. It is the most commonly used tannin when mordanting with tannin + alum, as the color it imparts is very light, and it doesn’t show a strong undertone, like sumac or walnut or other tannins with ... Read more The post Mordant M ..read more

Every Sunday for Sunday Visit, Botanical Colors sits down for an interview with a luminary in the natural dye, textile and art world. Grab a cup of tea and settle in to learning about someone you never knew! Catch up on all our Sunday Visits here. This week we sit down with Indigo Doula and aficionado, Brittany Boles of Indigo Fest. The post Sunday Visit: Brittany Boles of Seaspell Fiber & Indigo Fest. appeared first on Botanical Colors ..read more

Today, we’re taking a look at Ceriops Tagal, a “red” tannin from Indonesia, and a color that is rich in history and traditional use. At Botanical Colors, we recognize that the mangrove species is threatened due to widespread clearing of mangrove forests for timber, fish farming and other coastal activities. Ceriops Tagal is a product derived from tree bark that would otherwise be discarded. It is harvested and produced under conservation guidelines from the Forest Stewardship Council and provides income for remote villages. Indonesia is home to some of the largest mangrove forests in the world ..read more

Taking a little time to work more closely with tannins has been incredibly interesting! This week’s tannin exploration focuses on Sumac. Sumac is from the Rhus genus and its scientific name is Rhus coriaria. It’s native to southern Europe and western Asia where it is commonly known as Tanner’s Sumac or Sicilian Sumac. We are fortunate to have number of North American native sumac including Rhus glaubra, sometimes called Smooth Sumac, and Rhus typhina or Staghorn Sumac, known for its dramatic bright red berry clusters. The staghorn berries were used by indigenous people as a tea, and the bark ..read more

Every Sunday, Botanical Colors sits down for an interview with a luminary in the natural dye, textile and art world. Grab a cup of tea and settle in to learning about someone you never knew! Catch up on all our Sunday Visits here. This week we sit down with Arounna to learn about how she got started with her husband and how she grew her amazing community to what it is today. Can you tell us your origin story? How did Bookhou begin? I finished art school with a background in sculpture and ceramics and I started doing some teaching at ... Read more The post Sunday Visit: Arounna Khounnoraj ..read more

At Botanical Colors we believe that every day is Earth Day. To celebrate in a meaningful way, we are excited to launch a new indigo collaboration with Vibrant Valley Farm: meet Vibrant Valley Blue Indigo Paste.  After seven years of intensive growing, harvesting and fine-tuning their extraction processes, Vibrant Valley Farm is thrilled to share their indigo pigment paste with the world. It is an exceptional product and is perfect for artisans, dyers, and makers alike. Paste means that the product combines easily in a classic 1-2-3 vat and yields beautiful, brilliant blue shades. We ..read more

Botanical Colors is thrilled to present an excursion to Tangier, Morocco this August: EXPERIENCING THE COLORS OF TANGIER workshop and retreat with Yto Barrada & Cara Piazza. Each day will be a mix of creative textile exploration and soaking up the sights and highlights of Tangier. We have gathered short profiles of some of the exciting places we are going to visit during our time in this magical city as well as places that invite exploration and personal discovery. Tangier is located on the Strait of Gibraltar and sits at the crossroads of Africa and Europe, where the Mediterranean Se ..read more

Black Walnut Juglans nigra is one of our most interesting tannins and it’s a color that’s native to the North American continent. The entire tree contains color but it is in the green hulls that we find a strong concentration of dark tannins yield light beige to golden brown on cellulose. On wool, black walnut really shines and makes a rich brown shade. Walnut Hull Powder from black walnut (Juglans nigra) is a common source of brown dye throughout North America. The fleshy hulls are full of tannin, juglone and other pigments and are the primary source of the dye. ... Read more The post Mordant ..read more

Every Sunday, Botanical Colors sits down for an interview with a luminary in the natural dye, textile and art world. Grab a cup of tea and settle in to learning about someone you never knew! Catch up on all our Sunday Visits here. This week we sit down with force of nature Kara Gilbert of Vibrant Valley Farm. Vibrant Valley Farm works diligently to care for this earth in everything they do. They farm vegetables, flowers and dye plants and in each step of the process, honor sustainable practices to create healthier communities locally and globally in our outreach, education and daily ..read more

Today in our tannin series we move on to Quebracho Moreno. Quebracho (Schinopsis balansae and Schinopsis lorentzii) is an evergreen tree that grows wild in South America. It grows mainly in Argentina and Paraguay in dense sub-tropical forests which also include a variety of other trees and vegetation. The name is due to its hardness, and comes from two Spanish words, quebrar and hacha, meaning “axe breaker”. In fact, quebracho has been used locally for posts, telegraph poles, bridge timbers, railway ties, paving blocks and for any construction where great dur ..read more