THE LANSDOWNE HOUSE

Protected: Ecoprinting on paper the club , Combined mordant, month 12 steaming on paper for white background

The Indigo plot at the Botanics is going live this Saturday with a planting event https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/japanese-indigo-planting-day-at-the-indigo-plot-at-the-botanics-tickets-330506974257 If you are in the West of Scotland there is still time to join in the fun, You should book a space, it is free but we want to be able to contact you in case there is a change of plan.

We are very excited to see our little plants getting stronger and stronger and ready to fend for themselves in The Botanical Garden. This Saturday we will plant Japanese Indigo, Woad plants and Flax seeds. A very exciting time … I hope you will visit in the summer if you are around. But event if you cant be here in person I want to share the project with you. I hope it will inspire you to grow dye plants in your own surrounding and learn to use them in a sustainable manner to perhaps up-cycle some of your garments?

As well as growing plants in the grounds of The Botanical Garden I wanted to share further afield and I recruited 24 home growers who wanted to give this a go. I share some seeds with most of them and regularly we are coming together on zoom to catch up with our progress. They are gardeners, dyers, artists, or just simply colour lovers … I have asked them to introduce themselves and this month we are discovering Deborah Gray a textile lover and like me a full time self employed artist from the West of Scotland and a wool lover whose natural dying is very close to nature. I met Deborah through my online teaching and we have connected very well indeed. I love her sustainable approach and her deep connection with nature. Deborah set up a dye garden in Oban (Scotland) where she grows a number of dye plants. She grows Indigo and Woad in it.

She talks about her love for a sustainable practise and her work below, all photos are Deborah’s: (photos and words are copyright of Deborah Gray 2022)

Who are you? Deborah Gray

What do you do ? I’m a textile artist based in Oban, on the west coast of Scotland. Much of my work reflects the connection between land(scapes) and the materials which grow there – fibres and dye-plants. I am also a tutor, teaching spinning, knitting and natural dyeing both here in Scotland and internationally.

I am Lead Artist for the EcoCreative Cluster project at The Rockfield Centre, Oban.

What is your connection with dye plants and Indigo? I have been growing and using dye plants since the early 1980’s, including Woad and Japanese Indigo. I am growing Woad, Weld, Madder and some other dye-plants in my own garden as well as some plants for botanical printing.

In 2021 with a small group of volunteers I established a dedicated dye garden in the grounds of The Rockfield Centre as part of the EcoCreative Cluster project, and we grew and dyed with our first crop of Woad, as well as many other dye plants. We have about 20 different dye-plants in the dye garden. The EcoCreative Cluster project this year will create artworks for The Rockfield Centre themed on the Celtic tree alphabet, using natural dyeing, botanical printing and work using natural pigments on parchment (to be exhibited in January) as well as having workshops and a second series of on-line Artist Conversations with international artists who use natural dyes and materials in their practice.

Where will it grow and how will it be used? This year I am growing Woad at home, and we are growing both Japanese Indigo and Woad for the dye garden. We are growing two types of Japanese Indigo – the long leaf variety and the round leaf variety, and I hope to have enough to compare the dye potential of the two types. The round leaf variety has been much slower to develop so far. The seedlings are still in pots on my sunniest windowsill, but they will move to the dye garden’s cold frames by the end of May and be planted out in a raised bed around the middle of June. The Woad seeds have been planted directly into a bed – they are on the shadier side of the garden this year as I move the plants around the plot each year. Last year’s Woad plants are now about 1.5 metres tall and in full flower, so we should get a good harvest of seeds.

In August, as part of an exhibition at The Rockfield Centre (19^th – 29^th) I will be doing daily dyeing demonstrations using plants from the dye garden and if the Japanese Indigo is ready by then I will use some. I will also have an indigo dyeing day in September. Last year and earlier this year I ran some Tatakizome (plant hammering) workshops and used Woad leaves successfully, so we may do the same with Japanese Indigo. Depending on how well the plants grow and how much we can harvest I may experiment with drying or freezing leaves for later use and making indigo pigment.

For more information about the EcoCreative Cluster project and dye garden go to Eco Creative Cluster — The Rockfield Centre and follow #ecocreativecluster and #therockfieldcentre on Instagram

Please tag @deborah.gray7 www.deborahgraytextiles.co.uk

#TheIndigoPlot at the Botanics

INDIGO WORKSHOPS:

STUDIO WORKSHOP IN SHIBORI INDIGO – 19 APRIL 2025 – 10 to 4pm

In this day workshop in my lovely Glasgow studio, you will learn how to set up an Indigo vat and learn how to create patterns with it by using Shibori prints (fold and clamp). You will leave with three pieces of artwork and a new technique. This includes all material and coffee/tea but not lunch. This workshop is perfect for beginners

£60.00

NATURAL DYE RESIDENCY IN GLASGOW – DYE WITH HOME GROWN PLANTS FOR GREEN

Workshop on week end of 13/14th Septembre in my Glasgow Studio 10 am to 4pm. In two days we will harvest plants from my dye garden The Indigo Plot in the grounds of the Glasgow Botanics and dye yarn and fabric with it for green… Weld, Reseda, Indigo and Woad will create wonderful shades. As well as a range of fabric and yarn samples you will go home with robust skills in natural dyes from plants. Perfect for beginners and textile lovers. All material included but not lunch. Not suitable for mobility issues as most of the work is done standing up.

£200.00

From seeds to Blue – Online live home growing program for Japanese indigo and Woad. starts 5th April

WOOLY GOOD FESTIVAL SPECIAL PRICE Spend 6 months working with my group of Japanese Indigo and Woad growers to gain skills in growing and usine Japanese Indigo and Woad plants for blue. If you live in the UK I will supply a small quantity of seeds. Together we will touch base regularly and share our growing progress while I lead you to your next step. In July and August when your plants are ready I will offer two workshops in extracting and using Indigo dye from fresh leaves and vats. Perfect for beginner and small gardens All meetings are recorded for late review.

£120.00

PRINT RESIST WITH INDIGO FOR PATTERN CREATIVITY STARTS 4TH OCTOBER FOR 4 WEEKS

In this 4 weeks online live on zoom workshop we will learn to set up and maintain a ferrous Indigo vat. Using the Soya/Lima print making method we will create pattern on our material on small then larger fabrics. This workshop is perfect for beginners and more advanced participants. You will learn after looking after a vat in the comfort of your home.

£200.00

GROWING a dye garden has become a great way to generate plant based colours for dyeing fabric and yarn. A more sustainable way to bring colour in our life. I started growing my own Japanese Indigo in Glasgow because of the Covid crisis but after we went back to normal I decided to keep going and to ask The Glasgow Botanical Garden to allow me to use a small pace to grow the plants there too.

In 2025 for the 4th year I will be growing on the grounds of the Glasgow Botanical Garden some Japanese Indigo, some Woad, some Genista, some Weld. Two large beds right by the side of the Glasgow own dye garden.

I grow fewer species but in bigger quantity, and I use them during the season to generate colour. I also engage with the public in order to educate at grass roots level about the great benefits of growing your own dye plants. I engage with schools to teach the children about teaching young children about the connection between the plants and the colour. I teach adults at home to grow their own Indigo and Woad to give them this amazing good feel that growing gives…

LOOKING FOR VOLUNTEERS FOR THE INDIGO PLOT @ THE GLASGOW BOTANICS

And I would love if you would get involved.

Below is the account of my first year of public growing and some links to some of the growers of the first experiments, if you are local AND WANT TO BE INVOLVED please be in touch by email bettysbeautifullife@gmail.com to let me know who you are and what you can share… I need some help with giving the garden a big upkeep, some digging, manuring, weeding during the season and off course planting and harvesting. If you are in Glasgow you know the weather is often changeable and we just need to adapt… it is not always a walk in the park … but the result is amazing. In return you will learn about the dye plants and will get to dye with your own grown plants at the end of the summer.

If you are away from Glasgow and you would like to run this at home… I have an online course I run with a small group every year. To you in the UK I can spare seeds. To others I will share ressources… Between April and end of July we will meet on zoom to touch base and keep our growing moving in the right direction. We will share tips and touch base to where we are. In July and August I will share some methods for extractions, for dyeing, for paint making with the pigment you can extract from your Woad and Japanese Indigo. So join by using the link below… it will give you a great ressource to learn to grow with.

The zoom sessions are recorded and will be shared for up to two years. They will come with written instructions for you to keep

EARLY BIRD SPACE IN THE 2025 HOME GROWING PROGRAM OF JAPANESE INDIGO AND WOAD

Was £150 Starting beginning of April till end of September we will connect to grow together (you in your own home space) Japanese Indigo and Woad. In monthly meets we will connect and swap notes. If you are in the UK you will receive a packet of seeds from me. If you are elsewhere I will do my best to suggest a local supplier. In July and September we will have live sessions on zoom where I will share techniques to learn to use your leaves. Fresh leaves salt and iced method but also vat making and pigment extraction. There is a Facebook group where you can exchange and share your results. You can keep the method for two years. For questions email me on bettysbeautifullife@gmail.com

£120.00

In 2024, I grew Japanese Indigo with a group of 60 home growers all over the UK and some overseas. I was very honoured that THE LEAGUE OF ARTISANS chose to grow with me with their group of 20 growers towards a sharing workshop using fresh leaves Indigo and Woad during The Leek Textile week. To view the program of The Leek Textile week look HERE

In Septembre 2025 we will welcome colour and fibre lovers in our yearly exhibition at The Kibble Palace of the Glasgow Botanical garden for “Feeling Blue” exhibition. During the week end we share our love for the natural dyes and fibres and as well as see some of the dyes you can take part in hands on workshops, and observe some spinning, weaving and dyeing. Visits of the dye garden “The Indigo plot” are taking part in the Sunday afternoon and we test fresh leaves of Japanese Indigo for fun.

Please KEEP THE DATES – 20 & 21 SEPTEMBRE 2025… Details to follow.

The Indigo Plot at the Botanics is a small dye plants garden in the grounds of the Glasgow Botanical Garden in Scotland (UK). Curated by Textile artist Elisabeth Viguie Culshaw in the spring of 2022, Japanese Indigo (4 varieties), Woad, Weld, Genista, Madder, and Flax are planted, I want to educate and share with the public. Information about planting, growing and using dye plants to created sustainable colour for textile fibre will be shared during the following 24 months.

Below are images about my own dye garden in 2021

Indigo plants ready to go into ground spring 2021

My inspiration for dye gardens comes from my Asian travels over the past 15 years.

Out of the visit in 2019 to my Thai friend Mann’s craft dye garden in Sakhon Nakhon (Northern Thailand) I retain a strong sense of belonging. Grand daughter of a French farmer I have always had this attraction for planting but living in Urban Glasgow for the last 30 years have not given me a chance to put this to practise . In his garden, Mann grows rice and other vegetables but also, Indigofera Tinctoria, and many other dye plants. He harvest them and and uses them sustainably in his process with textile.

Below images about Mann’s Indigo dye garden in Northern Thailand

In may 2022 I met Lottie Delamain the garden designer for the fashion revolution “Textile Garden” at the 2022 Chelsea flower show and she shared with me her intense liking for a similar garden in North Vietnam years ago. There is a sense of peace and belonging coming from them. My chosen location for my own dye garden is in the Glasgow Botanical garden, a garden set up by Victorian fathers of the City in the 1870’s to enlighten and educate about plants. My plot is at the top of the garden by the medicinal, dye and herb gardens. It used to be the physical garden, a space where plants were referenced and grown for educative purpose. Such a suitable space.

“From seeds to colour” is a concept that sustainable natural dyers are embracing by growing and foraging for locally grown plants to create a colour pallet in the shades of the rainbow. When talking about dyes, I wanted to pay respect to a 17th century French reformer of the use of Natural dyes. Colbert minister to Louis XIV in his reforms aimed to separate the “Grand Teint dyes” (colourfast dyes) and the “Petit Teint dyes” (more ordinary dyes which sometimes are not as colourfast and need over-dying), today many are confused about the difference between dyes and colours and many novice dyers are using food items such as “Red Cabbage” as a source of dye… those are not dyes but merely fugitive food colour which should be kept to the kitchen. In my garden most plants are “Grand Teint” and I will aim to educate the visitor to that effect. In dye workshops I will use a variety of Natural dyes to create rainbow colours. (See below photos of some of the colours achieved).

I want to produce the colours blue with visitors, participants and volunteers, through growing and processing Japanese Indigo and Woad. But some other traditional dye plants such as Madder, Weld, which are “Grand Teint” and will add other plants such as dye flowers which produce “Petit Teint” dyes. No space will be given in this garden to fugitive dye plants.

The idea of sharing the experience with a group of people made me recruit some volunteers to prepare the grounds, help with the planting and the maintenance of the garden. Some events are due to take place during the summer. Natural dye workshops and demonstrations are planned for early summer, other events are planned too. I will be able to share with your group if you have a desire to discover about Natural dyes. Be in touch. If you click the links below you will read about the experience of some of those growing with me:

Meet Elisabeth from Glasgow:

Meet Deborah from Oban

Meet Nicky from Stirlinshire

My first choice of plant is Persicaria Tinctoria (Japanese Indigo), it is a well suited Indigo plant that will stand Scottish weather. I have grown it in 2021 in Urban Glasgow with a lot of success, in this blog post you can read the story https://thelansdownehouseofstencils.com/2022/02/11/from-seeds-to-blue-in-the-covid-year-of-2021-i-grew-japanese-indigo-in-scotland/. For 2022 I have recruited a number of home growers to share the experience. In the Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/The-Indigo-Plot-at-the-Botanics-100479995960184 you will be able to see their regular update. 25 at home growers with very different background… gardeners, natural dyers, textile artists, Artist… each of them growing 25 plants.

Out of Persicaria you can get a beautiful blue… FRESH LEAVES DYEING AND METHODS WILL BE SHARED WITH PARTICIPANTS . Woad will be a great contrast with a softer blue. Below are images of some pieces dyed with Indigo pigment.

From top to bottom: Woad vat, Indigo fructose vat, Indigo thiox vat

I will be running two workshops about Indigo vat building and dyeing as well as using Fresh leaves Indigo in order to create blue on silk. You can book a space below. The sessions will be ran in the Glasgow Botanical Garden – Kibble Palace both time and are suitable for beginners… I will be offering a visit to The Indigo Plot on the same day.

The plants we are growing at the Plot:

Persecaria Tinctoria (japanese Indigo), a South East Asian plant with large leaves, the pigment can be found in the leaves and it grows well in climate country like Scotland. We grow 4 varieties (Long leaves, Senbon, Maruba or broad leaves, Kojkoko) about 500 plants, we will harvest during the summer 2022 to extract pigment, dye with the fresh leaves techniques.
Isatis Tinctoria (Woad) an ancient plant used in the West to also produce blue pigment. It is a bi-anual but only produces pigment the first year. We will dye wool from fresh leaves vat.
Flax, Linum, a grass that produces linen. We will be growing a good few plants to extract the fiber. I hope we will be able to spin it and weave.
Weld, a traditional yellow dye plant also a Grand teint.
Genista (reseda) for Yellows
Madder or Rubbia Tinctorium or a traditional root plant (Grand teint) used to create a huge range of red shades
Dye Flowers (coreopsis, dyers camomile…)

And below the colours we will be dyeing with them:

two types of Indigo (bottom) and Woad top on wool

I hope that you will be taking part in the activities of the dye garden…

If you would like to register as a volunteer to water or tend the garden please be in touch bettysbeautifullife@gmail.com

Please be in touch or post in our Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/The-Indigo-Plot-at-the-Botanics-100479995960184

Happy blue dyeing..

Betty x

Protected: Eco-Print, Dye and Stitch, an online collaborative workshop

Protected: The True Colour of the Cotinus, print blue and extract pigment

Protected: Introduction to Botanical Printing on paper and fabric

Protected: Botanical Printing and Indigo dye workshop 2022

My Indigo diaries 2022 – The Indigo plot April news – Meet the growers … Nicky

24 Home growers have embarked on that blue path of growing Japanese Indigo in Scotland with me. Small quantities but a big connection. We hope to grow plants, dye blue but also create connections between us and nature, between us as growers, farmers, dyers… I have asked them to write a few words to introduce themselves and talk about their journey as first time Indigo growers.

Please meet Nicky… I met her through my online teaching of botanical printing. She volunteered early and wanted to take part for her own personal reason… read for yourself.

“Hello, I am Nicki Wilkins, (writer, artist, home educator, soul midwife/mentor), living near Dundee, on the east coast of Scotland, and I will be growing my indigo plants at my allotment plot on the west side of Dundee Law with the most beautiful view of the Lomond hills in Fife and the River Tay.

I have been chasing blue (or blue has been chasing me) for most of my life, but it was when my mother died in 2013, and I began to find all her knitted blue blankets tucked away in her home, that I started a poetic relationship with blue. I then began writing about the way the colour blue motifs my midlife journey. My memoir, This Slender Blue Thread, is why I am part of this growing indigo project. I like working with blue!

As an eco-artist, working with the natural materials I forage, I’ve dabbled in printing, cyanotypes, indigo vat building, and currently I am working with wild clay documenting my menopausal journey.

My art practice is grounded in my relationship with the natural world around me, and I enjoy working with plant materials from seed to colour. While I plan on exploring indigo dyeing with paper (the poet in me wants blue paper!), someday I hope to make my own indigo pigment to colour my wild clay balls (dorodangoes=Japanese mud balls).

I like the idea of mapping indigo growing across Scotland and seeing and watching how others work with blue. And just today I got a chance to say hello to my first indigo seedlings! Just thinking about how they carry blue makes me smile. Come visit me on Instagram.

https://www.instagram.com/nickiwilkins