June has come and is almost gone in Glasgow, the weather is finally warm and we have a lot of sun, and our Japanese Indigo, Woad, Flax, Madder, Genista plants are in the ground at #theindigoplot. They are growing strong and the Indigo pigment is starting showing in the green leaves of the Indigo plants. I feared slugs attack but they have not come.
We had a fantastic planting day two weeks ago with some volunteers coming to help, all plants went in the ground and we even fond some time to make a few blue shibori prints on cotton using a quick Indigo vat. The sun was shining and #theindigoplot came alive.
UPCOMING INDIGO WORKSHOPS IN JULY AND AUGUST:
Our next event will be an afternoon Indigo workshop in the Botanical Kibble Palace. One in July FIND INFO HERE and one in August FIND INFO HERE During those sessions we will set up Indigo vats, dye Shibori pieces and use fresh Japanese Indigo leaves to create blue yarn.
MEET THE MAKER :
Over the past couple of months I have introduced some home growers but I think it is time I introduce myself as a grower.
ELISABETH VIGUIE CULSHAW – TEXTILE ARTIST, NATURAL DYER, GROWER OF DYE PLANTS.
Who are you? Elisabeth Viguie Culshaw
What do you do ? I am a textile artist based in the West end of Glasgow (Scotland), I run a sustainable studio and work with natural dyes and botanical prints. I am passionate about Indigo in all forms. I teach in person and online classes in Indigo dyeing, Botanical printing. I love community projects, involving many to share creative tasks.
I lead #thetruecolourofthecotinus project. A global online Botanical printing project involving over 500 participants worldwide.
I initiated #Theindigoplot a natural dye project. A natural dye garden in the grounds of the Glasgow Botanical garden. There I have planted 4 types of Japanese Indigo, some Woad
What is your connection with dye plants and Indigo? I have been using dye plants and natural Indigo for a good few years but in 2021 I started growing them first in my own urban garden. When travelling to South East Asia I have built up a strong connection with Indigo dyeing and I have practiced there, vat building and pigment extraction. In 2022 I have started #theindigoplot a natural dye garden in the grounds of the Glasgow Botanical garden. From seed to colour is the idea behind the garden. Educating the visitors to how colours in natural dyed cloth are created.
Where will it grow and how will it be used? In 2022 I will be growing dye plants both in my home based urban garden, in box beds for my own personal use in my studio practise and in the Indigo plot. There I will be growing Japanese Indigo (4 types), Woad, Madder, Genista, Weld, and some dye flowers as well as Flax. I want to give visitors to the garden a chance to view the plants and experiment with them via workshops and demonstrations during the summer season. I will be running online and in person workshops on Indigo and natural dye techniques.
On the 10/11th of September during The True Colour of the Cotinus exhibition I will be demonstrating natural dyes in the Glasgow Botanical Kibble palace. On the 18th of September as part of the Glasgow Doors open days a visit of the garden will be offered together with a demonstration of dyeing with Fresh leaves.
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.
The dye garden at the Eco-clusterA selection of Deborah’s hand dyed wool with Natural dyesDeborah’s Japanese Indigo plants Long leaves/Broad leaves in MaySome Shibori work Woad dyed wool in Iona (Scotland)
In August, as part of an exhibition at The Rockfield Centre (19th – 29th) 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
TO JOIN THE INDIGO DYE WORKSHOPS AND DEMONSTRATION SCROLL DOWN TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST.
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 2021Elisabeth’s Indigo bed 2021Leggy Persicaria plants June 2021Persicaria tinctoriaPlanting pods June 2021Second growth July 2921Salt method on diverse fibres Indigo on left and Woad rightIndigo pigment extraction July 2021First Indigo vat with home grown pigment July 2021Persicaria Tinctoria (long leaf variety)Last harvest End Septembre 2021Japanese Indigo stalks routingJapanese Indigo being driedFlowering seasonIced blending methodSilk being dyed with Iced blending methodIce blending method with silk
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:
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 vatTwo pieces of silk hand dyed with Fresh leaves Indigo (persicaria)
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.
Indigo Dyeing workshop at The Glasgow Botanics – 9th July 2022 from 12:30 to 4:30
Elisabeth started growing Japanese Indigo in Glasgow in 2021 during the pandemic and in 2022 she started The Indigo Plot project which involves growing Japanese Indigo in the grounds of The Glasgow Botanical garden as well as joining forces with 20 “at Home growers in Scotland” . The aim is to share experiences and growing/dyeing tips.
During the workshop she will share with you how to set up an Indigo vat from Natural Indigo Pigments from Indian origins. She will share tips on how to maintain it and revive it. You will dye samples of recycled cotton/linen using Shibori folds and recycled household items to create beautiful patterns. You will get the opportunity to create a “cushion size” piece to take home.
Finishing techniques will be demonstrated to make sure your own dyed pieces do not crock and vat management will be discussed.
£60.00
Indigo Dyeing workshop at The Glasgow Botanics – 13th August 12.30pm to 4.30pm
Elisabeth started growing Japanese Indigo in Glasgow in 2021 during the pandemic and in 2022 she started The Indigo Plot project which involves growing Japanese Indigo in the grounds of The Glasgow Botanical garden as well as joining forces with 20 “at Home growers in Scotland” . The aim is to share experiences and growing/dyeing tips.
During the workshop she will share with you how to set up an Indigo vat from Natural Indigo Pigments from Indian origins. She will share tips on how to maintain it and revive it. You will dye samples of recycled cotton/linen using Shibori folds and recycled household items to create beautiful patterns. You will get the opportunity to create a “cushion size” piece to take home.
Finishing techniques will be demonstrated to make sure your own dyed pieces do not crock and vat management will be discussed.
£60.00
BLUE AND WHITE PRINTS – ONLINE PRINT RESIST TECHNIQUE AND INDIGO DYE
From 17th September at 2pm for 3 hours and thereafter weekly online on zoom. Spend 3 weeks learning to create beautiful printed fabric using a resist paste technique, stencils and a Natural Pigment Indigo vat. We will learn how to set up a Ferrous vat, maintain it and use it to create multicolour printed fabric. This can be a beginners workshop or a more advance participant. For more information email me on bettysbeautifullife@gmail.com
£162.00
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.
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 woolRed madder on natural dark wool and white wool selection of red obtained with woolFrom top to bottom, Woad, Weld exaust bath overdyed with Woad, two yellows from the Weld plant
On the 18th of September we will run a garden visit and a demonstration of using the fresh leaves Indigo. This will be an afternoon for the Glasgow Doors Open days. You wont be able to book a ticket before August but you can register to get news from my Eventbrite platform and you will get an alert…
THE LANSDOWNE HOUSE 