Field Notes 2021: Madelaine Corbin

Explore Bloedel Reserve through the art, writings, and uniques perspectives of the Creative Residents during the time they are visiting the grounds. These entries give you a peek at works-in-progress, sources of inspiration, approaches to craft, exploration of new techniques, and more.

January 2021

In January, Madelaine Corbin introduced us to her fascinating research on the evolution of color and demonstrated some of her techniques for extracting natural dyes from plant materials. The workshop was held virtually in partnership with BARN (Bainbridge Artists Resource Network). Madelaine followed up her workshop with an email to participants, providing links and references for much more information about natural dyes.  Here are those resources for your own color explorations:

I am so grateful to all of you who participated in my workshop on Friday who are beginning (or continuing!) your color journey. I hope the Natural Dye Journal provides a place for you to document all the amazing colors you are sure to brew for your fibers. 

I would love to share a few links and a list of resources. The first is a link to the video, which may have been a little glitchy during the workshop: https://vimeo.com/502846331

I also mentioned a list of places to find supplies. There are many places to find supplies – from seeds for growing a dyer’s garden to fibers, dye extracts, or dried natural dye materials. So, this is not an exhaustive list by any means, but here are the places I mentioned for anyone curious: 

Here is a link to my book project in case any of you found the reading/visual presentation of my practice interesting.

And finally, here is a link to my website.

Happy dyeing to all you lovers of natural color!

SIGN UP FOR OUR ENEWSLETTER

Stay up to date on all of the events and activities taking place at Bloedel Reserve.