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Ethel Mairet
One of the earliest books I bought was a little hard backed copy of Ethel Mairet’s A book on Vegetable Dyes. I love this book – her recipes may not be as environmentally friendly as we would like them to be these days, but her depth of knowledge and the effort she put into all her work has my total admiration. This year Barnstaple is celebrating the life of The Partridge family – Ethel, Fred and Maud, who were all talented artists. Fred and Ethel in particular being members of the Arts and Crafts Movement, living and working in Chipping Campden at the Guild and School of Handicraft. Each had…
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Francesco, Niccolo and Agnolo
The building may look a little in need of some repair, but you can see it has had status! I adore this building in the city of Prato, Italy. It was built back in the 14th Century by a gentleman called Francesco di Marco Datini. All it’s history is still within the building – the open doorway takes you inside the Palace … The artwork on the walls is fabulous – imagine what it must have looked like back in the late 1300’s when all was beautiful and new. The display boards at the side tell you about the man who had the palace built and his work. So, why…
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The Colour of War
In 2013 I started researching Khaki ready for the commemorations of World War 1. I wanted to know how they were producing the colour – was it natural or synthetic? Here’s a summary of my research, originally written to be an article for the Journal in 2016, they wanted to make too many changes so I’m sharing it here. On the 4th August 1914 war was declared and thus a requirement to clothe over 6 million soldiers in British Army Uniform began. The story begins by looking back to the Victorian era and changes in Industry and the army uniform. The British Army was famous for its red coats (dyed…
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Fundraising for Ukraine
**** Deadline for questions is 1st April, sign up is anytime during April, if you have missed a session or sign up too close for us to send the link you will receive all the recordings **** 6 live Q & A sessions offering you the opportunity to pose your most burning questions to an amazing line up of natural dyers and botanical printers. Not workshops but privileged access to 6 individuals who are highly regarded in their field. Whether you’re a beginner with a very basic question or someone with more experience and a niggle you can’t quite get your head round no question is too “silly” we want…
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A New Year
Happy New Year! A new year – a fresh start! I hope you all had a really lovely Festive Break and are ready to take on the exciting new challenges ahead. I always feel January is the promise of new adventures so lets get going! For me it is hard work ahead studying for my Post Graduate Research here in Leeds – lots of experiments, reading and writing up! We are moving to Leeds to accommodate all the learning and research that is happening, with no available dyehouse there, so commission work will have to go on hold until this is sorted. The shop is hopefully re opening later in…
