Working with natural dyes like cochineal that yield red, indigo blue, wild marigold (pericone) and fustic to give us yellow, is like being a pastry chef and following a recipe. It helps to know a little chemistry or have a willingness to learn.
Indigo dye bath percolating
Eric Chavez Santiago, who is one of Mexico’s most knowledgeable natural dye experts and our workshop leader, takes us through the steps to use a non-toxic process to mordant wool that we will use to dye cochineal, fustic and wild marigold. Wool that we dye with indigo requires no mordant but another set of intricate steps that will guarantee a result of intense blue and its variations. See the green bloom in the photo above. The chemistry here is to allow no oxygen to enter the dye bath. Stirring is a no-no.
The intense colors we get depend on a number of factors, including the original color of the natural wool, the amount of dye for the recipe, the length of time in the dye bath, the number of dips, how little dye is left in the dye bath, and whether we use an acid (lime juice, for example) or a base (baking soda, alum or ashes). Eric has developed an extraction technique for the cochineal that yields the most intense, concentrated color. The extract can be saved and refrigerated for later use and then refreshed.
In the three-day Oaxaca Natural Dye Secrets workshop, we go through the basics and then tackle more advanced dyeing techniques using acids, bases, and over-dyeing. Over-dyeing is when you first dye your fiber with the base color such as red (cochineal) or yellow (fustic or wild marigold). The red is then dipped in the indigo dye bath to yield various shades of purple depending on the shade of red.
Next Workshop: March 6-12, 2014
This is not a complex process, but requires attention and following the recipes. By the end of the workshop, participants have color samples with specific formulas/recipes for all the shades from yellow to green to pink to red to orange to purple to blue.
During the workshop, we also experiment with shibori dye techniques using indigo with 100% cotton fabric. The resulting pattern depends on how we fold, wrap, package, or tie the fabric. Some use rubber bands, string, marbles, sticks, and other materials to manipulate the design.
Everything depends on whether the material is a protein (animal) or cellulose (plant) fiber. Cochineal only works best with protein fibers that are mordanted in advance. Indigo is not really a dye but a stain and only coats the surface of the fiber (which you can see through a microscope). Indigo works well with protein AND cellulose fibers. And, wow, does it attach to everything it touches!
Assisting Eric with the workshop is his wife, Elsa Sanchez Diaz. As his partner in life and this workshop, Elsa takes detailed notes about the formulas that Eric is using so that there is a record of the colors achieved. She also helps the participants to complete their samplers with tagged formula notes at the end of the workshop.
Our participants come from Pennsylvania, Virginia, Northern California, and Kansas. They include novices and experienced fiber artists/dyers. Several had never been to Oaxaca before. One is an English professor, another a faculty member in architecture and interior design, another a mixed media artist, and two professional weavers. Everyone came away with a great experience and more information than they ever dreamed possible.
Next Workshop: March 6-12, 2014
If you can’t attend this workshop, let us know! We can possibly schedule the next workshop to suit your travel schedule.
Oaxaca Natural Dye Workshop: A Gift of Color From Mother Nature
Several months ago Australian home furnishings designer Lauren Bennett contacted me about taking a natural dye workshop in Oaxaca with her business partner Genevieve Fennel. Lifelong friends with a passion for textiles, they started the Sydney-based company Walter G & Co. almost two years ago, importing textiles from India to market a home decor line for resale to designers and shops. In India they work primarily with Rajasthan artisans who use indigo, saffron and madder dye. They wanted to learn more about natural dyeing in Oaxaca with indigo, cochineal, and wild marigold, including how to ensure color stability. Their goal was to compare techniques and processes between the two regions, become more informed, and better direct their textile business.
In Oaxaca, there are few more knowledgeable about natural dye chemistry and applications than Eric Chavez Santiago. As director of education at the Museo Textil de Oaxaca, Eric works with indigenous artisans to preserve the textile traditions of the state. He comes from a family of Zapotec weavers in Teotitlan del Valle, and early in his career developed over 100 recipes for cochineal that his father Federico Chavez Santiago uses to dye the rugs he weaves and sells at Galeria Fe y Lola in Oaxaca city.
L to R: Tempe, Lauren, Eric, Lara, Genevieve
Lauren and Genevieve arrived this week along with two friends, Lara Zilibowitz and Tempe McMinn. With Eric as their dye master, they rolled up their sleeves and jumped into washing, dyeing and over-dyeing wool skeins over the two days we were together.
Eric’s teaching style is both didactic and hands-on. He carefully explained the history of dyeing in Oaxaca, the differences between dyeing with protein (animal) and plant fibers, types of mordant, issues of toxicity, and small batch vs. production work. He showed examples of cochineal recipes he developed that are tagged with proportions. The two-day workshop focused only on dyeing protein fibers like wool, alpaca and silk.
During the first day of the two-day program, we made a 10%, 20% and 70% cochineal dye bath and then did the same for the wild marigold, which is called pericone here. You’ll see more of day two of the workshop when we made a indigo dye bath and our blue hands in a later post!
L to R: Lauren and Genevieve
Eric explained how the pH of the dye bath and the temperature of the water are essential for a successful result. He also demonstrated how the color of the wool influences results. White, beige, gray and brown wool will determine the ultimate color of the fiber when it takes the dye. Eric shared his recipes and we were on our way dyeing skeins that he had mordanted in preparation.
Lauren, Genevieve, Lara and Tempe all said that Eric’s explanations and demonstrations are easy to understand and they loved being able to fully participate — hands-on. Plus, they said, he speaks great English, so the learning experience was wonderful. Eric offers a step-by-step approach with intermittent review of concepts so no one is left behind if the chemistry becomes a bit complicated. He loves sharing Oaxaca’s dyeing traditions and wants people to be as excited about natural dyeing as he is.
Stay tuned! We are planning more dye workshops. If you want a customized workshop especially for a group of people, please let me know and we will try to make it happen!
Cochineal is native to Oaxaca and the state of Puebla. It was tribute paid by the Zapotecs to the Aztecs. After the conquest, the Spanish took it to Peru, which is now the largest producer of cochineal. Cochineal is colorfast if mordanted properly. It is very precious and costs about 1,500 pesos for a kilogram of dried bugs — that’s about $60 USD a pound.
Yellow is the least stable color to achieve, says Eric. Without proper mordanting, it can degrade the fibers and fade. Wild marigold, native to Oaxaca, yields a strong, stable color. Today, we worked with cochineal and pericone to get about 20 different shades based on the wool color, strength of the dye bath, and the process called overdyeing.
Next post: indigo, king of blue, color of royalty (along with purple, which we will talk more about, too.)
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Posted in Cultural Commentary, Oaxaca Mexico art and culture, Textiles, Tapestries & Weaving, Workshops and Retreats
Tagged Cochineal, indigo, Mexico, natural dyes, Oaxaca, pericone, workshop