Preparing to dye with fresh tansy at The Bailly House in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. About to start cooking the flowers Sunday morning, an eagle appeared on the peak of the Opera House roof. Longing for my old Konica with the super zoom lens! It stayed for 20 exciting minutes. The flowers gave a nice clear…… Continue reading Flowers, eagles and drought in Nova Scotia
Category: natural dyes
Tansy lore
Medicinal and culinary use of tansy goes back as far as history does. The flowers also give a strong yellow dye. The first president of Harvard’s coffin was packed with tansy, a common embalming aid in colonial New England. After its introduction by Europeans, wreaths of tansy leaves and flowers were worn by Native Americans…… Continue reading Tansy lore
woad goes to seed
With each tiny flower turning into a seed, it’s easy to see why woad is an invasive species banned in some places.
Goethe’s mystic colour theory
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe published Theory of Colours in 1810. He disagreed with Isaac Newton’s famous 1672 optical spectrum analysis, and was more interested in how colour is perceived. Enlightenment artists and scientists were very engaged with quantifying colour. In 1708, French painter Claude Boutet based the above wheels on Newton’s findings. In 1775, Austrian…… Continue reading Goethe’s mystic colour theory
400 year old colour
“The Bacton Altarcloth” was recently determined to likely be made from a dress that belonged to Queen Elizabeth I, c. 1600. It’s on display at Hampton Palace, with The Rainbow Portait of the Virgin Queen. Inscribed non sine sole iris (no rainbow without the sun) it’s questionable whether the eyes and ears on her saffron…… Continue reading 400 year old colour
tbh 