Creative Dyeing: Transformation against all odds
The branch of philosophical thought called alchemy has been practiced as early as the fourth century BCE and possibly longer. Various forms of it have been recorded in Greece, India, China, Europe, and other locations. It is a fascinating study of transmutation and transformation. I practice alchemy of a sort with color in my dye work. It depends not only on my knowledge of color and dye chemistry but also on chance chemical reactions in the dyepot that come from various kinds of wood, various ages of the wood, rust, weather, and whatever other chance elements the natural world may choose to deposit during the boiling process.
I could look at this in two ways. I could worry that something ugly will come out, that there will not be enough salt, that something might happen to the fabric — or, I could choose to place my carefully prepared and folded cloth into the dye bath with the sure knowledge from within me that THAT color will emerge at the end of the hour.
For years I struggled to come to this calm surety that the alchemy of not only the dye pot but of my life circumstance would come out exactly the way it needed to. And now, it has. I have learned over this past year that the sense of community, the nurturing of a mentor, is a catalyst that has propelled me forward as surely as the addition of salt reduces the negative polarization of dye and wool.
I am looking forward to the next step in my journey.
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