Dancing Bird Studio

Silk, hemp, cotton, organic cotton and vintage table linens all begin as blank white cloth. I manipulate the fabric, dye it and then set about painting and printing all manner of images drawn from nature.

I use two types of dyes to create my work: Fiber reactive dyes are used for the shibori and immersion dyebaths which become the backgrounds for each piece. These are also used in a thickened state for screen printing onto silks and other natural fibers. Once set, they bond to and become one with the fiber.

Illuminated vat dyes are a new process for my work. These are known as reductive dyes and work in a similar way to indigo. The color is suspended in a thickener which contains an agent that removes the base color and replaces it with the vat dye. During the process of setting vat dyes, they take on oxygen to become their final color.

Every item is washed several times in hot water. This means no fading or shrinkage for you and hassle-free care. Most items can be washed gently in your machine using cold water and line or tumble dried.

Both fiber reactive and illuminated vat dyes maintain the soft drape, or hand, of the fabric and are very fade and wash fast.