A Love Letter to the Dyeworn

Dear friend, It is a new year again, and I’m wondering how you’ve been doing and what you’ve been up to. The weather here is typical January: all white, piling up by the day and blowing every which way.I’ll get right to the point.

We’ve known each other such a long time and I think over time I’ve forgotten something very important in our relationship. Oh, I’ve lit on it from time to time, but I really want to write to you in length. I want to encourage you with your dyeing. Dyers are a special kind of people, and I’m glad you and I are among them, and I think every dyer needs to shake up the color tree from time to time. We can get complacent, repetitive, and even arrogant about our dyeing practice.

I’ve been dyeing a long time, and what excites me is the idea of doing something no one else has done or thought of. When I dye like everyone else does, I feel in danger of having my work look like everyone else’s. I know we agree on this; our dyeing can really individualize and increase expressiveness in our art work.

This article is from the January/February 2016 issue. For more information on our issue, check out our issue page.