Annie Sherburne - shopping with a conscience.

using dyes. Dyes are absorbed into the very fibres of textiles, ensuring a much longer lifetime than paints and pigments which are applied to the surface of a textile or fabric making them more vulnerable to damage. At it’s most basic, dyeing can be described as a process in which yarn or fabric is immersed in a solution produced by boiling up selected raw materials or dyestuffs. These may be animal, vegetable or mineral in origin. The first alternative to natural dyes was discovered in the 1850’s as a result of the analysis of the chemical structure of indigo, a dye frequently used in Ancient Egypt and the oldest dye known to man. These dyes, called Aniline dyes, produced a vast range of colours and were a lot quicker, easier and cheaper to use this lead to their worldwide popularity and the displacement of natural dyeing. This new industrial based dyeing was however not with out its problems. The effects on the environment and culture have led to both atmospheric and water pollution due to dyes being washes away in to main water supplies and having drastic effects on the ecosystem. This has lead to some textile manufactures and artists such as Annie Sherburne opting for a more environmentally friendly way of producing fabrics and designs. This is true in a number of places where chemical and aniline dyes are not used, such as in the Highlands and Hebrides of Scotland where they use of natural dyes and dyeing techniques are favoured and appreciated. In other places these practices are still in place due to custom and cultural preservation this is particularly true in eastern cultures. Such natural dyes include murex shell for purple, iron oxide for red and onion skins for yellows. As research into the work of Annie Sherburne I have created my own natural dye using grass. I achieved this by grinding the grass in a source pan with hot water and salt, after the grass had been ground the dye was strained to remove the grass and a small piece of calico was soaked in the dye for about 10-15 minutes. A different piece of calico was then soaked in a synthetic green dye so that a comparison could be made. (See sample 1) One method Sherburne use to make her samples and products is felting. This process involves the irreversible matting of wool fibres using warm soapy water and friction to create a strong and versatile fabric. Felting is used in Mongolia to make small huts in which the native people live. The felt provides much needed insulation for the harsh Mongolian climate; this is due to the small pockets of air trapped between the wool fibres. The felt is then used to line the walls of the huts and has been recorded as up to 1 meter in thickness. Sherburne uses this method to create the piece she calls ‘soft cobbles’ that consists of large felt balls strung together to create a blanket or through. The artists’ work is based on the theme of nature and giving an artistic impression of the natural world around them. I have also incorporated these ideas in to my own work using textiles to represent I see in nature.