True Colors

World Masters of Natural Dyes and Pigments

Keith Recker

• Publisher: Schiffer Craft
• Year: 2024
• Print ISBN: 9781733200387
• eBook ISBN: 9781507302729
• Topic: Economics
• Subtopic: Art Techniques
• Index: Economics

The revised & updated second edition of an enthralling guided tour of the world of natural dyes and pigments.
"Combining world textiles and activism, Keith Recker has produced a book filled with essential information about color, the environment, and artists who create beautiful fabrics using natural dyes. . . . The textiles are as colorful and interesting as the makers themselves in this exquisitely crafted book." —Carol Sauvion, Executive Producer and Executive Director, PBS Craft in America
This updated second edition features a revised chapter. True Colors is about artists who create color from natural materials and about the historical importance and environmental sustainability of this practice. Deep conversations with twenty-six artisans from every part of the globe reveal their wisdom, traditions, and know-how—and suggest that we ignore what they know at our peril. Traditional approaches to making color offer sustainable options to a fashion system badly in need of them and memorable cultural narratives to a world hungry for beauty and spirituality. True Colors provides an immersive visual experience and an inspiring travelogue of personal stories and practical information from artists who are leaving their mark on the world.
"Blending passion for color with a visually rich writing style, Keith Recker magically brings to life the robust beauty of natural color and textures from around the world in his new book. . . . A must-read for anyone inspired by organic principle and the splendor of our natural world. . . . Highlighting nature's role as the true innovator, Keith gets us to think differently about our relationship with the planet, the importance of sustainable design, and our decisions as consumers." —Laurie Pressman, Vice President, Pantone Color Institute
"This book interweaves literature, philosophy, art and religion with the traditions, manufacture and enjoyment of color. The breadth and depth of the stories behind each color makes this a compelling resource to any student of color, craft, art, nature and history." —Katharine Kuharic, Professor of Art, Hamilton College, and Diebenkorn Fellow, San Francisco School of Art

Table of contents

• Cover 
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Acknowledgments
• Foreword
• Table of Contents
• Engaging with Color: An Introduction
• Chapter 1: A Point of Silence - Birgitta de Vos creates space for contemplation
• Chapter 2: Tradition and Progress - Boubacar Doumbia uses mud cloth to create employment for young people
• Chapter 3: A Piece of Sky - Heartwear is an alliance between Parisian designers and Yoruba indigo makers of Cotonou, Benin
• Chapter 4: Wandering Into the Blue - Han Shan rejected life in industrialized China to create blue the way his Miao foremothers taught him
• Chapter 5: Blue Revival - Guided by fair-minded principles, the revival of indigo production in Bangladesh counters bitter memories of repressive colonial-era practices
• Chapter 6: Indigo Genie - Indigo and porcelain explored by this mother-and-son team Deborah and Lucas Osburn
• Chapter 7: Layer Upon Layer - Artist Mary Hark dyes her handmade papers with African indigo
• Chapter 8: Nevertheless Woad Persisted - Dyer, weaver, and teacher Aviva Leigh works extensively with Europe’s earliest blue dye
• Chapter 9: The Last Purple - The ancient sea-snail purple of Mexico’s coastal Mixtec dyers and weavers is severely endangered. Tixinda holds the future.
• Chapter 10: Serious Symbols - Logwood resurfaces in the 21st century in the sustainability-conscious designs of Buro Belén
• Chapter 11: Authentic Voices - In keeping with Zapotec tradition, Juana Gutiérrez Contreras and Porfirio Gutiérrez employ ancient cochineal and other natural dyestuffs in their weaving
• Chapter 12: Bukhara Red - Master dyer, teacher, and weaver Fatillo Kendjaev works with millennia-old madder reds in modern times
• Chapter 13: Red Rises Again - The Institute of Khmer Traditional Textiles helps save the lac reds of Cambodian ikat in the post-Khmer Rouge era
• Chapter 14: In the Water - María Elena Pombo explores the pinks of avocado pit dyes, and the color variations created by water sources around the world
• Chapter 15: Stalking Wild Color - Mycologist turned natural dyer, Alissa Allen knows how to extract gorgeous (and responsible) color from fungi
• Chapter 16: Old Ways, New Techniques - Australian artist India Flint draws brilliant patterns with just eucalyptus leaves, and water, and a little science
• Chapter 17: In the Beginning - Like our most ancient ancestors, Heidi Gustafson is a connoisseur of earth pigments
• Chapter 18: Precontact Colors - Can the Ayoreo of Bolivia keep their ancient dyeing and weaving techniques alive? Cheque Oitedie is working for that to happen.
• Chapter 19: Earthy Rainbow - Navajo dyer and weaver Irene Clark harvests rich colors from gray lichens and other natural dye plants
• Chapter 20: Like a Prayer - Rupa Trivedi extracts vivid yellows from the marigold petals left as offerings at Mumbai’s renowned Siddhivinayak Temple
• Chapter 21: Golden Girls - Audrey Louise Reynolds challenges fashion orthodoxy with turmeric and other natural dyes
• Chapter 22: Precise Yellows - Dyer, weaver, and artist Catherine Ellis embraces exactitude with weld and other garden-grown natural dyestuffs
• Chapter 23: Invasive Color - The Avani organization turns an invasive weed called “forest killer” into beautiful, non-toxic yellow and green dyes, crayons, and watercolors
• Chapter 24: Fresh Greens - Nilda Callañaupa Alvarez and the Center for Traditional Textiles of Cusco extract rare natural greens from two local plants
• Chapter 25: Mineral Signatures - Atelier NL turns sand collected from beaches all over the world into place-specific greens
• Chapter 26: Back to the Garden - Sasha Duerr deepens her students’ attachment to the environment by using “natural color as a gateway drug”
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index
• Photography Credits