Slow-crafted by hand, in harmony with nature.
Hello & Welcome
I’m Maria, a natural dye artist based in Henley-on-Thames.
I work with colour from plants to create artworks that invite a deeper connection with the organic world.
Using leaves, flowers, bark, and roots, I create pieces which capture the forms and hidden colours of plants. I experiment with foraged and traditional dye plants, reflecting seasonal rhythms, allowing colours to emerge and interact.
I am constantly seeking new ways to explore the power and potential of plant colour.
I create one-of-a-kind artworks using colour derived exclusively from plants.
Leaves release pigments onto silk, capturing their colour and patterns.
Artworks created from plant colour. Nature revealed with intricate detail.
A celebration of heritage dye plants, exploring the rich history and story behind each colour.
Small pieces of natural colour, to accessorise your life with living plant colour.
Why Grow Colour?
a legacy of colour
Until the late nineteenth century, all pigments, for housepaint to artworks and textile dyes, were sourced from nature, using plants and minerals drawn directly from the earth.
..and now
Today almost all applied colour is synthetic, manufactured from petrochemical derivatives. When synthetic pigments became widely available, the knowledge and craft of plant-based colour was largely lost.
crafting colour
Learning to craft colour from plants allows us to slow down, connect with the long, rich history of making and using natural dyes, and to explore a creative process rooted in place, seasonality, and shaped by nature.
living plant colour
I grow traditional dye plants in my allotment garden and forage widely for local colour. The forms and hidden colours of these plants shape my work, each one revealing its own story, character, and voice in colour.
