Wool Art And Dorothee's Hands

I wish I could tell you that these lovely hued skeins of handspun were mine. That I spun and dyed them myself. But that would be a falsehood. No these skeins of handspun were dyed using natural plant matter like Indigo, Coreopsis, and Cochineal from the Sheperdess of the flock, Spinner and Weaver, Dorothee Kim.

I was so blessed to attend a small gathering of folks who came to hear Dorothee speak about her art. She lives in my neck of the woods and I am truly inspired by her work and I enjoyed her soft spoken native Swiss as she shared her history as a textile artist. Her vest in this photo is just a small sampling of her natural hand dyed pieces.

Dorothee employs various methods and styles of weaving she has learned over the years.

She also produces hand loomed objects like this wall hanging using only the natural colors found in her flock.

The beautiful and natural hands of Spinner and Weaver Dorothee Kim.

After a little web searching I found Ecologicalartist's Weblog and learned that many of the plants we have growing in our woods are great natural dye sources, like the peeling bark of the Madrone, and Oak Galls. I have some nice white wool rovings and lately have been spending some time spinning on the wheel the head hillbilly gifted me. I spin and as I listen to the gentle whir of the wheel and as I watch my hands I think of Dorothee's, and dream.