The Pear Tree On Greenmount Ave — Part 1

Summer has begun to fade into early fall, and the pear tree behind my studio is once again full of fruit. When I first visited this house five and a half years ago, Mr. David, the former owner, told me about the pear tree in the backyard. I later moved in the house, and it became the first home I ever owned as well as my studio.

The tree had already been growing here for more than 30 years. I was told that it was an apple pear tree originally brought from California and planted here in Baltimore. When I moved into the house in December 2021, it was winter and the tree was completely bare. At the time, I didn't pay much attention to it. It was simply a large tree standing in the middle of my backyard.

Then spring arrived.

The bare branches filled with small white blossoms, almost like snow. By early summer, tiny green pears began appearing among the leaves. Since then, I have watched this cycle repeat itself every year. The tree flowers in spring, produces an abundance of fruit through the summer, and by late summer and early fall, the pears begin to ripen and fall. Birds and squirrels visit the tree constantly, enjoying the fruit along with me.

The pears are often called apple pears because of their round shape and crisp texture. They are incredibly juicy and remind me of Korean Singo pears. For years, I simply enjoyed watching the tree change with the seasons. I harvested some of the fruit for eating and left much of the rest for the animals. It never really occurred to me to bring the pears into my art or natural dye practice.

Until this summer.

One day after the rain, I noticed many small, unripe pears scattered across the ground. They had fallen too early to eat, but looking at all of them made me wonder if there might be another way to use them rather than letting them go to waste.

And then I had an idea:

What if I used these pears from my own backyard to make an indigo vat?

I knew the idea could work in theory, but I had never tried making an indigo vat with pears from my own tree.

That simple question became the beginning of a new seasonal experiment in my studio.

🍐 → 💙

To be continued — Part 2: From the Pear Tree to the Indigo Vat

Mindful Colors Membership

 

Exploring Korean Culture Through Color, Plants & Creative Practice

The Mindful Colors Membership is a monthly online community where I share my ongoing research, studio practice, and stories inspired by Korea's rich traditions of color, plants, craftsmanship, and seasonal living.

Natural dyeing is one way to understand Korean culture—but it is only the beginning. Through color, we'll explore history, ecology, traditional craftsmanship, medicinal plants, foodways, folklore, and everyday practices that have shaped Korean life for generations. Along the way, we'll also discover connections with neighboring traditions across East Asia, revealing both shared roots and unique cultural perspectives.

Whether you're an artist, educator, gardener, natural dye enthusiast, or simply curious about Korean culture, I invite you to join me on this journey.

 

Why I Created Mindful Colors

For nearly a decade, I have researched, collaborated with, and learned from artisans, farmers, conservators, historians, and communities who have generously shared their knowledge of natural color traditions. Along the way, I realized that natural dyeing is about much more than creating beautiful colors. It is a doorway into understanding culture, history, ecology, and the relationship between people and nature.

As a Korean-born artist living in the United States, I've felt a growing desire to reconnect with my own cultural heritage and share it in a meaningful and accessible way. Through Mindful Colors, I hope to carry these living traditions forward—not by simply preserving them, but by practicing, experimenting with, and reimagining them for today.

This membership is my invitation to learn alongside me as we explore Korean culture through color, one story at a time.

 

Membership Includes

🌿 Monthly studio letters with reflections from my research and creative practice (PDF-style online zine)

🍃 Seasonal stories about Korean plants, colors, traditions, and well-being

📚 Educational resources on Korean color traditions, natural dyeing, textiles, and cultural heritage

🧪 Studio experiments, historical recipes, and creative explorations

🎥 Behind-the-scenes access to works in progress, research, and studio life

💙 Member discounts on workshops and selected offerings

🌏 Content provided in both English and Korean

Stories We'll Explore Together

Each month we'll explore a different story inspired by Korean color traditions, seasonal plants, and creative practice.

August — Indigo (쪽)

Discover the history of Korea's beloved blue, learn about growing and harvesting indigo, explore an experimental indigo vat made with Korean rice wine, and uncover why indigo has long been treasured beyond textiles.

 

September — Safflower (홍화)

Journey into Korea's vibrant reds and pinks through natural dyeing, medicinal traditions, and the cultural symbolism of color.

 

October — Persimmon (감물)

Celebrate autumn through persimmon dyeing, sustainable textiles, and the wisdom of seasonal living.

Future stories may include:

Hanji • Bojagi • Five Cardinal Colors (오방색) • Korean pigments • Temple culture • Medicinal and dye plants • Folk traditions • Fermentation • Contemporary Korean artists and makers • Studio journals • Field research

 

Your Membership Makes This Work Possible

Mindful Colors is an independent project rooted in research, creativity, and a deep love for Korean cultural traditions.

Your membership helps support ongoing research, documentation, studio experiments, growing dye plants, and the creation of new educational resources. It also helps expand Indigo Shade Map, an evolving platform dedicated to sharing the history and living traditions of natural indigo around the world.

By joining this community, you're not only gaining access to exclusive content—you are helping carry Korean cultural traditions forward through education, artistic practice, and storytelling.

Membership: $12/month

Thank you for helping carry these living traditions forward—one story, one plant, and one color at a time.

Join Mindful Colors Membership

Call For Indigo & Madder Samples

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Edith Sandstöm (left) | Indigo samples submitted by Samorn Sanixay

Indigo Shade Map is excited to share an open call from Edith Sandström, who recently began a postdoctoral research project using stable isotope mass spectrometry to study the provenance of heritage dyes. Her work begins with indigo and madder, exploring how this method might reveal not only dye identification but also insights into provenance, trade relations, and cultural exchange.

To build this research, Edith is seeking geographically diverse, well-documented reference materials of indigo and madder. She invites the natural dye community to contribute small samples (~1 g) from any part of the process—plant material, extraction baths, or dyed objects.

Below is Edith’s full message with details on how you can contribute:

Full message from Edith Sandström:

Hello all,

My name is Edith Sandström and in May I began my postdoctoral research project

using stable isotope mass spectrometry to help determine provenance of heritage

objects, starting with indigo and madder (https://data.snf.ch/grants/grant/216127).

We want to explore if this technique let us go beyond dye identification and could

help our understanding of provenance, trade relations and cultural exchange. For

this, we need geographically diverse, well-documented indigo and madder reference

materials.

Therefore, I was wondering (and hoping!) that you in the dye community would be

willing to send around 1 g of any indigo and madder material you have/will collect

(any and all parts of the process, including plant material, extraction bath or dyed

objects) to help with the method development and building of the initial reference

map. It would be great if you could include the location of the garden, if fertilizers

have been used, the likely origin of the soil and potential fertilizers, as well as the

likely origin of any additives (e.g. lime) that have been added to the sample you

send.

I am more than happy to arrange an online meeting to explain my project further or

just explain more in an email to anyone interested. I will cover all shipping costs, and

I also have access to laboratory equipment, so I will be able to run some analyses in

return if wanted. Please contact me with any questions: edith.sandstroem@hefr.ch

Thank you to Rosa for letting me put out this open call and to all that is willing and

able to share their hard-earned material and knowledge. It is deeply appreciated!

All the best,

Edith