Indigofest retreat 2023

“My first trip to Jeju Island with my grandma and mom was full of excitement. That’s when I first saw for myself how the blue of the sky meet the blue of the sea” from “My Indigo World” by Rosa Chang

Over the last three years, Indigo Shade Map has been focused on serving as a platform to share and document indigo stories from people all over the world. I’ve decided to begin sharing more of my stories as I’ve been traveling a lot lately. You can continue to follow my and the Indigo Shade map journey through our blog or social media page.

Today, I’m so excited to share my beautiful experience and update everyone about the Indigofest retreat I attended a few weeks ago. I was invited to join the full four days of the Indigofest retreat on August 10-14th, 2023 at Sou'wester Historic Lodge & Vintage Travel Trailer Resort in Seaview, Washington.

I found myself seeing how the blue of the sky met the blue of the sea on my first trip to the beach in Seaview, Washington as I saw it in Jeju Island when I was young. Indigofest retreat is an annual event that was originally co-founded by two amazing artists, natural dyers, and educators, Britt Boles and Iris Sullivan, in 2019. It was my first time joining the Indigofest retreat and I served as one of the 6 blue crew members to assist participants and engage with them during the retreat. Gratefully, I was able to run two book reading sessions with my debut picture book My Indigo World on the last day of the retreat. I’m grateful for both Britt and Iris who offered the space for me to connect with the Sou’wester team while hosting a public book reading session. I’m sharing my personal “best moments” and selected visual memories during Indigofest to say farewell to summertime and celebrate the beginning of the fall.

I can’t stress enough how summer is such an important time to be engaged with natural indigo. Probably any indigo grower and dyer who sees this blog will anticipate it. This summer we harvested loads of indigo plants from our garden/farm and underwent the entire extraction process of the pigment. The humidity and hot sun accelerate the fermentation process, allowing us to earn the precious blue pigments from the fresh indigo leaves… Even the indigo vat making process and the fabric dyeing process, too!

Simply, it was a celebration of Indigo and Mother Nature. I was so struck by seeing Britt and Iris sharing many different ways of dyeing fabrics with natural indigo and each way created different shades of colors, not only blue but even pink and purple! Buckets of a variety of Japanese indigo plants (Polygonum tinctorium / Persaceria tinctoria), cultivated and harvested locally in the Oregon region, were provided during the fresh leaf dyeing session. Personally, I enjoyed joining the fresh leaf dyeing process so much because it reminded me of my ancestors back in my motherland, Korea, who have been practicing the summer event since ancient times.

The beautiful turquoise color of the soaked indigo water, full of indirubin, made so many different shades of blue, purple, and pink!

Building the local vat, an invention by Britt and Iris, was also such a special time.

A fermented indigo vat called “Local vat” created by Britt and Iris by using all locally sourced ingredients: Indigo pigments were extracted from locally grown polygonum tinctorum plants (Oregon), Salal berries (locally grown in the Pacific Northwest region) for the sugar source, and burnt oyster shells (locally sourced) for the alkaline solution!

Free studio times were provided along with Britt and Iris’s detail-oriented dye demonstrations so that participants were able to work on their own personal projects. Reduction vats such as iron vats and Indigold vats (pre-reduced indigo from Stony Creek Colors) were provided with loads of fabrics as well as a large pot of Cassava paste resist and a variety of pattern making tools such as wood blocks, threads, and clamps.

The summer breeze from the ocean in the Pacific Northwest not only cools down the weather but also lets me be peacefully embraced by Mother Nature. I had some unknown heavy feelings leaving behind the reminiscence of the glorious Indigofest retreat and the beautiful indigo blue shades.

During the retreat, I learned about Chinookan people. Britt sold handmade indigo postcards to fundraise in support of the Chinookan people, the original people in the area where the Indigofest is held (Oregon and Washington State). The indigenous people that inhabit the lower columbia river have the most intimate relationship with Mother Nature in the region. She taught us about the awareness of the Chinookan people not being recognized by the federal government after so many years. There are streets and places named after them and their language in the region. They heavily struggle to preserve their habitat, heritage, and culture. I would humbly say learning about the Chinook people was one of the most memorable moments from Indigofest even with so many eye-catching colors and nature…including the cute retro camping cars, wonderful heartwarming people, and the bonfire spent time altogether.

Image from “My Indigo World” by Rosa Chang

The darkest blue sky in the silent night created a peaceful time to listen to my inner self…including in which direction I'm heading toward with the Indigo Shade Map and what the indigo plants have taught me. “Indigo weaves together many lives and people in complex history to better connect one another and the beauty of slow process. Good things take time”.

I hope my first personal blog post with Indigo Shade map leads you to research about Chinookan people as well as the original people/tribes in the area where you reside.

You can find more information about the Chinook Indian Nation or contribute through their website, here. You can find the same link on Indigofest’s homepage as well.

Special thanks to Britt, Iris, and our Blue Crew (Sara, Marian, Wren, Betsy, and Jessica)!

Bye Summer, welcome Fall.

Rosa

Photos: All photos from Rosa (myself)'s iphone.

On the Map 2022, #7 Iris Sullivan from Dream Bird Studio in Astoria, Oregon

Happy April,

Our newest indigo story of April is from Iris Sullivan who is an Oregon-based textile artist and grower. I hope you enjoy the introduction part of her story as well as her indigo journey in the Pacific Northwest region.

My first meeting with natural indigo happened while attending the University of Oregon.

Because I had learned to weave as a child, I ended up with a work study job as a teaching

assistant in the weaving department, even though I was studying biology at the time. The magic of indigo transported me, and contributed to the choice to reorient my studies away from biology, towards fiber arts, finishing with a BFA focused on natural dyes.

Soon after graduation, my husband Joe and I relocated to Astoria, Oregon so that I could teach at Clatsop Community College. I taught weaving, dyeing, and book arts there for 8 years. We have two sons, now in college, whom we homeschooled.

In 2005 I traveled to Laos to visit indigo dyers and weavers, with my mentor Michelle

Wipplinger. This experience, being with the Laotian weavers and dyers, was incredibly

impactful. The genuine sharing and connection across barriers of language and culture that

happened gives me hope for the world to this day. As an artist my goal is to create installation spaces that help people connect more deeply to themselves, and to the natural world. I often include indigo in my work, as I believe natural indigo contributes to the mending of our hearts, and has the capacity to bring us together across our differences.

Starting to grow indigo was a watershed event. I met Persicaria tinctoria through Brittany Boles, when she gifted some plants to our mutual friend Kestrel Gates in 2017. Britt and I hit it off, and started our joint venture, Indigofest, in 2018 as a community gathering to celebrate and learn with this marvelous plant. (We are happy to be hosting the retreat again for 2022 after a 2 year pandemic hiatus.)

In addition to Indigofest I teach workshops on natural dye and indigo regionally, and

occasionally in other parts of country. There is so much mystery and beauty in the process of

working with indigo, that as a dyer, the vat, and the indigo plant itself, will continue to be my

teachers for the rest of my life.

1. Location & Environment

All photos were submitted by Iris Sullivan

Dream Bird Studio is tucked into a forest of Sitka spruce, western red cedar, red alder, and

maple trees on a north facing hillside overlooking the Columbia River estuary in Astoria,

Oregon. The USDA growing zone designation for the North Oregon Coast is 8B. This is a

temperate rainforest, receiving over 2 meters of rain each year. The historic temperature range

is cool and mild year round, 40-65 °F, (4-18 °C) with only occasional freezing temperatures, and rarely hot. The Coast Range mountains hug the Pacific Ocean, gathering moisture. Forests here have been extensively cut over the last 100 years. Intact old growth forests are now rare sacred places of wonder and deep beauty.

2. Indigo plants & practices

I first began growing Persicaria tinctoria indigo in 2017. That first year we tried fresh leaf dyeing, and fermented the leaves, going straight to a vat using fructose and lime. In 2018 I purchased seeds and planted indigo at our house, gave away some starts to neighbors, and began growing additional plants off site at a friend’s farm.

The growing site at our place is a deck on the south side of our woodland house. It receives about 5 hours of direct sun during summer months. There is enough room for about 100 plants in large pots. I have noticed a wide assortment of native pollinators hanging out with the indigo. A few of my kind neighbors also grow dye plants for me in their sunnier gardens. These plants grown close to home are what I tend use for fresh leaf processing, and sharing with classes.

Farmer John Huelman, a friend who grows three to four 50’ rows of Persicaria plants for me, lives in Knappa, Oregon, 12 miles further inland. His site receives full sun, and is about 10 ℉ warmer in the summer. The plants get somewhat larger on the farm, and also seem to have a

higher pigment yield, which I assume relates to his more optimal site. These plants get turned into pigment, using the water extraction method.

For pigment extraction the first few years I used multiple buckets, and garbage cans, and now use an 85 gallon stock tank. I have found that aerating in the stock tank with a good sized stick is a more pleasant experience for me than either the paint stirrer drill attachment, or the immersion blender I used prior.

I have dried some leaves each year, enjoying it as tea. Last year I dried 15 pounds (7 kg) of leaves, and participated in an online small scale sukumo making class, with Debra Ketchum Jircik. The class was guided by the book The Way of Indigo by her teacher, Takayuki Ishii. I am very much looking forward to making my first sukumo style vat later this spring with the results. Drying even at this scale is challenging due to the high humidity here on the coast.

I usually store pigment wet so that it is in a good state for creating vats, or printing with. I have been experimenting with both minimizing the lime I use for extraction, and washing the pigment with vinegar to remove lime in an attempt to increase the purity of the pigment. Some pigment is used for other art processes, including paints, inks, paste paper, and to color handmade soap.

Over the years I have used several types of vats. While our boys were little we even made a sig vat using their urine with indigo pigment from India. (Very smelly while in use, but now that my boys are grown, I treasure the things dyed in it.) My favorite vat for work in the studio is the fermentation vat, usually made with madder.

3. Culture & Story of the region

Dream Bird Studio is in Clatsop County, Oregon, in the Alderbrook neighborhood of Astoria, overlooking the Columbia River estuary. These are the traditional lands of the Clatsop and Chinook peoples. There is no known historic use of indigo in this region by original peoples.

My ancestry is mostly Irish, with a sprinkling of Scottish and French. I grew up in rural Michigan, and learned many farmwife skills from my relatives before setting out into the world.

I have been entranced with nature, color and string from a young age. One of my earliest memories is burying tiny bottles filled with colored water as gifts to the trees in our yard. An aunt began teaching me to weave at age seven, and the rhythm of the loom has been present throughout my life. The first experience with natural dyes came with my mother, who taught me to dye with black walnuts, which she used to dye the basketry materials she worked with.

While at university I studied weaving and dyeing under Barbara Setsu Pickett, who brought traditions from her Japanese heritage to our studies, and inspired a deep appreciation for Japanese textile to my practice as an artist.

I continue to seek knowledge about the dyeing practices of my own ancestors. This effort is somewhat hampered by a lack of documentation, as Irish dyeing traditions were very disrupted by colonialism. Woad, the indigo bearing plant of my lineage, is considered a noxious invasive plant in the state of Oregon, and illegal to grow. Growing Persicaria tinctoria, as a stand-in for woad, allows me to dye with home grown pigment. This process aligns both blue worlds for me - of my teacher’s ancestors, and my own. I like to imagine the ancestors smiling as they watch the hand work of artisans today.

More About this place:

The word Clatsop comes from the Chinook word, łät’cαp, meaning "place of dried salmon,” and was originally the name for a single village. The Clatsop and Chinook people, though currently denied federal recognition, continue to reside here, and to organize for recognition.

Early contact with European sailing ships in the late 1700’s brought disease ahead of western settlement, and caused enormous loss of life for the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest who had lived and worked here for many thousands of years.

The history of this place in the last 200 years has many dark stories. The expedition led by Lewis & Clark in 1805 was soon followed by more people eager to exploit the land. Astoria was established by 1811, making it the oldest western settlement west of the Rocky Mountains. The emphasis on resource extraction has often been twined with violence in the region.

Waves of white settlers came here to clear the ancient forests and fish for salmon in the Columbia River. There were also migrations of Chinese and Indian Sikh workers. Both of these groups faced significant hostility from white owners and workers of the canneries and mills. Conditions for all workers were generally dangerous, and there was frequent violence against any workers who tried to organize. Finnish Socialists in particular did have some success in forming worker owned cooperatives for both fisheries and lumber workers in order to improve conditions. (These early activists provided an inspiration for the 10 year grassroots effort which successfully prevented the building of a Liquified Natural Gas export facility at the mouth of the Columbia in the mid 2000’s. (https://www.columbiariverkeeper.org/news/2016/4/ victory-oregon-lng-withdraws)

In the early twentieth century there was widespread corruption, and a brief though notable KKK presence, which was focused against Catholics, the Finnish Socialists, and immigrants.

There were several massive fires in Astoria around that time, which in combination with over cutting forests and over fishing, largely ended the boom days. The resulting decades of economic depression for the area were only relieved in recent years. The population in 2022 is still roughly 2/3rds what it was prior to the 1922 fire, which burned the entire business district and many homes. The 1922 fire has been linked to activities of the KKK, and may have led to their fall from favor.

In the last 25 years Astoria has undergone significant changes, including gentrification and an influx of new residents. Its economic base has largely switched away from resource extraction, and towards a tourist economy.

Contact

Website(s):

Dream Bird Studio: https://www.dreambirdstudio.com

Indigofest: https://www.indigofest.org

On our Interactive online map: https://viewer.mapme.com/indigoshademap/location/8d4f5d17-0ea4-455a-b87f-aecf9296a490

On the Map 2022, #6 Pilar Alonso from La Tintorista in Barcelona, Spain

Happy Springtime! Last indigo journey of March is from Pilar Alonso, a founder of La Tintorista Studio in Barcelona, Spain. This episode provides both English and Spanish versions.

1. Location & Environment

All photos were submitted by Pilar Alonso

We grow indigo plants in Barcelona, Spain. We are located near Llobregat River, which provides us nice water and offers a peaceful setting, despite being so near to the city.

2. Indigo plants & practices

We have grown Persicaria Tinctoria for three years now. It has been our best year, and we hope to grow some more for next season. We dye garments for us and for others, including brands, both with fresh leaves and fermented indigo vats. We are becoming more professional this year regarding the indigo pigment extraction process.

3. Culture & Story of the region

We are Spanish-Catalan culture, and speak both languages. We had not previously had direct contact with indigo dyers until we started learning natural dye in 2017. We did not even think about growing indigo until 2018 when we stayed in the Tokushima area, attending a Buaisou team workshop. There, we saw those wonderful Persicaria Tinctoria fields and fell in love with all indigo processes. We are developing our own in Barcelona’s climate, which so far is going perfectly for us, and our experience and knowledge is improving every year.

Pilar Alonso is developing her own brand called "Ninenuts".

" Ninenuts is a brand whose materials are 100% natural.

The products are 100% Biodegradable.

From de land to the land.

Created with Spanish artisans and lots of love.

For our mammal tribes. "

Spanish version

"Cultivamos Persicaria Tinctoria desde 2019. Estamos ubicados en la província de Barcelona, cerca del río Llobregat, en los campos de cultivo cercanos a la ciudad.

El clima parece acompañarnos y cada año cultivamos y aprendemos un poco más. Nuestro proyecto es moderado pero constante.

Nos encanta trabajar las hojas frescas, y la extracción de pigmento, que seguimos investigando para conseguir un pigmento lo más puro posible.

Nuestro interés por el cultivo de índigo apareció tras la visita a Buaisou en 2018, Japón. En nuestra cultura española-catalana, no habíamos vivido nada similar ni relacionado con las plantas de índigo, y nos fascinó. Un año más tarde, decidimos empezar nuestra aventura de cultivo y hoy nos sentimos afortunados. "

Contact

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/latintorista/

On our Interactive online map: https://viewer.mapme.com/indigoshademap/location/d3ac4ffb-dc92-4835-812f-6ea149fea620