It all starts in the dirt.
For a thousand years, all textiles were dyed and decorated using plants, pigments, or insect dyes. My work celebrates this tradition while pushing the color palette to connect to the places where the color is sourced.
This is an ongoing research project that will document the dye plants I use and the many places that I grow and/or harvest them.
Full spectrum of natural dyes 6/2025
Warm Colors
Cool Colors
Marigold dyes grown in Hawaii Kai
Marigold dye
Cosmos grown in Pittsburgh, PA; Logwood= unknown
Cochineal raised in Mexico
Dahlia grown in Western PA; others grown in unknown places
Red hibiscus grown in my garden in Honolulu
Safflower grown in my Honolulu garden, Indigo from India, Henna = unknown
All of these dyes were grown on Oahu, mainly in Honolulu area
Madder= unknown
7.5 foot Hopi Sunflower- grey; grown in Pittsburgh, PA
Cosmos- deep yellows; Pittsburgh, PA
Red Hibiscus- pink, grey, blue, green ; Honolulu
Hibiscus: Yellows and greens; S. Beretania Street, Honolulu, HI
Yellow Hibiscus- yellows, greens; my Honolulu garden
Safflower- yellows and pinks; my Honolulu garden
Aloe- creamy taupe; from a friend's garden on the Leeward side of Oahu
Cochineal- pinks and purples; raised in Mexico
Pohinahina leaves- yellows; S. Beretania Street, Honolulu, HI
