Contact Printing at the Duke

On Thursday we held the first of third of our workshops at the Duke of Cambridge in Islington, the UK’s oldest organic pub (bookable through their website). Sponsored by the Florence Trust and Churchgate Artists Studios CIC, the workshop places included a wonderful set lunch as part of the £20 ticket price. This week Ross delivered an introduction to Contact…

Indigo at the Duke of Cambridge

On Thursday we held the first of four workshops at the Duke of Cambridge in Islington, the UK’s oldest organic pub (bookable through their website). Sponsored by the Florence Trust and Churchgate Artists Studios CIC, the workshop places included a wonderful set lunch as part of the £20 ticket price and was thought a great…

Natural Dyeing Course with Jenny Dean

Applications are now open for the 2022 Natural Dyeing Course at Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft, with renowned expert Jenny Dean, supported by our very own Ross Belton. This is the fourth time this incredibly popular course has run, and this year it will consist of 6 ‘in person’ Sundays at the Museum and…

Natural Dyeing at the Florence Trust – Discover the Beauty of Nature’s Palette

This summer, we are running a series of outdoor workshops at the Florence Trust starting on the 13th of July. On Tuesdays we have ‘Nature’s Palette‘, a 4 week comprehensive natural dyeing course and on Wednesdays we have our regular ‘Dyeing to Stitch‘ days with dyeing in the morning and stitching in the afternoon headed…

Opening Bank Holiday Weekend

We were really lucky this weekend with the weather. It was due to rain everyday but thankfully apart from a brief shower on Sunday, we managed to escape the downpours. They finally arrived on Monday around 5, an hour after we closed the gate! It was lovely to see people back in the garden, with…

Summer Events Calendar – The Nomadic Dye Garden and Nave Gallery.

As we continue through the summer, our events and courses continue in the Nomadic Dye Garden. Our August Natural Dyeing Summer School has sold out and we continue to teach in the garden on Thursdays. Other than that, things are quieter in the build up to our Open September, more information to follow. This page…

Spring has Sprung

With the weather improving (24° this afternoon!) and our obligations to the Contemporary Textile Fair complete, it’s full steam ahead at the Nomadic Dye Garden. With the COVID restrictions being relaxed, the garden will be opening May Day Bank Holiday weekend. We have such a great opportunity this year as the garden has been expanded…

Groundbreaking (Florals for Spring)

Much like the daffodils, we are finally emerging from hibernation and planning our spring and summer. As you can see, things have developed at the Nomadic Dye Garden over the winter months and we have been able to build on all the things we put in place last year. With the success of our Open…

Final Week Part 2 – The Weekend

By Saturday our luck had really changed re the weather, though 4 weeks of wonderful warm sunshine in September was an amazing run. Rainy sleety awfulness had set in and the idea of creating solar jars in a blizzard somehow didn’t seem promising. A rolling fire later and we were ready for visitors! Once again…

Final Week Part 1 – Equinox Harvest

Well we did it… Our ‘Open September’ has come to an end, and what a grand success. Coming out of lockdown and with a very limited growing season, we managed with a lot of kindness and help to open ‘BALCONYLIFE A Collection and Nomadic Dye Garden’ to the public. With the final week approaching, unsurprisingly we had…

Fourth Week – Experimental Brushes and an Indigo Taster

Week 4 of our ‘Open September’, and the garden is thriving – the madder is loving its new more spacious container and the weld finally looks like its alive and willing to take part in this project! The woad is doing well in the troughs and fortunately whatever was picnicking on it has moved on….

Balcony Life – A Nomadic Dye Garden

This summer we have been creating and installing a nomadic natural dye garden in St Saviours grounds. These photos document the creation of the garden, from the initial clearing and building of a wheelchair friendly walkway and socially distanced treestump seating (built by the wonderful Steve Allbutt) to where we are at the moment. The…