4. BioChromes¶
Research¶
Since I had worked hand by hand in other projects with different artisans I decided to ask one of them that works with wool and uses natural dye for it. I decided to ask Don José, artisan of Colón, a municipality of Querétaro. I contacted him before the course started to ask him if he could teach me how to dye textile and tell me about him and the lovely work he makes. before talking about him I would like to write a little bit of the history of this municipality.
Some history
The state of Queretaro is in central Mexico, has long been home of the Otomi people. The Otomi people inhabited this land, which was called Hospadá, meaning land of cultures. Some historical research from Colon and its surroundings: • Originally inhabited by the Otomí people, who called the region "Hospadá". In the 14th and 15th centuries, the nomadic Chichimecas displaced the Otomíes southward. • The Spanish arrived in 1531, allied with the Otomíes reconquered the territory, establishing a Fort. • In 1550 was founded the territory under the name San Francisco Tolimanejo because of the. Franciscan friars who served the community, which was populated by merchants, mule drivers, and artisans. • A separate mission, Santo Domingo de Soriano, was founded in 1687 just a kilometer away from Tolimanejo by Dominican friars.
Don José was born in Colón, he works in a wool workshop, where you can find all different color of wool and different handmade craft. He has been working in this for over 50 years, since he was 11 years old. It is an artisanal job that has been taught from generation to generation. He is the fourth generation and now his son is taking over. Tehy make everything by hand, he still uses the spinning wheel to card the tread, dye the thread before using it on the treadle loom. He loves to teach so he created a school for the teaching of treadle loom use and all the different thing you can achieve with it. They make handicrafts, clothes, carpets and more and they have a shop called "Telares Vega".
Gabriel Orozco He is a Mexican artist who works the boundaries of art with everyday realities and often balances complex geometry with organic materials and elements of chance. He is multifaceted artist and has made painting using tempera, ink, and gouache among others. I liked the way he plays with colors and the geometry.
I knew about the cochineal, but did not know the process by which they obtain the cochineal, so I investigate a bit and found this video.:
I also review some works, and I found Elena García who is a textile artist who specializes in natural dyeing using plant materials. Her work focuses on creating vibrant colors from local flora, promoting the use of indigenous plants and sustainability in textile practices.
Gabriel Orozco is a Mexican artist who works the boundaries of art with everyday realities and often balances complex geometry with organic materials and elements of chance. He is multifaceted artist and has made painting using tempera, ink, and gouache among others. I liked the way he plays with colors and the geometry.
with credits Marian Goodman Galery
Process¶
The week began with the lesson of color with the amazing Cecilia Raspanti. I was impressed with her knowledge and how she made it look so simply. Even though I am in fashion I have never dyed naturally so this is a completely new world for me. I kept this map mind so I could look at it time to time.
After the lesson and analysing all the documentation, I learned about
BIOCHROME FORM:
- Ink (dense, soluble liquid)
- Dye (soluble, liquid bath)
- Pigment (insoluble powder)
DYES They are colored substance that are chemically bonded to the substrate to which it is being applied.
You can dye: • Fibres • Blends • Yarn • Fabrics • Garments
I contacted Don Jose, just after the lesson, to confirm our meeting on Saturday morning, but sadly he told me that the government asked him to put a stand on a fair, so he could not spend the day with me. I went very early anyway before the fair and asked him to teach me the essential methods that he used specially using cochineal and pericon flower. He told me he didn’t have an exact proportion because he has been doing it for a long time and that he just now.
Their techniques to dye are:
1- They wash the tread with neutral soap.
2- They put the tread in a 10 lt barro pot with tequisquite, cream tartar, alum or salt as mordant ( 4 fool hand) and they boil it on the stove or a ref, for at least 2 hrs.
3- After it cools, they take it out and hang all the threads to dry overnight.
4- On the next day they prepare the natural dyes. They use cochineal, pericon flower, avocado bone, avocado peel, Jamaica, indigo, sunflower, between others.
5- He puts the natural dye to boil for around two hours
6- Still in the fire they put the wool in and stirred constantly for a long period of time, approximately 2 hrs.
7- To obtain different colors they use ferro liquid, made with vinegar and oxide, alum, sodium bicarbonate and clay, depending on the colors they wish to obtain. He could not tell me the amount, he said it was intuition and experience
8- They take the wool out; they let it dry and after they wash it with natural soap again and hang them for use.
I decided I wanted to make a color palette with Natural Dyes creating samples using two different types of cotton (don't have their names) 100%, linen 100% and merino wool. So, I started my journey only with all the tips and indications he gave me. My biggest problem was…he didn’t have the exact proportions. He said things like a hand full of salt, a pinch of alum, 20 minutes, 2 hrs. but it depends on the color you want to obtain he said. So I began.
I wanted to try to do things the way he does it and see what happens, even though I knew that Cecilia gave us some recipes. First, I made a list of all the materials, borough some tools from the chemistry lab at the University, some I bought and some I saved from leftovers.
Tools:¶
• Hob
• Pots with Lids
• Beakers and Container of Various Sizes
• Pippets
• Spoons, shovels
• Weighing Scales
• Thermometer
• Mortar
Ingredients:¶
• Natural dye stuff: cochineal, mesquite sheath, pericon flower, avocado pit
• Sodium carbonate
• Aluminium Potassium Sulphate
• Citric acid
• Water
• Rusty nails soaked in vinegar
• Salt
Materials:¶
• Plant Fibres: 100% Cotton Fabric, 100% linen.
• Animal Fibres: merino wool. (couldn’t get silk)
Preparing the textiles¶
1. I cut small square pieces of white cotton and linen and separated the wool because it was too much. All together weighed 300 gr.
2. Wash it with natural soap and cold water and rinsed it carefully, especially the wool.
3. Put them in a pot with 4 liters of water
4. 4 tablespoons of sodium bicarbonate (18 grs) and 2 teaspoons of alum approximately (4 grs)
5. Boil for about 1,5 hr, at 80° C.
I left them dry overnight.
Workflow and preparation for the Biochromes:¶
Pericon flower¶
The process involved: • Cut the dry flowers from the big branches. • Water used: 2 lts. • Boiling duration: 40 minutes • Simmering time: 1.5 hours • Filtration: The liquid was strained after simmering.
The color obtained a really condence dart yellow
Mezquite¶
The process involved: • Washing the Sheath to take all the dirt on them • Water used: 2 liters • Boiling duration: 50 minutes • Simmering time: 1.5 hours • Filtration: filter it with a coffee filter.
The color obtain was brownish but not dense.
Cochineal¶
The process involved: • 10 grs of cochineal • Mortar the cochineal until it became powder. • Water used: 2 lts. • Boiling duration: 40 minutes • Simmering time: 1.5 hours • Filtration: Filtration: filter it with a coffee filter.
The color obtained a really dark Burgundy
Avocado Pit¶
• One grated avocado pit (38 grs.)
• Water used: 1,5 liters
• Boiling duration: 40 minutes
• Simmering time: 1.5 hours
• Filtration: The liquid was strained after simmering and later it was filtered with a coffee filter.
The color obtain is a vibrant orange
Having made the biochromes I filter them and took the PH of each natural biochrome.
After I finishe dying all the textile I washed them and let them dry, then I made a table with the different components and proportions added to each biochrome,. Table of all the recipes of the bath dye with different solutions:
NOTE:¶
Because I tried to follow Don José’s tips for dying and because I was not going to make biochromes as much as he does, I tried to do it in a smaller proportion, but the results were not as expected. The amount of biochromes that I obtained was around 1 liter each, I wanted to make different approaches, so I divided them into smaller amounts generating a problem when heating and introducing the textiles because they consumed fast, having not enough time to boil. Also, I felt that the amount of mordant on the fiber was not enough. The colors when I took them outwere very intense and I was excited, but after I washed them the color vanished.
I obtained pastel colors.
INK¶
I try to do it with the same materials I used before for Biochromes.
Ingredients:
• Cochineal, pericon, mesquite and avocado pit: 25 gr
• Binder I know that we most use Gum Arabic mostly, but I could not find it so I try using: 1 honey spoon and 1/4 of cornstarch paste.
• Preservative (Essential Oil): 2 drops of tea tree oil.
• Salt: A pinch, to inhibit mold growth.
I was not sure whether it would work, but first I poured the honey and the cornstarch, the salt and the oil drop into the biochrome, then put it in a pan on the stove and heat it stirring all the time, until it turned thicker.
After I did that I tried it on a paper and the result was not that bad. Here is some writing with the ink and it looks nice, it is smooth and has a sparkle because of the honey.
I noticed a with the ink, that after a day or two it gets denser, and the brush does not glide as smoothly as before. Maybe with less cornstarch it will work better.