Growing Colour in The City

20 years ago, while gathering fallen pears behind the local hospital, a fellow urban forager said to me “ we’re all just out here trying to survive “ in response to dodging the wasps & security guards.

It was one of those fleeting moments, that stuck in my memory. The WE.

When I look at my yard, when I go foraging for dye plants or wild foods, I keep that in the back of my mind. “we’re all just out here trying to survive” For me, the WE is all beings.

The squirrels, the bees, the ants, the butterflies, birds, and us, the humans.

I keep the WE in mind when growing plants for natural dye & eco - print. Consciously choosing ones that also contribute to a healthy, food rich environment for the winged, crawling, flying critters who live along side me in this urban plot of land.

Food for them, dye for me. With out them, there is no us.

This art form is a textile offering to the land that sustains me, a remembering, of the people & plants that were here before me , Its a prayer, a love story, from the plants, A dance. How could I not consider the other beings, living along side us, just trying to survive?!..........

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