Dear Creative Thinkers,

These last two weeks have been, shall we say... INTERESTING!

Things have been changing rapidly and we have had to change with them. I just opened a new studio, shut down a warehouse, and had to move back to home base all in one months time. Have no fear, we are still open and running semi-normal for now.

I, like everyone else am safe and sound working from my live/work studio space for the time being.

Here are a few company updates you need to know:

1. My new office will remain open but I WILL NOT be seeing any clients, customers, or co-workers until further notice.
2. Orders are still being filled personally by me (NO ONE ELSE) and all online stores will remain open for now.
3. Orders placed will be on a 24 hour delay for shipment as I follow all the CDC guidelines. All downloadable patterns and online content will remain the same and without interruption.
4. If you signed up for a workshop, conference, or in-person class with my participating partners, all of these events have been postponed until further notice. Online classes will remain uninterrupted for now.
5. Job postings will be announced in the beginning of April 2020.

In 2017, I began to grow increasingly unhappy with the direction of my company. My need to be known as the design company that "Does Good" almost destroyed me!

With an overwhelming workload from companies and non-profits that only supplied me with nothing but micro budgets I was feeling like I had truly lost my way. It was at that moment that I decided to leave the country in search of other sustainable design models I could learn from.

When I returned, I took apart the whole company (See my last post about Hong Kong). The restructure has been broken up into three separate parts:

YEAR 1- Evaluation and Liquidation

YEAR 2- Structure and Team Building

YEAR 3- Implementation

I am in year two of the restructure and one of my needs was to divide my company into two separate parts. My online stores and digital assets needed a new home and address, enter Bronx Kreate Hub.

After looking for a year for a new space I finally got a recommendation from the Bronx Council on the Arts and I am happy to announce that I have secured a lease for a space that fits my needs.

My studio is roughly 450 square feet (don't quote me on that) but it is sub-divided into six separate studio plots for artist. My personal space is just 48 square feet. Here is a little walk thru:

As I travel through my natural dye journey I get and read ALOT of suggestions on plant dyes. Yesterday I took another artist's advice and used Eucalyptus to dye handspun wool for the first time... Sad to say I'm simply not a fan.

Technique-

To start, I researched Eucalyptus before I used it. It's a relatively stable plant with a low toxic rate but it's still strong so I only used 2 oz of fresh leaves in my dye bath. Eucalyptus has natural tannins much like acorns so no mordants are necessary but I still used an alum mordant pot and a teaspoon of cream of tartar to mordant my wool. I filled the stainless steel pot almost halfway and placed my mordant wool in the steeping dye bath.

Pungent Smell-

At first, Eucalyptus smells wonderful... AT FIRST!
With just a little over a handful of leaves, it managed to overwhelm 1,000 sq feet of space. I felt yucky and dizzy and needed to open all the windows. Please also note that I am sensitive to strong lung affecting odors. It felt like I swallowed an entire bag of peppermints. Eucalyptus is relatively non-toxic once diluted with water unless you swallow a large quantity of the pure oils so I knew there would be no harm done but the odor is strong and like Yarrow, I would suggest dyeing with it outdoors using a solar dyeing method.

Color Results-


The dye results were completely underwhelming considering I almost choked from the smell. I got the results I wanted but I also added a few avocados pits to speed the process because I had to get rid of the dye bath. I just couldn't tolerate the smell anymore.

In closing, based on the fact that I could get this color variation WITHOUT the use of Eucalyptus I can't see myself using it again. I know I sound like another Eucalyptus internet hater but the end results didn't measure up to the pain of using the plant. For those of you who love it, that's great but I'm not into it and if you have small pets and children I would definitely stay clear of using an Eucalyptus dye bath indoors.