Olive grows or forages almost all her dyes because she loves controlled wildness. Natural dyes are incredibly fickle- even with years of practice and recipe testing the results vary wildly. Olive likes this challenge, as often a “mistake” will make for a more interesting final product. There is also the fact natural dyes are ephemeral and will fade over time, taking on the light and environment around them as nature intended. Olive first learned about natural dyes when she studied at Parsons School of Design. She tried indigo dyeing for the first time there and was floored with how the bold color seemed like it belonged in every environment, like how nothing in nature ever feels out of place.

Olive began exploring textiles in high school when she saw somebody online make a loom on the back of a hardcover book and decided to try it out herself. This led her to explore many avenues of textile art; first embroidery, then hand sewing, machine sewing, knitting and finally, natural dyes (not her final frontier though, she never stops learning!!)

Olive currently resides in an old farmhouse in southern Vermont with her boyfriend and dog. She looks forward to expanding her farm and art practice in the future. To keep up to date on her goings-on, follow her on Instagram.