To Feed The Head, The Heart and The Hands - By Annie Hogg

During 2020 lockdown, Flora Arbuthnott of Plants & Colour gave a call out for a new Study Group series based around plants and colour, obviously enough! We began as we continue today, with each term or round running for a 6 month period and meeting once a month for a two hour Zoom call. Having signed up out of interest to connect with like-minded folks, I could not possibly have fore seen then just how important these monthly meet ups were to become to me.

Our group, known as the Morning Group, still holds some original members, along with many new members and those who return when life allows. We share our experiments and perhaps even more importantly our ethos. We are united by our common desire to experiment with colours and materials from natural sources, but also the desire to connect to our landscapes, and to be involved in generating alternatives in our own practices and in our greater communities.

We are a collection of international dyers, paper makers, curious chemists, community facilitators, hedge ink makers, growers, spinners, textile artists, photographers, indigo aficionados and experimenters to name only some.

We share our various material knowledge freely, not only about our own practices and findings, but also about our cultural settings, from historical and present perspectives. There are many rabbit holes to run down after each meeting, and I have a recommended reading list as long as my arm to be getting through!

The sense of true connection that this group has fostered is both a privilege and a life line to be a part of. I have brought many conundrums to the group. Anything from how to successfully dye nylon in a rust bath, to “would this be a good idea for a funding proposal”. We all do and, it has to be noted, with far more interesting questions than mine. Without fail, advice, experience and support is collectively offered.

There is a feeling I have been mulling around for a little while now and it is this. When our Study Group first began, it was during a time of renewed or relatively new interest in sustainable practices. It was part of a larger movement of interest which, in the back of my mind, I admit I thought with regret, was just a fad. But now I am delighted to say that my mind has changed to thinking that far from a momentary show of tokenism, natural based practices are in fact at the forefront of a new revolution in craft and art. And that instead of dwindling, we are enabling each other to push through limits of materials and mindsets. To paraphrase a telling comment by one of our group members - we are picking up where people left off when the advent of synthetic production interrupted the advancement of the natural materials.

It is exciting and vital to be connected to people who share in this ethos and who are both curious and active in seeking some of the answers. It feeds the mind, the heart and the hands.

I look forward, without fail to each monthly meeting. Revelling in seeing all the lovely faces pop up on the screen, and catching up with each other’s findings and news from the previous month. I always step away with excitement at the potentials which undoubtedly get raised, and consider myself very lucky to be included in this band of colour makers.

Written by Annie Hogg - https://www.anniehoggstudio.com/