Tag: Dyeing

After brief guild announcements, we’ll have a talk by Alissa Allen with an introduction to the colors and process of using wild, foraged fungi for dyes.

Mycopigments: Exploring the colorful world of mushroom and lichen dyes with Alissa Allen
Certain wild mushrooms and lichens contain a full spectrum of permanent, lightfast dyes.  Learn about getting started with foraging, the safety and ethics of harvesting fungal dyes, documenting your finds for identification, and testing them for dye potential. These topics will be interspersed with the brilliant colors found in nature and the final colors from the dye pot.  This talk is for observers, dabblers and experienced dyers alike.

All are welcome!  Register for a Zoom link here:
us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUpdOmhpj0oG91kl-o952y-iau48HJcENyu

About Alissa:
Alissa Allen founded Mycopigments in 2012, as a program to bring mycology to fiber artists and fiber artists to mycology. Since its inception, she has led hundreds of students, in three countries and twenty-five states, through the steps of exploring their regional mushroom and lichen dye palette.

As the daughter of a wild food enthusiast/polypore painter, Alissa was introduced to mushroom hunting as a child. In 1998 she discovered that there were hundreds of other enthusiasts in the Seattle area and joined the Puget Sound Mycological Society. She has been a student and teacher of mycology ever since. For the first five years of PSMS, she served as a core volunteer, researching the presence and life cycles of bog loving fungi at Shadow Lake Bog. The study resulted in two journal publications. From 2012-2015 she worked as a mycological field assistant, travelling through nearly all 50 states, scouting specific mushrooms for data collection, research and ultimately field guides. During this time, she explored and tested fungi from all over North America for dyes and paints. She also found rare fungi and ultimately was honored to have a mushroom named after her (Pouzarella alissae).

In 2015, Alissa created the Mushroom and Lichen Dyers United discussion group and the Mushroom Dyers Trading Post to mentor, connect, and facilitate discussion between her students. These Facebook groups, along with her prolific workshop offerings have brought together a vibrant community of over 11,000 members. Though her focus is centered on teaching people about their regional mushroom and lichen dye palettes, her overall mission is to inspire people to engage more deeply with nature. It is her hope that with engagement, commitment to care for our planet will grow exponentially.

Visit the Mycopigments website at:  www.mycopigments.com/