What art medium(s) do you specialize in?

Natural colors and dyes, like developing the color. I like the surprise. You never know what color is going to come from a fruit or a vegetable. And layering the colors and making patterns with them.

What is your favorite plant to dye with?

I love indigo because of the many different shades of blue that you can get—the really deep blues and the really light blues. And it also changes when it hits the oxygen. It’s green in the dye bath and then it turns blue, and it’s like magic. And I love working with textiles and indigo.

How does nature inspire your work?

I love looking at the shapes in nature—the leaves, the layers when you’re looking through branches and undergrowth, the different patterns that are made. You can focus on detail or bring it out to a broader composition, and that feeds back into my work.

What do you hope students in the School Overnight Program take away from their experience with art, and with you?

I really hope that they realize there’s so much more to plants and vegetables than just eating. You can make art with them, and they could go into their kitchen and pick up a beet or a carrot and paint with it. Not to be afraid of making art with anything. And maybe an interest in and joy about experimentation.

Were there any takeaways from your two weeks here? Like any cute kid stories?

Just lots of surprise about the process. As soon as they walk in, the smiles and the excitement, especially after the demonstration, they’re really eager to run back in and get started. And just the big conversations about, “Oh, if you put this color, mix it with this, you get that,” and sort of sharing ideas about colors.