About Me
I live in Vancouver, British Columbia. My paintings, textile work and drawings are inspired by my garden. I am fascinated by watching the changing of the light during the course of each day and the way my garden evolves and changes throughout each season of the year.
Textiles
My wearable art, handmade one of a kind pieces, are created using 100% natural fabrics~ Silk, Merino Wool, Linen, Cotton. The natural dyes I use are a sustainable way of creating colours on cloth. Indigo, Madder, Logwood, Weld, Lac, Persimmon, Cochineal, Myrobalan.
Watching colours change and emerge from a dye bath is a magical experience. To create the patterns on my scarves I use various Shibori resist techniques that I learned while studying in Japan. I love the surprise and wonder each time I unfold a piece of Shibori, whether it has been folded, stitched or clamped.
My travels in Japan and India awakened my love of traditional craftsmanship. Slow fashion~ using natural fabrics and dyes~ has a minimal impact on our environment. We are becoming more and more aware of the damage to our planet of mass production and chemical dyes.
My background in the Visual Arts as a painter leads me to approach each of my scarves as I would an abstract painting.
You can purchase my scarves ~ wool, silk, linen and cotton~ dyed with natural dyes on Etsy.
My scarves are also for sale at: Circle Craft, 1666 Johnston Street, Granville Island, Vancouver More of my work can be seen at www.marydowne.com
Hydrangeas
Tulips
