Eileen Hallman

Eileen Hallman has been spinning, weaving, and dyeing cotton with natural dyes since the early 1980's. She uses her handspun as weft in her weaving and either dyes the fiber before spinning, the yarn before weaving, or the fabric after weaving. She also dyes and marbles silk.

Several years ago she embarked on a collaborative research project with Guild member Pam Granger Gale to learn how to recreate the natural colors used in marbling before the use of synthetics. Together they have made marbling paints from foraged clay, campfire charcoal, natural dye lakes, and purchased natural pigments such as indigo. As a natural dyer, Eileen also developed a technique to marble tannins prior to dyeing cotton. Eileen grows dye plants and uses these as well as foraged and purchased natural dyestuffs in her dye work, then marbles the dyed pieces. She grows Japanese indigo and has developed techniques for dyeing blue, yellow, green, pink, lavender, and purple from the fresh leaves of the indigo plant. Indirubin, the source of pinks to purples, is anti-leukemic and is being researched for use against other cancers. It is very rare as a dyestuff, and is available seasonally to those who grow it.

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