Hidden in Plain Sight: Natural Color Dreamscapes

The idea of colors hidden in plain sight has been floating in my head for the past year. This concept is inspired by my walks through Lisbon's streets, admiring the flora and uncovering the natural colors stored beneath the surface.

It evolved into an exploration of how natural inks would react to modifiers on watercolour paper. As surreal shapes and textures emerged from chemical reactions between natural pigment and mordant, the fascination grew. This meditative and intuitive exercise visually demonstrates the range of color which exists in our gardens, roadsides, and forests.

This series of natural color watercolours explores the tones given from my dye garden, using marigold and scabiosa dyes. What better place to start mapping the locally available plant colors than my dye garden?

By mixing the marigold and scabiosa dyes with various color modifiers like baking soda, vinegar, aluminum, iron, and copper I am able to display the hidden colors of my garden in dream-like textures and landscapes - a dreamscape.

The purpose of this series is to highlight the incredible spectrum of colors that surround us, but aren't obviously visible. Pigments hiding behind green leaves, flower petals sensitive to pH, and the magic which happens when they all combine on paper.

I look forward to mapping more of my surrounding plant colors that hide behind the leaves and bark.