Plants, Dyes and Fibres
Hinter STILL garments stehe ich, Elke, als Färberin, Workshop-Leiterin + Dozentin, Gärtnerin und noch einiges mehr.
I love working with my hands, and collaborate with plants growing locally. My love for textiles made me enrol in fashion design at Berlin's art university Kunsthochschule Weißensee. That's were I first started very intuitively to explore dyeing textiles with plants, around 2010. A craft, science, art that combined my biggest interests. I just never stopped botanical dyeing!
Getting to know plants, and living with nature's seasons and cycles even in a city like Berlin are my main motivations. I mostly dye with plants that grow close to me – foraged from my surroundings, or cultivated in my alotment garden.
In my studio I dye fabrics, garments, fine yarns or chunky rug wool, for my own makes and for collaborations: I have worked with small labels, Tisca Rugs and the German Archaeological Institute (DAI).
In 2016 I started teaching plant dyeing in workshops for groups and one-on-one settings. I have offered various workshops, in my studio, for teachers, or for students of my alma mater Kunsthochschule Berlin-Weißensee and Akademie Mode & Design in Berlin. And in 2020 I started teaching online live classes, too.
I offer Workshops zum Färben – für Gruppen, Teams und Einzelpersonen, bei Greenpeace #makesmthng oder für Wissenschaft im Dialog und auch an der Kunsthochschule Berlin Weißensee und der Akademie Mode & Design AMD.
2020 habe ich noch eine Ausbildung zur Pflanzenpädagogin gemacht. Und seit 2021 biete ich auch Färberpflanzen-Spaziergänge an! Alle Termine bekommst du hier auf einen Blick.
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Schreib mir, wenn du einen maßgeschneiderten Workshop buchen möchtest. Oder möchtest du in kleiner Auflage mit Pflanzen färben lassen? Kleidung, Kordeln oder Strickgarn, ich freue mich über spannende Kooperationen!
Dyeing with plants requires a bit of patience and time – which can create a space for quiet and contemplation. I love to share this space in my workshops. Both online and in my studio, I want to allow for conversations around plants and craft and am very grateful for all the perspectives workshop participants have shared.
If you'd like to read more about my work and my background, find two articles at BTTR Stories .
Kooperationen und Kund*innen
