Trying to paint all of the plants and mushrooms in the world

One of my favorite ongoing projects is painting different dye plants for Botanical Colors, a natural dye studio in Seattle. I paint a small series of plants at a time for them to print on postcards that are then included with online purchases.

Each painting background is a color that can be achieved when using the plant as a dye. The backs of the postcards all have a short recipe and note about the plant and plenty of room for writing other notes as needed. I love working on this project because it includes so many things I enjoy - painting plants, natural dye, botanical fun facts, all kinds of goodness!

Just when I thought I couldn’t like this project more, the most recent series took it to another level. Because I didn’t get to paint dye plants, I got to paint dye MUSHROOMS.

My next goal is to actually try dyeing with the dye mushrooms because I’ve never done that, but I’m so enamored with the colors that they produce.

I love working on these pieces so much and I can’t wait for the next set!