Flora Arbuthnott

Flora Arbuthnott is a printmaker, forager, and natural dyer inspired by wild plants and natural forms, birds, and creatures.

Natural Dyeing – Being in nature is an important part of my practice. I go out foraging regularly, observing, and learning about the wild plants that grow around us. I use many of these plants for natural dyeing. Gathering meadowsweet and buddleia flowers, oak galls, and dock roots, or growing more exotic dye plants in my garden such as madder, woad, and coreopsis.

Teaching – is a big part of my practice, I love bringing people together to be creative. Giving people the technical skills through which they can be creative. Showing people how to create their own designs and printing techniques they can do at home, enabling people to create fabrics they will use and cherish, enduring and being repaired over time.

Find out more about my Natural Dyeing Workshops here >>

Design & Printmaking – Drawing and printing stylised shapes. Through screen printing and lino printing on fabric, I use simple materials to create repeat pattern designs for interiors and soft furnishings. You can purchase my ‘Bird Hop’ design here.

Find out more about my Printmaking Workshops here >>

Wild Plants – To be wild is to know how to look after ourselves… There was a time when we all knew the plants that were growing around us intimately. There were no weeds, only medicines, foods, dye plants, and craft plants. We knew when to gather the lime flowers. We knew which tree would give us the best fire wood. Which spring greens would wake us up, and which ones would send us to sleep. We could read the landscape and find what we needed. I seek to find and share this plant based knowledge, so it can be common knowledge again.

Find out more about my Wild Plant Walks here >>

Blog post: How to create Japanese Indigo Dye techniques with Flora Arbuthnott

We spent a wonderful day with Flora at her Introduction to Dyeing with Organic Indigo and Japanese Shibori day workshop. Head over to our blog to read all about how we got on. We share lots of lovely images and ideas for you try at home. We also share the exact quantities needed to create your own indigo dye vat so you can start having some fun with indigo too!

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