stephany latham

So I thought I would mention that I’m in the works of publishing a dye book dedicated to the field of art therapy.  I am currently in the final stages of the editing process and I thought it would be fun to start sharing some of my images.  All of my dye plants were collected and catalogued from different neighborhoods around Chicago.  I am calling my book the Urban Prairie Dye Project. 

Sempervivum tectorum Always living..

I purchased a succulent yesterday at the Detroit farmer’s market.  I’m so excited to raise one of my own.  To my surprise this plant is also a dye plant when it produces flowers.  They also store water in their leaves, hence their name Sempervivum (always living).  This act of strength is what allows them to live in difficult places such as sunny rocks, alpine belts, and mountainous cliff sides.  I love this plant and the adoptive botanical name it was given.  I appreciate the metaphor behind it because it reminds me to embrace that about life; always living.…

Side note:

This photo is part of the Patternbase web blog.  They are holding an amazing “kickstarter” campaign to release their new book of patterns.  These patterns were submitted by artists all over the world.  Please check them out by clicking on this image.  Patternbase has an extremely phenomenal web presence, idealistic for many textile lovers. 

For my own work check me out here.

(Source: cpen10, via patternbase)

Wild Indigo exists naturally in the city of Chicago! In fact, I found this plant in the Loop.

Of all the places this plant could be….. how fascinating.

(Source: asuncame)

Woven Indigo Trees, 2012.  The warp is traditionally dyed in Indigo using a technique called “Ikat.”  The weft is consisted of fiber that is 30+ years old.  This fiber consisting of wool, hemp, linen, and cotton has been in my family for years, all woven into this piece.

Artist: Stephany Latham

(Source: asuncame)

 “Metaphor is a particular form of patterning.  When we perceive metaphorically, we note a likeness, a similarity in form or organization, a kind of symmetry between patterns… metaphor is the root of relatedness, the linking of things, events, and constellations of experience.  When our senses are well tuned to affinities, metaphoric ways of seeing become deepened into ways of knowing.  Metaphor is a way of being informed by the Other, recognizing and acknowledging the likeness with language.  We say, “a bed of moss,” a “stream of consciousness,” and a “flood of insight.”  We say, “My mind meanders like a river,” or “My heart pulses like a tide.”  We say that the sparkle in her eye is like light on water, and her voice is liquid.  Metaphor is a very short story that stitches the world together, weaving similarities with recognition and language.  Metaphor is the very ground of kinship.  Metaphoric perception requires us to learn a language, the language of nature, of all the relations, of relatedness.  It is a language cast in images”  (Sewall, 1999, p. 144-145). 

Pink Lichen, 2012

(Source: stephanylatham.com)