ABCs of a few songs and one incredible book.

"All too Well" by Taylor Swift listen here

"Colors don't come out of nothing. They always start somewhere...with something... with someone."

"Dyeing with lichens an dother natural materials is thrilling. But nobody wants our love of color to hurt the environment."

Egyptian blue, also known as calcium copper silicate, is a pigment that was used in ancient Egypt for thousands of years. It is considered to be the first synthetic pigment.

 

"Fifteen" by Taylor Swift came out in 2009 but! ... long story... she owns Taylor's Version 

listen here

Giradol, turnsole violet - green fruits of the dyer's croton plant - preseed to extract green liquid that tunrs purple in light.

Iwan Tirta - Indonesian batik... batik artist... fashion designer said "I didn't create batik, but I preserved and nurtured it like a caretaker"

Juana Gutiérrez Contreras - Oaxaca, Mexico family rug business using only natural materials

 
Karen Casselman, a "Colorful Character"

Lichen Dyes by Karen Diadick Casselman

Mom, Ken, Caroline, and Violet all enjoyed this book too!

"Never be so kind / You forget to be clever. Never be so clever / You forget to be kind" ~ Taylor Swift's "Marjorie" listen here

"Ocher is a yellow clay that contains bits of iron and sand..."

Primary colors are red, blue, and green if you are mixing light. Cyan, magenta, and yellow... if you're mixing Pigments.

Queen Victoria popularized the color mauve (pinkish-purple dye created from coal tar).

Reflecting on colors, Van Gogh sad, "How wonderful yellow is. It stand for the sun."

Saffron crocuses bloom purple. In the center of each flower three red stigmas grow, each as thin as a thread. Soaked in water, these wisps make a brilliant yellow dye that people use for both food and textiles."

Tetrachromats are people who have four kinds of cone receptors instead of three.

"UV lights and infrared luminescence photography help Vinzenz and Ulrike Brinkma find tiny fragments of color that remain on marble"

Vincent Van Gogh 

"What is purple in the earth, red in the market, and yellow on the table? is "S" above.

Xanthopsia: a medical condition that leads people to see everything in tones of yellow.

Yellows from plant sources: jackfruit, kihada, foxglove, weld, saffron, etc.

Zapotec traditions of gathing natural materials and making dyes themselves.