Received an update from Barbara this week on her progress with Around the World in Colour:
"I haven't yet run across any specific recommendations for producing dye green on paper. So, I've been experimenting with all of the combinations suggested in the literature for cloth dyeing, as there is no one magic natural green. None of the combinations worked. Either the overbath stripped the first colour, leaving a non-descript shade, or the second colour sat on the first in a kind of mottled attempt at green. The eureka moment came after a chance visit to a Chinatown apothecary shop, looking for another elusive dye: gromwell. The apothecary asked what I wanted it for, as she measured out two 'doses.' When I said it was for dyeing, she began pulling jars off the shelves. She gave me gardenia, which I had read about, and Rubia cordifolia (a form of madder that I hadn't yet tried), and a couple of others.
"I'm not ready to divulge the name of the dye that worked so well to make green. That will have to wait for the book."
Kool stuff to look forward to when the book is published next year.
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