Natural Dye Retreat in Puglia: Ten Days of Plants, Color, and Community

Base colors dyed from bay, olive, rosemary, pomegranate, fig and loquat

I just spent ten glorious days in a renovated monastery in Puglia, and yes, it was as glorious as it sounds. The retreat was led by Cara Marie Piazza of Calyx Studio, based in Brooklyn. She brought her deep knowledge of natural dyeing to this region of southern Italy, in the heel of the boot, with the Adriatic on one side and the Ionian Sea on the other.

We dyed with plants native to the area: olive, bay, fig, rosemary and loquat leaves, as well as pomegranate rinds. Then we overdyed with madder and indigo and used soda ash and iron as modifiers to create a wonderfully varied palette of over 80 colors. Once all of our swatches were finished, we were free to work on our personal pieces, which was so much fun!

L - Full swatch library with base colors overdyed with indigo, madder, iron and soda ash.
R - overlooking the monastery courtyard from my room

Besides our intensive dye days, we went on special outings and day trips around the region: a masseria (a working farm), a syntropic orchard, and the towns of Grottaglie, Ostuni, and my favorite, Lecce. I came home with plenty of tips that will tweak my own dye practice, but the people were just as meaningful. The fellow creatives who gathered for this adventure were a joy. Not everyone had natural dye experience, but they all arrived with curiosity and generosity for the process and for each other.

My gratitude to Cara is immense for curating such a beautiful experience, one I’ll draw inspiration from for years to come.