about erin rachel
My mission on this planet is to create and live in wholeness and beauty, with music, soul, creativity, passion, and joy, rooted in inspiration, rooted in the land on which I live, and rooted in the traditional ways of my ancestors. It is my hope that this mission shines through my handwoven fiber creations.
I was raised with an intense focus on what I put in and on my body. My parents have long been on a conscious search for health, continually educating themselves and their children about the most nourishing foods and herbal medicines. It has long been their mission to spread the message of good health; I carry on this healing practice with honor and gratitude. I am also grateful for my parents making it possible for me to attend Earlham College, where skilled weaver and teacher Nancy Taylor taught me to weave. GRATITUDE!
I grow food and herbs, including dye plants, in my garden, as well as collecting them from nature. I have learned, and continue to learn, about the plants of my home, the woods and fields of Indiana, and the way of herbs and the healing power growing all around in nature. Many of the plants used as dyes in my clothing are age-old medicines, with healing properties that work on a subtle level when worn against the skin and when seen by the eyes. With natural dyes, the colors themselves are healing. Author Kay Cordell Whitaker writes in The Reluctant Shaman, "There is something remarkable about color. It has a nature all its own and radiates outward. Each color feels different and seems to collect in different places within ones body and the environment." A great many plants yield colors in the dyepot and these colors carry the same healing vibration - on a more subtle or different level - as they do when prepared and ingested as medicines. Indigo, walnuts, parts of the pokeberry plant, comfrey, calendula, and goldenrod are examples of dyeplants with long-known healing properties. These colors are truly the healing colors of nature.
I choose to work with natural fibers with the same intentions. I choose organic cotton, as cotton is one of the most herbicide-drenched crops. I choose also to support small sustainable farmers in the wool market, as well as raising my own. It is my goal to make my own nettle fibers this fall. Silk, hemp, wool, organic cotton, alpaca...natural fibers carry a living, vital energy of their own, a life, a spirit. I am inspired by this connection to the plant and animal world.
And in all of this there is also the connection to peoples throughout all of existence, the red thread that connects us all. I carry on the work of the ancestors, continuing the weaving of the web, manipulating the interwoven threads of connection. Textiles have always been at the forefront of our existence. I take great pleasure in creating beautiful adornment for myself and others; I find an added vitality in making pieces that are intended to be enlivened by people wearing them. I am honored to be part of the rich tradition of creating beautiful, functional pieces of clothing from gifts of the earth.
This work brings me great pleasure. This work keeps me connected to the earth, our home, the source of limitless vitality, inspiration, and grounding. This work requires standing in the sun, walking on the earth, being connected with all life, creating with intention, seeing the beauty all around, healing and being healed in the act of spirited living.
I was raised with an intense focus on what I put in and on my body. My parents have long been on a conscious search for health, continually educating themselves and their children about the most nourishing foods and herbal medicines. It has long been their mission to spread the message of good health; I carry on this healing practice with honor and gratitude. I am also grateful for my parents making it possible for me to attend Earlham College, where skilled weaver and teacher Nancy Taylor taught me to weave. GRATITUDE!
I grow food and herbs, including dye plants, in my garden, as well as collecting them from nature. I have learned, and continue to learn, about the plants of my home, the woods and fields of Indiana, and the way of herbs and the healing power growing all around in nature. Many of the plants used as dyes in my clothing are age-old medicines, with healing properties that work on a subtle level when worn against the skin and when seen by the eyes. With natural dyes, the colors themselves are healing. Author Kay Cordell Whitaker writes in The Reluctant Shaman, "There is something remarkable about color. It has a nature all its own and radiates outward. Each color feels different and seems to collect in different places within ones body and the environment." A great many plants yield colors in the dyepot and these colors carry the same healing vibration - on a more subtle or different level - as they do when prepared and ingested as medicines. Indigo, walnuts, parts of the pokeberry plant, comfrey, calendula, and goldenrod are examples of dyeplants with long-known healing properties. These colors are truly the healing colors of nature.
I choose to work with natural fibers with the same intentions. I choose organic cotton, as cotton is one of the most herbicide-drenched crops. I choose also to support small sustainable farmers in the wool market, as well as raising my own. It is my goal to make my own nettle fibers this fall. Silk, hemp, wool, organic cotton, alpaca...natural fibers carry a living, vital energy of their own, a life, a spirit. I am inspired by this connection to the plant and animal world.
And in all of this there is also the connection to peoples throughout all of existence, the red thread that connects us all. I carry on the work of the ancestors, continuing the weaving of the web, manipulating the interwoven threads of connection. Textiles have always been at the forefront of our existence. I take great pleasure in creating beautiful adornment for myself and others; I find an added vitality in making pieces that are intended to be enlivened by people wearing them. I am honored to be part of the rich tradition of creating beautiful, functional pieces of clothing from gifts of the earth.
This work brings me great pleasure. This work keeps me connected to the earth, our home, the source of limitless vitality, inspiration, and grounding. This work requires standing in the sun, walking on the earth, being connected with all life, creating with intention, seeing the beauty all around, healing and being healed in the act of spirited living.
My handwoven organic cotton indigo dip-dyed dress is an example of a loom-shaped garment. It is made of two rectangles sewn together, one with the neck opening woven out on the loom. No cutting! I am also wearing a handwoven organic cotton and hemp headwrap dyed with onion skins and a naturally dyed handknit tussah silk lace shawl.
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Barry is wearing another example of a loom-shaped garment. This poncho has a square-shaped neck opening also woven out on the loom. I picked up stitches all the way around the opening and knit the lovely cochineal dyed hood. It overlaps in front under the chin for a snug fit.
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