Make the rainbow with mushrooms. In today’s episode we welcome Alissa Allen, the founder of Mycopigments — a platform dedicated to exploring and documenting regional mushroom and lichen dyes. Alissa is pioneering our understanding of fungal dyes and offers expertise on DIY natural mushrooms dyes including where to ethically find these mushrooms, test their dyeing potentials, mordanting, choosing the right fibers and much more! We also discuss what we know about the history of using mushroom dyes and their unexpected applications. This episode is full of surprising factoids and meaningful stories that any mushroom lover or natural dye enthusiast will value.
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Alissa Allen is the founder of Mycopigments. She grew up in the Pacific Northwest and has been exploring the world of fungi since she was a child. Alissa joined the ranks of amateur mycology in 1999 through the guidance of the Puget Sound Mycological Society. From there she became a mushroom identifier and was introduced to mushroom dyeing. She volunteered for five years studying fungal diversity and fruiting cycles at Shadow Lake Bog in Kent, WA and served as a field assistant for four years working on the production of Mushrooms of the Redwood Coast, a field guide.
She has been teaching about mushroom dyeing, identification, and ethical harvesting practices full time since 2012. She created and curates two vibrant discussion groups, Mushroom and Lichen Dyers United and the Mushroom Dyers Trading Post. These groups have grown into a vibrant community of over 10,000 members.
To learn more about Alissa’s work, visit mycopigments.com, and join Mushroom and Lichen Dyers United (on Facebook).
Ask Alissa to host a workshop: https://www.mycopigments.com/pages/workshop-types
Micropigments Website: https://www.mycopigments.com/
Mushroom and Lichen Dyers United: https://www.facebook.com/groups/mycopigments/
International Fungi & Fibre Symposium: https://www.mycopigments.com/pages/iffs
Instagram: @mycopigments
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