In the Atelier: Ann Johnston

Welcome back to our miniseries, where we watch expert dyers at work in their studios. We're visiting these artists via YouTube videos, as part of our quest to learn more about the art and science of dyeing.

This time we're visiting the studio and demonstration lab of Ann Johnston, a textile artist from Lake Oswego, Oregon in North America. She is also an author, lecturer, and teacher. Her works have been exhibited all over the world. She is a quilter and started dyeing her own fabric so she could create the look and colors she wanted, and not be held hostage by what fabric stores chose to carry. 

The original video "Color by Accident: Exploring Low-Water Immersion Dyeing" is no longer available for embedding, but you can see some of her work on her YouTube channel, Ann Johnston Textile Artist. As we've seen in past videos, we can learn a lot just by observing. [Updated July 3, 2023: embedded video removed.]


In the video Johnston demonstrates color mixing, fabric manipulation, and several shibori techniques. The colors are amazing and the patterns are endlessly inventive. She does not mention what kind of dyes she uses (whether synthetic or natural), or how she prepares her fabric to receive the dyes. Several items especially caught my interest and imagination – dyeing with less water, and her adventurous dyeing techniques that produce such amazing results.

Low Water Use

I loved her emphasis on low water use – she uses as little as three cups of liquid to dye one yard of fabric. I have found that dyeing takes a lot of water, especially for rinsing out the excess dye, so it is great to see her minimal approach. Here in the San Francisco Bay Area water usage is always on our minds, both for water conservation and cost. When processing fabric with natural ingredients like alum, gallnut, and plant dyes, you can reuse most of the water in the garden, but water consumption is still a concern.

Given that Johnston uses the fabric for textile art, she may not need to be as concerned with rinsing until the water runs clear, and whether laundering will transfer dye to other fabrics. Still, it is inspiring to think about experimenting with less water.

Inventive Dyeing Techniques

I also appreciated the creative ways she creates textures and patterns with folding and creasing and bunching fabric. She uses ordinary items such as net bags, chains, ropes, squirt bottles, jars, plastic beakers, drywall mud pans, and other assorted containers to achieve her dye patterns.

I'm looking forward to trying out some of these ideas and techniques when I reopen my dye studio in seasons to come. I hope you enjoyed this journey into Ann Johnston's atelier, as well as into the studios and workshops of Sachio Yoshioka of Kyoto, Japan, and Michel Garcia of Provence, France.