My Favorite Art Materials

Textiles, Threads and Fibers:

  • Vintage Indian kantha quilt remnants that I find so beautiful and fascinating. I get them from this Etsy shop.

  • Naturally dyed threads from Honey Folk Clothing which is owned by Heidi Iverson, who lives in a redwood forest in California. She hand dyes thread from what she forages, makes clothing and sells other materials for textile artists: www.honeyfolkclothing.com.

  • Organic naturally dyed linen yarn (more like thread) in gorgeous colors from www.Maiwa.com, a company based in Canada. I have used the madder root, mulberry, charcoal, indigo and the undyed white and love them all. I use the thinnest weight yarn in my fabric meditation books and other fiber pieces.

  • Tibetan yak down yarn from LoveFest Fibers in San Francisco, California. This gorgeous, incredibly soft fiber is gathered off of the ground by nomadic people who live on the Tibetan Plateau and then spun into yarn there. The yak naturally shed their fur and because it is gathered off of the ground, it is an incredibly kind, ethical fiber to use. It also provides valuable income to the nomadic people of Tibet.

  • Natural handspun nettle yarn from the Himalayas that has such an incredible texture. I use this for weaving and other fiber projects. I get it from Weaver House Co in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Needles:

  • Sashiko needles I get from this Etsy shop. They are very sharp and come in different lengths in the pack, which I like. I also have used tapestry needles and embroidery needles but find the sashiko needles work the best for getting through a variety of thicknesses of fabric. I also use tapestry and embroidery needles.

Papers: 

  • I get a lot of handmade papers from around the world from this Etsy shop based in the UK. I have gotten Tibetan loktah paper, Islamic hemp paper, Bhutanese black earth paper and hemp papers from here. 

  • Thin sheets of mulberry paper that I use to create Korean joomchi I get from this Etsy shop.

Inks and Paints:

  • Iron gall ink from Fox+Quills Etsy shop. I love this ink for asemic writing, mark making and painting on fabric.

  • Natural Earth Paint pigments are gorgeous. They are completely non-toxic, pure pigments without any additives or fillers like most paints have. They can be used to create your own acrylics, watercolors, gesso, tempura and more. They have kits on their website, recipes and lots of resources to explore. They make kid friendly face paints too.

Sketchbooks:

  • I love using the gorgeous journals that Kathmandu Valley Company makes as sketchbooks. They are handmade in Nepal are so lovely. I have used this one and this one for mixed media collage work but they would be lovely to draw in too or explore printmaking.

  • Ohuhu Mix Media Pad: I love this one for mixed media art journal work including collage, painting, writing and stamping. It’s a nice size, about 8x10 inches.

Pens:

  • I love drawing with the Faber Castell black pens in different tip sizes and Sakura Micron pens in all of the tip sizes. I only draw in black but they both come in many colors that you can experiment with and see what you like.

  • Heat erasable pen to use on fabric: Pilot Frixion Pen. You can draw on fabric, then stitch over your lines and if any show around your thread, you can apply a dry hot iron to it and the pen marks will disappear.