Marni Martin shapes her art around the beautiful colours and landscapes of Muskoka, so it was only natural that she extend that influence to use the landscape itself to create the dyes for her work.
Martin, who was born and raised in Huntsville, intended to study painting when her passion for art took her to study at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design but she was encouraged by a professor to visit the textile studios. That was when she discovered her love for fibre.
She returned to Huntsville after graduating and for more than 20 years has used ancient weaving techniques to create tapestries, woven panels, scarves and wraps.
“In the pieces I create, I use natural fibres like silk, cotton, rayon or linen. I hand dye the yarns in a dye studio that is off my main studio. I love the variety of textures and colours that I’m able to achieve in my work that makes it distinct,” says Martin. “The dyeing process is central to the large woven panels that are commissioned to hang in homes and offices. The gentle blending of colour allows me to create pieces that work beautifully in the large open spaces that are often present in contemporary home design.”
There are few tapestry weaving artists that interpret the landscape using a variety of hand-dyed yarns the way Martin does, and she says she has yet to come across anyone doing the same as her.
And just this summer, Martin began using a unique new technique to dye her yarn.
“I wanted to use a gentle, passive approach to the dyeing and I came across solar dyeing on the internet,” says Martin. “The process is straightforward: I collect the flowers or berries growing near our home and I put them in large mason jars with water and alum. Alum is the mordant I’ve chosen to bind the colour to the fibres. The jars are then set out in the sun to heat the water, releasing the colours into the water and the colour is then absorbed into the fibres. I’ve been experimenting with silk, wool and a piece of cotton fabric. The results have been amazing and unpredictable.”
Martin will be displaying her solar dyeing technique as part of “Repository of Memory”, a solo exhibit at the Chapel Gallery in Bracebridge, August 31 through September 21, 2019.
“One of the ideas I’m exploring in the exhibit is how the area in which we live has a lasting impact on us,” says Martin. “I wanted to use a visual representation to explore this idea and as I dye yarn in the studio on a regular basis, it occurred to me that I could use the actual plants that are growing on the land where we live to dye fibres creating a visual memory on the yarn… like fibres of our being changing with experience.”
Marni Martin is intrigued by the solar dyeing process and what it might yield. On the left is silk, cotton and wool in a dye bath of milkweed, and on the right are the same fibres with entire heads of black-eyed Susans (supplied photo)
The results of one of Marni Martin’s solar dyeing experiments on a swatch of cotton fabric, silk (finer yarn), wool (thicker yarn), and at bottom left also a cotton/rayon yarn. The plant fibres are (clockwise from upper left) lilac, pink peony, purple clover, purple vetch and lupin. (supplied photo)
You can find Martin’s work at her studio gallery at 725 North Mary Lake Road by chance or appointment, or at
the Artists of the Limberlost Studio Tour from August 18-19 and the Muskoka Autumn Studio Tour (MAST) on September 22-23 and 29-30.
“(These tours) are an important part of the cultural fabric of our community and we welcome visitors from all over the world,” said Martin. “(MAST) is Canada’s original studio tour. One of the things that makes this tour unique is that the artists are demonstrating in their studios so that guests can see how works are created.”
Marni Martin’s loom (supplied photo)
Marni Martin’s tapestry “Waves of Superior” (supplied photo)
Martin also documents many of the pieces she has created on her Instagram feed @marnimartinfibrestudio
To contact Marni Martin, call 705-788-3263 or email [email protected].
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Wow! I have never gone to any of the local studio tours but Martin’s astounding work makes me want to go and see it.
Beautiful possibilities for fantastic creations.