La Grana Conchinilla: The Little Red Bug

In preparation for my dyeing workshop, I read Amy Butler Greenfield's A Perfect Red: Empire,Espionage and the Quest for the Color of Desire. This is the fascinating story of the significance of the color red and cochinilla's (cochineal) important place in the history of the New World.
I had known that there was a revival of the use of cochinilla in painting and printmaking as well as fiber dyeing in Oaxaca and was looking forward to working with it.

The Chavez family uses many natural resources for dyeing their wool. Along with cochinilla, they also use indigo, pomegranate,marigolds,certain nuts and certain types of moss.We were going to work with cochinilla as well as indigo for my workshop.
For the purpose of the workshop demonstration, the family set up a small "lab" of twin gas burners and pots.For production ,they use larger pots heated by firewood.The cochinilla is ground by hand using a type of mortar and pestle.Large production quantities are ground with coffee grinders.
In order for the dye to adhere to the wool fiber and be colorfast, the wool was first go through the mordant process.A carefully measured mixture of alum and cream of tartar is used.













As the wool was soaking in this mixture, three shades of red were being prepared: pure cochinilla, cochinilla + lime juice = orange , cochinilla + bicarbonate = purple.
Once I wrung out the wool, we added it to the three different dye pots.The wool can be remove when the water runs clear from the fiber- all color has been absorbed.The results, 45 minutes later, were three very different colors!
With experimentation, the Chavez family had documented more that 90 different shades of cochinilla reds!
Next we prepared to use the indigo dye, which is much more labor intensive than the cochinilla.We were using sodium hydroxide along with the indigo for an instantaneous dye paste to be added to the water..Janet said her parents prefer to ferment the indigo in a clay pot.This takes about two weeks and the indigo needs to be checked often and covered with a cloth with small holes for minimum air circulation.Too much or too little oxygen can effect the color adversely.
Our indigo preparation, in the glass pitcher, was an amazing iridescent yellow at the bottom and turned to a rich iridescent blue at the top.Janet added this mixture to the water,slowly,with a syringe to keep the oxygen from been introduced too rapidly. I was told to carefully add the wool and not to stir but gently submerge the fiber.When Janet removed the wool, it was green!As it hit the air,it slowly turned a lovely shade of blue.This dye bath can be used 30 times- depending on the color of the natural wool and length of time in the bath, you achieve varying shades.Cochinilla and indigo are mixed together to create shades of purple.We used three different skeins of wool and achieved three different shades of blue.
All materials, even though natural, are expensive and dyeing this way is labor intensive with much trial and error.
Synthetic dyes are cheaper but so are their results.
I spoke later with Eric and he told me that he is trying to create a certification program for those who use natural dyes.He wants to create a logo that then could be used by the certified natural dyers to label their work.
Although I had great fun "playing" with the dyes, I obtained a greater appreciation for the labor involved at a production level.So many variables!The time of year the cochinilla is harvested, the water temperature, the amount of lime juice, the oxygen interaction with the indigo- it is truly an art and science!