Foraging

Our environment impacts us in ways that are both obvious and more subtle. Sounds, smells, social issues, busy schedules that demand constant movement are the colors being poured into the pallets that end up painting the landscape of our inner emotional state. The noise and bustle of our city can feel like an unavoidable onslaught that we just need to adapt to. But even here, the dandelions push up and watch us getting in and out of our cars. The violets patiently hold space for sore hearts in our little patches of grass. Daylilies and chicory grow tall and proud in ditches lining the highways, waving joyfully as we rush to our next appointment. 

Whenever I return to northern Appalachia, the dial on noises I hadn’t even realized were aggravating my senses gets turned all the way down. I notice how the dirt smells and how butterflies seem to start holding their meetings when the sun is a third of the way up in the sky. My soul gets recharged and I come home filled with gratitude for how, no matter how dissociated I become from it, the land is faithfully holding remedies that start to heal the minute I remember to turn back to them.  

With this collection, I want to celebrate that very medicine that the earth unassumingly provides us. Growing up making sassafras sun tea and collecting berries for pancakes made that morning is an experience I wish everyone could experience. Unfortunately, I am unable to take y'all back in time to have my grandfather's freshly caught grilled fish, egg, and roasted chicory breakfast at the cabin. So hopefully bringing attention to the wonders packed inside the subtle beauties that have been here since long before we were will help us all to take that moment to smile back at those little puffballs. The colors of this collection are a reminder of the earth’s magic, and I hope they feel as rich and lively to work with and wear as my homeland does to me.