The tryst with colors and paints occurs at a very young age when teeny-tiny hands make incongruous patterns that slowly graduate to lines, definite forms, and recognizable objects over time. For some, this exploration of the world of hues blossoms into a full-fledged artistic pursuit in adulthood. And for others, it gets pared down to a recreational activity taken up on weekends or a therapeutic indulgence once in a blue moon. Regardless of the category you fall into, there’s something in store for you in ColorAshram’s natural watercolors. Designed for paper and mixed media, these colors revisit age-old natural color-making from plants and minerals and reinvent them into formulations appropriate for contemporary artists and art lovers.

With the innovative bend of mind that ColorAshram possesses, the team set out to make indigo dyeing more readily accessible and effortlessly possible to new-age indigo lovers. The result - a quicker and more reliable indigo dyeing process in which the vat can be prepared as quickly as two hours. The secret? The powder is pre-fermented to cut down the preparation time.

Color exists abundantly around us in nature. And yet, not all that is colorful can make dyes. Some are stains, some are fugitive, and some are potent dyes, which, when prepared correctly, give birth to stunning shades on yarns, fabrics, and garments. This knowledge forms the basis of the workshops Creating Your Own Natural Dyes. The modules, curated to provide hands-on experience in traditional extraction and dyeing techniques, also equip you with the know-how of the pre and post-processing methods intrinsic to natural dyeing.

Think about cooking your favorite savory dish. You could either work your way from scratch, grinding raw spices and other ingredients. and yet, most of us find it more convenient and easy to use the latter to save time and achieve the same quality and taste every time we cook the dish. One-step dye powders work the same way. No grinding barks, roots, or leaves. No simmering for hours to extract dyes. No long hours spent mordanting. Only a pre-mixed quantity of mordants, dye extracts, and natural ingredients - developed through intensive research in nearly two decades of natural dyeing - that help achieve consistent shades every time you dye with the powders.

Fueled by sustainability needs, there is a re-emergence of natural dyes and an increased interest in learning about them. Not just among practitioners but also a larger audience that comprises young students, artists, designers, brands, hobbyists, craftspeople, and many more. Hence, the workshops on the Theory Of Natural Dyeing - a study of natural colors, their sources, and their making from materials found around us.

'Natural Dyeing Made Easy'

Working with natural colors opens up a world of learning - extracting hues from plants and minerals and applying them.

However, this journey requires patience, taking anywhere between a few hours to days or weeks to complete.

These challenges can now be overcome with ColorAshram’s innovative solution..

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The limitations in conventional natural dye processes led founders Namrata and Arun to establish TrueTone Ink, a natural dyeing facility and ColorAshram, a natural dyeing studio and learning center that offers standardized, scalable, and sustainable solutions.