Ruby Murphy 💗

Oak gall and iron: natural dye meets breakdown for some Brechtian costumes in second year of University. ✨🪵🎭🪡

I forage oak galls each autumn with my dad - the ones local to me are mainly knopper galls, I think they look a bit like popcorn! 🍿

On their own, they produce shades of brown, but transform into different shades of grey with the addition of iron. In fact, this reaction between oak tannin and iron has been used since the Roman ages to create black ink. 🪶📜

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