What Is This Place?
santa | mente is three things:
A resource library of artists, artisans and farmers working in fiber and textiles who you should know about and support.
A blog documenting the process of starting and keeping a dye garden, as well as forays into dying with other materials.
A store selling naturally dyed, handwoven and/or embroidered garments and textiles, coming soon!
Reviving a Culture of Interconnectivity and Reciprocity
‘Santamente’ is a Spanish word that means ‘to approach in a holy or sacred way’. If split into two words, it becomes ‘holy’ (santa) ‘mind’ (mente). This space is built out of love, respect and reverence for every person, animal, plant and clump of soil involved in the process of textile making. When we can lean into both our symbiotic role on this planet as animals and our interdependence with our community and each other, these textile processes and objects can be sacred, artful and anthropological. Humans have been making fabric for wear and use for thousands of years, and when properly cared for, fabric can tell a story for a long time.
santa | mente is founded in collaboration, reciprocity, sustainability, curiosity and patience. We are always learning and sharing. We are not interested in competing, exploiting resources or labor, or rushing delicate processes. We have a lot to gain, and nothing to lose, from raising each other up and taking care of each other and our planet.
This is a safe space: all humans, angels, and witches are welcome here!
We believe in the dignity and value of every living thing.
Telling Stories
Our first step is to build an online Community Gallery of farmers, artisans, artists and manufacturers we admire who are either involved in the process of textile making or work with textiles. The intention behind this gallery is to create a place for story-telling, connection and collaboration. We’ve reached out personally to all of these people and asked them to tell their stories in their own words, so that their profiles present them the way they’d like to be known.
Offering Treasures
We are currently working on a batch of garment designs to present to you. These items are made out of naturally hand-dyed recycled cotton, and will be limited edition or made to order. We’re really excited about them, they’re the result of much love, thought and learning. Most of the fabrics have been dyed with plants we’ve grown, using traditional sustainable dyeing techniques we’ve learned over the last year. Handwoven goods are also on the horizon - in the Fall of 2021 we collected a beautiful batch of local heritage wools, mostly from Virginia, that we can’t wait to dye and weave together for you! Stay tuned!
Growing & Dyeing
We are in our second year growing our very own dye garden in Ivy, Virginia! We’ve really loved this process so far. We’ve starting small and are tweaking our crops every year according to our needs. We use these flowers and leaves to dye textiles here (in addition to collecting and purchasing some other organic dyes that we can’t grow), and hope to dye some fiber and embroidery thread for purchase in the future, too! Come along for the ride and learn with us as we go!
Photo by Kristen Finn
Hi! I’m Brielle!
I created santa | mente as a space for celebrating the elements that go into sustainable, conscious and slow textiles, and to connect those who are interested to a textile’s story. I want to revive and foster a culture of respect, collaboration, love, and learning around the making of a garment, or item for your home. I’ve been longing to find a place where we treat living things, each other and creative processes as sacred and vital, and celebrate our beautiful imperfections - why not create that place here?
My first forays into working with fiber were in my artwork in 2013, using thread to create texture on canvas. My first fiber love was embroidery (we’re still close) but in 2016, I fell for a 10 harness Macomber loom. In learning the language of weaving fiber, I’ve discovered that I weave in other facets of my life, too. I love listening to and telling stories, bringing people together and sharing. The Community Gallery concept of santa | mente came from all of these loves. It is a place for stories that should be told, but that are not mine to tell. Hopefully connection, collaboration and maybe even friendship will come for some through this space.
I live and work in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Monacan land. I grew up, however, in Antigua, Guatemala on Mayan land. Much of my heart and some of my family remain there and I venture back as often as I can. Indigenous Mayan weaving, embroidery and beadwork are world renowned, and have become a source of great pride for Guatemala. These creative people and the beautiful, rich objects they made were around me my entire developing life and I am deeply inspired by them, and influenced by Guatemala’s colors and textures. It’s really important to me that santa | mente connect Latin America to North America, and I am looking at ways to collaborate with farmers, weavers and dyers in Guatemala and greater Central and South America in the future.
All photos on this website copyright Brielle DuFlon unless otherwise noted.
Thank you
I want to thank the amazing people who are already part of this project in such early stages: Amy Steers for offering me land use (and a hand) for the dye garden, Sarah Tremaine for suggesting books to use as guides in the dye garden process, Madeleine Rhondeau for helping me put together my logo, the inspiring people who have trusted me and shared their stories for the Community Gallery, the people who have suggested other amazing people I can feature, and of course my family, husband Colin, and friends, who have helped me edit this website and have patiently listened to me talk about this project incessantly.
I so appreciate you all.