We had the good fortune of connecting with Anna Botanica and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Anna, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I had started experimenting and making things for fun. One year, I gave my friends and family naturally dyed scarves for Christmas. Everyone was so excited and said they would buy things like this, so I started making more and selling them.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
It has definitely not been easy to build a life as an artist. Being an artist is more than just being a business, because you have to hone your craft first and develop your own skills and then products or classes or sellable things come later on. As an artist, you are selling more than your work. You are selling yourself and your vision and your story. It is not a straightforward business plan. Sometimes the ideas that are flowing through you are not the most profitable or marketable. It is constant learning, development, testing your methods and yourself. I keep a dye garden to harvest flowers and plants from. Being an artist is kind of like tending my garden. You learn some things, test out the methods, fail, succeed, try again. There are cycles of growth and cycles of death. There are times when the garden becomes untidy or when the growth is explosive. And same in my work. Sometimes I have endless ideas and time and sometimes it is balance to just keep living and surviving.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
The best part about LA is the sunshine and art and inspiration! If you want to soak up the art and meet artists, I recommend Junior High in Glendale. They have amazing events, amazing community, and I make a new friend every time I go. If you want to soak up the sun and the beaches it’s hard to beat Malibu and maybe even a stop at the Getty Villa and lobster rolls at Broad Street Oyster Co. If you want to go dancing, go to a Pangea party or any other underground show. There are endless things to do and supply of inspiration. I have found most of the things I enjoy doing through Instagram.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I learned natural dyes through reading books and taking classes with others. I took some classes with Liz Spencer, the Dogwood Dyer, and she later asked me to be her teaching assistant for future workshops. She taught me so much and continues to do so. She is one of my many natural dye mentors. My friend, Chelsie, of Rosebud Art, puts together artist markets in LA and I am so grateful for the community she has welcomed me into and the money she has made me! I would be no where without my friends and family who I am constantly bouncing ideas off of. And my followers who have supported and encouraged me from the beginning. It takes a village!

Website: dyedofnaturalcauses.com

Instagram: dyedofnaturalcauses

Image Credits
1st photo – Nicholas Blum

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