About
Tall Cactus Studio is me, Lucy Huckery. I live in the Sonoran Desert in Arizona. I got my studio name from the 3 tall Saguaro cacti in my front yard. Here is a photo of me and my dog Ella out hiking at one of my most favorite hiking trails. I am a textile artist using plants and leaves I find in the desert or on my travels to create one of kind fabric creations.
Below you'll find my areas of interest - Eco Printing, Felting and Nuno Felting
Eco Printing
Botanical eco printing causes leaves to make marks on fabric; the heating process releases the natural dye from the leaf. Firstly, leaves are arranged on the fabric, then the bundle is rolled and tied tightly before being boiled or steamed. African sumac leaves were used in the creation of the above print.
Felting
Felting uses sheep wool primarily (it’s more readily available and cheaper than alpaca or other). Adding soap, water and agitation to the wool results in a tightly woven fabric that can be flat or sculptural. Here is a photo of a purse I felted and then eco printed with eucalyptus leaves.
Nuno Felting
I”m still learning a lot about this but basically nuno felting is combining a piece of fabric like cotton, linen or silk with a small amount of sheep wool resulting in a beautiful new fiber creation. In the above photo I used a very sheer blue polka dotted cotton scarf and combined it with black roving to result in a new warm fabric.