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Right Here Right Now: The Art Of Dyeing

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- A Maryland Institute College of Art graduate who grew up in east Baltimore has found a unique way to share what she's learned.

Linnea Poole works with fiber and dye to create beautiful pieces of art.

"The art of dyeing for me is a personal process," Poole said. "It's releasing stress, it's just kinda my personal art-making where I can just kinda be free."

And free is how she wants you to feel when you're practicing shibori, an ancient Japanse dyeing technique -- even if you have no idea what you're doing.

That's likely how people at the Keswick Multi-Care Center felt when Poole held a workshop there recently.

"They were a little nervous and (said) 'I don't think my work is going to look like yours.' I'm like 'There's no right or wrong way,'" Poole said.

Her show, "Emerald" is hanging in Keswick's gallery space right now, an example of just what can be done with fiber,

"I love to hang it on the wall, I love to wrap my head in it, wrap my hair, I love to wear it as a skirt, I love to dance in the street with it," she said.

Poole, who's also a dancer, recently invited other women to be inspired by her creations for her show "Black Women In Fiber."

"They're like, 'Okay, I want to wear it as a head wrap, I want to dance in it, I want to wear it as a top or a skirt,' and then I just photographed them," she said.

For novices, the 15-minute wait for the dye to set is real suspense because until you rinse and unravel, you have no idea what you have.

For more on her work, click here.

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