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The Blues
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Accessories, Art Supplies and Home Decoration
made with natural woad.
For information or purchase of Woad products please
contact us.
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History of the Woad
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In the Southwest of France, Woad, a small green plant, grown without
pesticides has for centuries been known for the remarkable blue colour
that is hidden in its leaves. Called "Blue Gold" because of the prosperity
the region enjoyed from the sale of it. Read on and you will discover
some of the long and fascinating history about this special blue.
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Mostly the Kings Dyers used the extracted dye for the French royalty, but
artists prized the foam at the top of a vat of woad in the Renaissance period.
Pastel (the French word for woad) became the name of the chalks that these
artists created to draw with.
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The process of extracting the colour from the plant was quite laborious
taking almost a year from harvest to finished product. In the 19th
century Napoleon Bonaparte was insistent on his chemists speeding up the
process so his armys uniforms could be dyed in with this blue, shortening
the extraction time to 6 days. As travel became more available so did the
tropical indigo blue pigments that were easier to produce and then with the
introduction of chemical dyes, the use of woad disappeared.
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Today in a tiny town near Toulouse you can find a special couple that have
dedicated their work to restarting the production of woad in the area.
Upon discovery of a 14th century tannery with blue shutters, Denise and
Henri fell in love with the colours of woad and have created a company
that produces woad and hand dyes luxurious accessories, for you and your
home. There is also a line of specialty paints for wood, metal and walls
that protects, is a natural insect repellent and will never fade. The
artist products, including an all-natural set of pastels are also very
exciting.
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Ellėnoire is proud to carry this extraordinary line of products from
France, please write for more information, and watch for a selection to
be available for sale on this site in the near future.
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