What Daufuskie Blues is known for
Leanne Coulter and Rhonda Davis, who settled on Daufuskie Island in 2010 and 2011, began dyeing indigo together in 2013 from the island's historic Maryfield School. They use Japanese shibori resist techniques to hand-dye scarves and cloth and teach hands-on indigo workshops.
Leanne McJunkin Coulter and Rhonda Davis both ended up on Daufuskie Island — accessible only by boat — within a year of each other: Coulter moved from Cincinnati in 2010, Davis from outside Memphis in 2011. The two became friends on the island before turning that friendship into a shared craft practice.
In 2013 they learned to build and maintain their first indigo vat, beginning a dyeing partnership that, as they put it, has kept their hands "a constant shade of blue" ever since. Their work is explicitly framed as reviving a historic South Carolina Lowcountry indigo tradition rather than introducing a new one, done from a studio inside the island's historic Maryfield School.
Technically, their process follows shibori, the Japanese manual resist-dyeing method, applied to scarves, cloth and other natural-fiber textiles to produce one-of-a-kind patterns. The pair also run exclusive, hands-on workshops where visitors learn the history and techniques directly and dye their own scarf to take home.
Best for — Shibori-technique indigo dyeing and workshops on Daufuskie Island, since 2013
Daufuskie Island, South Carolina, USA
Where next
- Kakaw Designs — Guatemala
- ANEW — Antwerp
- Vessel Atelier — Mexico City
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