Chatting with Nastasha Minyon Sale, from the Adorned
A few months ago we found ourselves on our way to Nastasha's workshop in the Overberg, vast yellow fields filled either side of the road with deep blue sky-colored mountains where they ended, the occasional pair of blue cranes, speeding bakkies, and a Spar stop for a snack.
Natasha's workspace is filled with swatches of colour made from plant dye experiments, learnings from the land and plants around, creativity inspired by nature. These colours, learnings, sketches, and paintings made way for her collection of homewares which we were there to film for the lovely Akojo, as well as interviewing Natasha about her work.
The Adorned started as a personal body of work exploring rituals around burial and how adornment was used as part of it. Natasha began by illustrating on skulls, and she still continues this ongoing series as a personal expression that is more fine art oriented.
Later, she organically expanded her work into a brand and started The Adorned Home, which has now become her primary focus. It was a way to offer all the mediums she works with to an audience on a more accessible, commercial platform.
Natasha started creating more than just fine art as a way to honour artisanal practices. She was introduced to natural dye at the beginning of 2020 and immediately fell in love with the process and the colours she could achieve, all the while being deeply in touch with nature and its gifts.
She immediately envisioned her homeware range and dove into testing and developing products. By the end of 2020, she had a full homeware range that was hand-dyed and hand block-printed by herself. She wanted it to be as handmade as possible and feels proud of how it has grown.
Synthetic dyes are incredibly harmful to our environment. Not only is a huge amount of water used in their process, but chemicals such as zinc, arsenic, and chromium bind the dyes to the fibres. All wastewater is usually run off into our waterways, harming wildlife and communities.
In regions like China, which are popular for fashion production, it is said you can tell the colour of the season by looking at the rivers, as much of the dye runs straight into the freshwater.
The process of extracting colour from plants is fascinating and completely sustainable. Natasha uses rainwater collected in large tanks on the land where her studio is located. She works in extremely small batches, so only a small amount of foliage is needed to create the dye.
She takes it a step further by using alien plant species cleared by local Alien Plant Clearing projects in the Overberg. By using these plants, which are destructive to native flora, she turns waste into vibrant dyes.
When she first started her natural dye journey, Natasha was surprised by how little information existed on the colours Southern Hemisphere plants can offer. She has recently begun holding workshops to inspire others to work with the plants around them.
Inspirations and Daily Life
Nastasha draws inspiration from many people around her, often swooning over artists on Instagram. One of her favourite South African artists is Willemien de Villiers, whose textile art has inspired her to delve deeper into her own textile-based work. She is currently preparing a body of work that will be exhibited early November.
Another major influence is her teacher, Ira Bekker, who introduced her to the magical process of natural dyeing and whose work continues to inspire her.
Despite her creative practice, Nastasha’s average day is filled with more administrative tasks than art. Running a business solo isn’t easy—she wears many hats and juggles commission work alongside her homeware projects. She is still learning where and how she can delegate to make her workload more manageable.
Advice for Creative Entrepreneurs & Connect with Nastasha
Nastasha’s advice to other creative business owners and entrepreneurs is to stay true to your vision and keep taking steps toward it, even when progress feels slow. She also encourages embracing pivots when needed—sometimes the natural unfolding of your journey brings opportunities that are easier and better for you.
If you would like to know more about Nastasha's work, you can find her on Instagram at www.instagram.com/the_ad_o_rned/ and her website at www.nastashaminyonsale.com.