blue-gold

Blue Gold

By: Claudy: 20-10-2022

Claudy Jongstra and Odin farm De Beersche Hoeve are bringing the natural dye plant woad back to the field, in art and in fashion. The plant that grew on our fields during the time of the Dutch masters is the raw material for the vibrant deep blue color that made painters such as Vermeer and Van Gogh famous.

Last summer, for the first time in a hundred years, Studio Claudy Jongstra, together with this biodynamic farm, started growing woad on a larger scale. With scientists, artists and the farmers of De Beersche Hoeve, she reconstructed the old traditional method of extracting this 'blue gold' from woad leaves and harvested and processed the plants. Studio Claudy Jongstra uses the dye in her artworks and installations. The beautiful video 'Blue Gold' by filmmaker Marit Geluk shows the process.