I’m Charlie Ryrie, and I make textiles coloured and printed with plants. Since rural childhood I have always felt a strong affinity with the land, and every piece I create comes out of that relationship. Leaves, bark, flowers, and roots are my working palette.

Plants have shaped my life for as long as I can remember. I began my career researching and writing about their cultural histories, their uses, and the ways they shape human experience. Later, I moved into growing flowers and experimenting with natural dyes, spending nearly two decades learning directly from the plants themselves.

A turning point came during travels exploring textile traditions in India, and the opportunity to work with a master weaver, dyer, and printer in West Bengal. That experience opened a door to botanical printing, and the realisation that plants could be collaborators as well as inspiration.

Today, nature is at the heart of everything I do. Each textile emerges from a unique interaction between the dye plants and the chemical properties of the leaves used in printing. No two pieces are ever the same as colours and patterns shift with the seasons, with the time and place of gathering, and with the character of each plant. I treasure that unpredictability and the way that nature will always have the last word. It also encourages a constant drive to further experimentation.

Many of my dyes and all of my printing material come from my own garden and nearby woodlands, some from further afield. I also create bespoke pieces using plants collected from clients’ own gardens or landscapes. It’s a privilege to make textiles that carry a deep sense of place and memory — work that is entirely personal, rooted in nature, and truly one of a kind.

I am a member of the Gloucestershire Guild (of Craftsmen).