Cheryl Desjardin

Influenced by the colors and materials found in nature, Cheryl Desjardin is an artist and designer dedicated to creating one-of-a-kind, eco-conscious pieces with minimal environmental impact. A lifelong fascination with natural color began in childhood, when she would extract pigments from plants and berries to make her own paints — a creative instinct that grew out of a deep love for nature, even while growing up in the city of Boston.

Today, she works exclusively with natural materials — plants, flowers, leaves, bark, nuts, and even food waste such as onion skins and avocado — many of which she grows, respectfully forages, or sources from eco-conscious suppliers. Using traditional techniques that date back hundreds or even thousands of years, including shibori, natural dyeing, botanical imprinting, hand stamping, drawing, and painting, she transforms natural fibers such as cotton, silk, and linen into vibrant, textural works.

From these hand-dyed fabrics, she creates Japanese-inspired Komebukuro bags, cross-body bags, wristlets, wallets, vessels, wearable accessories, and upcycled clothing — each piece hand-dyed, hand-sewn, and made with care for both craft and environment.

She learned to sew from her mother and her public school home economics teacher, both of whom instilled in her a love of making by hand. A classically trained graphic designer with a career spanning three decades, she later studied surface design on fabric at the Penland School of Craft in North Carolina and the Massachusetts College of Art and Design, where she discovered her passion for textiles.

Drawn to the organic, meditative, and expressive qualities of botanical dyeing — a contrast to the precision and deadlines of her design career — her work explores the boundaries between art, craft, and design. She aims to challenge the undervaluing of textile craft, celebrating it as a meaningful and expressive art form.