At The Rust Belt Market: So Many Colors

The  offers a unique experience for patrons as well as vendors. The new art market is host to more than 60 artists every weekend. Each week, Patch will feature one artist and get a closer view what the heck they do.

Ferndale Patch: Who are you and what do you do?

Glenda Hopp: I'm Glenda Hopp, from Detroit, and I hand dye knit fabric. I use cotton interlock, cotton/lycra, modal/lycra and a bamboo/cotton blend which is especially nice for the infinity scarves I sell at the Rust Belt.

Ferndale Patch: How did you get your start?

Hopp: For about nine years my son, Chris, and I made hypertufa garden art. We traveled all over Michigan and the east coast vending at garden shows. I loved the travel and the versatility of hypertufa but about two years ago the work became too strenuous for me. I had always loved the texture and color of sewing fabric and realized no one was hand dyeing knit fabrics. Inspired by the beautiful quilt fabrics that were being hand dyed, I decided to try and fell in love with it.

Ferndale Patch: What inspires you?

Hopp: I'm most inspired by the endless color combinations I can get by mixing dyes and changing up the dyeing method. I use Procion MX type dyes and mix most of my own colors, then use a process called low water immersion. This allows the dye to disperse unevenly across the fabric resulting in shading and mottling of the color. The goal is not to get solid color across the fabric but to let the shades and colors ebb and flow.

Ferndale Patch: What is it about the Rust Belt that attracted you to it?

Hopp: When it first opened it sounded like the perfect place to introduce a new product line and find out what customers liked. Once there, I really enjoyed the atmosphere and the creativity of the vendors. I've gotten so many great ideas from talking with them.

Now that I'm a permanent vendor, I'm also involved in special events like the benefit we did for Handbags of Hope in December. We have several special events planned for January as well. This weekend we're having Nia, Zumba, Chicago Style Steppin' and Salsa demonstrations for folks who'd like to learn more about fitness and dance. Next weekend, some of our artists will be demonstrating their techniques during our Makers Weekend. Then on January 21st and 22nd, we're hosting a benefit for the Animal Welfare Society of Southeastern Michigan.

Ferndale Patch: Tell us one thing about your work that would surprise us.

Hopp: I still don't really understand the color wheel as well as I'd like. I started out just mixing colors almost at random but as I learn more about color theory I'm getting more interesting results.

You can find Glenda Hopp sharing a booth with her son, with his hypertufa, every weekend at Rust Belt Market.

In addition to her scarves, Hopp has started creating clothing from her hand dyed fabrics. Yoga wear will soon be available from So Many Colors. You can also find So Many Colors online at www.somanycolors.etsy.com orwww.somanycolors.net.