Our Story

Two people, a shared love of nature, and a fascination with the colours it holds.

AppleOak FibreWorks is a natural dye studio & Supply, dye plant garden and educational business based in County Clare, in the west of Ireland.

Founded by Jennifer and Tristan Lienhard, AppleOak brings together two closely connected worlds: natural dyeing and organic horticulture.

Between us, we have spent decades working with textiles, plants, colour and the land. What began with a passion for creating beautiful natural colours has grown into a much wider exploration of how those colours are grown, extracted, used and shared.

Today, our work centres on natural dyes, dye plant cultivation, pigment extraction, research and education, alongside a carefully selected range of natural textile materials.

Two Backgrounds, One Shared Vision

Jennifer — Natural Dyer & Educator

Jennifer has worked professionally with natural dyes for over twenty years, from small-scale artisan production to large-scale contract dyeing.

Her experience encompasses natural indigo fermentation vats, mordanting, textile dyeing, colour development and the practical challenges of making natural colour work reliably on a professional scale.

Today, her work increasingly focuses on research, education and developing more sustainable approaches to dyeing.

Through the Natural Dyers & Growers Academy, she shares her knowledge with an international community of dyers, growers and textile professionals, including through the One-Year Professional Natural Dyeing Course.

Tristan — Organic Gardener & Seed Saver

Tristan brings more than twenty years of horticultural experience to AppleOak, with a background in organic and biodynamic gardening, landscape design and professional seed saving.

He previously worked as Head Gardener at the Irish Seed Savers Association.

His work at AppleOak focuses on growing dye plants, seed production, cultivation trials, harvesting and pigment extraction.

Together, we explore the complete journey of natural colour, from the first seed to the finished colour.

A New Chapter — Bringing AppleOak Home

After many years of working from a separate production studio, we are bringing AppleOak home to our gardens in Whitegate.

It is a significant change for us, and one we've embraced as an opportunity - rather than the disappointment it was at first - to rethink how we want to work.

Our new setup will bring together a converted container studio, polytunnels, indigo fermentation vats, pigment extraction and dye plant growing areas, allowing us to work more closely with the plants and the changing seasons.

We are also moving away from general textile retail due to space limitations, choosing instead to concentrate on what has always been at the heart of AppleOak: natural colour, the plants that produce it and the knowledge that allows us to work with it.

Sharing What We Learn

We have always believed that knowledge grows when it is shared.

Through the Natural Dyers & Growers Academy, our research projects, workshops and collaborations, we connect with makers, growers, educators and textile professionals from around the world.

Our work also involves ongoing experimentation with dye plants, mordants, fermentation vats and methods of pigment extraction, including our cold-water woad pigment research.

We continue to question our processes, learn from others and seek better ways of working.

That curiosity is what keeps AppleOak moving forward.

Looking Ahead

Our dream is to one day have a place of our own, where AppleOak can put down permanent roots. For now, both our home and garden are rented, so we continue to work with what we have, making the most of each space and allowing our plans to grow and evolve along the way.

We hope to gradually welcome more visitors into our dye garden and studio, inviting those curious about traditional colour-making to experience the process firsthand. Whether joining us for a garden tour, watching a dye demonstration or spending an afternoon getting hands-on, we'd love to share more of what happens behind the scenes.

There will be dye plants growing, indigo vats fermenting, pigments being extracted and, no doubt, plenty of experiments, surprises and lessons along the way.

Nothing is quite permanent yet, but perhaps that's part of the journey. We will continue to grow, adapt and make the most of what we have, while working towards that dream of a place to truly call our own.

We look forward to sharing the discoveries, the progress and, inevitably, some of the challenges as AppleOak continues to evolve.

Thank you for being part of our journey.