Victoria Tuggey believes life is too short not to do what you love. She recently returned to her love and owns EarthShip Fabric Dyes.

Tuggey is showing her work as a consignment artist at 16 Main Gallery.

Victoria Tuggey owns EarthShip Fabric Dyes.

Although her work proves her talent, Tuggey does not consider herself an artist. “But I do like to play with color on fabric textures,” she said.

“I ‘fell’ into dying when a friend made tie dyes in the Florida Keys in the 1980s,” Tuggey said. She realized her knack for the designs. “Everything was self-taught.”

“That’s when I fell in love with dying silk,” she said. Unfortunately, she gave up her work with silks and dyes for more than 20 years.

Scarves are currently her “obsession. I like pushing tie dye to new places, like making animal faces on T-shirts and tie dye landscapes on sarongs,” she said. She completes all of her designs without any type of pattern as a go-by.

Everything is wearable in her line of scarves and sarongs. Or “wall wearable,” Tuggey said in reference to her fabrics used in home decorating.

“16 Main made me feel like part of the community,” she said. “They are really good people. The friendly environment seems to be creating something bigger than the sum of its parts.”

In the early 1980s, she was a studio art major for two years at SUNY Binghamton (State University of New York). “I went to study sculpture and fell in love with printmaking … maybe some of that carried over into dying,” Tuggey said.

Currently, Tuggey is working on silk lanterns that she soon will add to her portfolio.

Tuggey has two sons. “Christian, the musician, is studying renewable energy at Calhoun Community College,” she said. “Ethan, the artist, is a fifth-grader at Horizon Elementary School. My friend Ken lives with us and is lead lineman for a local cable company.”

For more information on EarthShip Fabric Dyes, send email to toryadoria@hotmail.com or visit Facebook/EarthShip Fabric Dyes.