Well, are you sure you really want to know?" Rebecca Miller asked, laughing. According to Miller, there is a legend about a mysterious creature that cries throughout the night along isolated roadways. The WoodHog imitates an infant's cry to solicit local village women's sympathy. When the women go out to investigate the baby-like cries, they are never seen again. "The WoodHog steals all the women in town," Miller said. "The name just kind of stuck."

In just over two years, Rebecca Miller and Stacey Golden, have turned tie-dye into a bright and booming business in Colorado. The company-- affectionately dubbed "WoodHog" after the mystical creature-- is run out of a shared warehouse space and has become a recognized anchor at outdoor festivals around the state.

"There have not always been this many WoodHog sightings," Miller said. "Now, it seems like every week we have a little sighting."

Miller and Golden use a unique tied and died process that was taught to them by a Deadhead dye master, and like psychedelic snowflakes, there are no two shirts alike. "The process creates art forms inside the sunbursts," Miller said. "Some of the shirts may look like the same design, but they are not the same."

Not to be confused with the yellow and orange atrocities from Mrs. Cleary's 5th grade class, WoodHog tie-dyes are simplified and refined. "We do a lot of work with the solids," Golden said. "We also fold the sun bursts in half so it is symmetrical on both sides. It's become our trademark, and it's also why people see faces."

Stars, angels, lions, faces ... all seem to surface in the kaleidoscope bursts. "Sometimes people will spend hours looking for the perfect tie-dye, the one that's just right for them," Golden said.

"They are looking for their perfect WoodHog," Miller added.

Once you find your perfect WoodHog, you can send photos of it (and you) to the "WoodHog Fun" website at www.woodhog@homestead.com The Internet site has a photo gallery of people who love their Hogs, provides contact information to get a WoodHog, and eventually the site will showcase a WoodHog related calendar of events.

Miller and Golden explain their WoodHogs are gently nurtured and fostered with care. "All of our stuff is handmade," Golden said. "We personally hand work, wash, and wring each shirt.

Our fingers made that shirt, and there is a lot of love inside."

WoodHog can be found at almost every outdoor summer event, from the Capitol Hill People's Fair to Leadville's Boom Festival. In the fall, Golden and Miller spend time revamping and reinventing WoodHog stylings, but can also be spotted at holiday craft shows in the metro area. "Fall is when we get to play scientist," Miller said.

"But we will also be those strange tie-dye ladies at the holiday shows," Golden added, "in between the sweaters covered in glitter and the Santa Clauses made out of squash."

--Kity Ironton

WoodHog is carried year round at area locations including Spirit Ways and all three Freaky's outlets. They are also available dressed in the Quixote's True Blue Café logo, the popular bar and music venue at 9150 E. Colfax Ave.

photo by gary stefanski

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