The NEW Color Mixing for Dyers
5 day workshop
Dye the color you choose, not the color that chooses you! Explore the unlimited number of hues possible by mixing only pure reds, yellows, and blues of Procion MX dye. Teams of students will use different sets of primaries that when mixed will yield hundreds of colors in a wide range of values. Sharing the results, each student will build a sample book of more than 1,000 dye formulas on 100% cotton fabric. This book will become an invaluable reference for future dyeing, whether planned dyeing or freeform dyeing. Using the sample book as a guide, each student will apply the basic techniques of dyeing, including dyeing value gradations, over-dyeing, and low water immersion techniques to do further explorations as time allows.
Along with this hands-on approach, students will come to understand color theory in three-dimensional model that goes beyond the color wheel. We will examine the difference between color theory and color reality, and break through the confusions of so many color systems that are not dye-based. This course will be a wonderful foundation for wearable artists, quilters, needleworkers, weavers, and dyers of cellulose fibers and silk, or for anyone who wants to learn more about the interactions of color.
NEW in 2013! Students will be creating new color families not previously dyed in Carol’s classes. If you have been wanting a new set of samples, but would do the work cooperatively with classmates, this is your opportunity!
Color Mixing for Dyers , Part II
5 day workshop: Prerequisite: Color Mixing for Dyers I
This class will expand the possibilities of creating color and texture with Procion MX Dyes. Building on information from first Color Mixing course, and using the sample books we created to choose color, we will study dye techniques in depth. As time allows, we may sample some new primary combos as well!
Explorations will include
- controlling color and value with thickened dyes using a variety of techniques such as stamping, screening, monoprinting and dye painting
- understanding variables affecting color and patterning in low water immersion techniques: manipulating time, temperature, salt, soda ash, and urea
- layering with color: focusing on choosing color sequences for overdyeing with mechanical and water soluble resists
- controlling color and value when overdyeing so that previous design work is not obliterated
Each day will build on the previous days’ work, so that by the end of the week, participants will have a series of fabric samples both small and large and an organized notebook illustrating how variables affect dye outcomes.
Dyeing to Discharge
4 or 5 day workshop
Discover the possibilities of discharge– the removal of color from dyed cloth. First we will apply base color and then selectively remove and replace the color using immersion with stitched and pole wrap techniques, resist techniques with dextrin and wax, as well as stencil, screen printing, and block printing. Students will work toward a vocabulary of personal mark making, using complex layered imagery and color. Fabric samples showing specific dye colors and how they discharge will be produced for both cotton and silk. Safe studio practices are emphasized.
TRUE COLORS: Developing a Personal Palette
3 or day 5 workshop
For the dyer, the many choices of dye colors available can lead to confusion and disappointment in color outcomes. This class will help you choose the pure color that will suit you in developing your own personal palette. Carol has dyed over 80 individual palettes, which she will share with you through slide presentations, discussions, and hands -on dyeing. Brilliant yellows, passionate purples, rich reds, astounding blues and soothing greens as well as necessary neutrals will be yours to mix using Procion MX dyes.
This class will focus on
- developing skill in intuitive color mixing, based primarily on training the eye
- an understanding of the relationship between colors
- understanding warm and cool contrasts
- choosing your personal palette of pure reds, yellow, and blues, from which all hues can be mixed
- how to dye saturated, brilliant colors, and avoid mud when you choose to
- how to create interesting complex neutrals (Bring on the mud puddles!)
- how to shade from value to value and hue to hue
Students will dye up from 8 to 30 yards of cotton (depending on whether one-yard cuts or fat quarter cuts are chosen) using low water immersion techniques. On the first day, we will develop concepts through lecture and discussion, and do some exercises to get familiar with the pure hues. On the days following, we will dye yardage using low water immersion techniques, resulting in both solid-colored and multi-colored cloth and explore the possibilities of layering color to enrich the palette, both through overdyeing and through numerous printmaking techniques.
Pot O’Gold Dyeing
1 or 2 day workshop
The rainbow in a dyepot! If you have shied away from dyeing before because of time or space constraints, this method is for you. Less dye, less water, and less mess makes it all so easy. In this one-day class you will dye 24 pieces (up to 12 yards) of gorgeous multi-hued fabric.
A supply fee ($15) includes Procion MX dyes and auxiliaries, complete written instructions, and many recipes to help you stir up a rainbow. In the two day class, we will explore further the unlimited possibilities of low-water techniques, including folded and clamped resists, double dyeing, and direct application techniques.
A Day of Surface Design
1 or 2 day workshop
Jello and quilts? Explore the connection as we create wonderful visual textures on cloth with water-based textile paints. The focus will be on spontaneous, simple ways to create pattern and texture that is unique to you. Using household objects, dollar store finds, and simple tools, we will experiment with a number of surface design techniques, including
- gelatin plate printing
- glass plate printing
- roller printing
- freezer paper masks
Come and enjoy a day of spontaneous expression. Materials fee for paints and supplies.
TRANSFORMATIONS: Using Disperse Dyes
1 or 2 day workshop
Explore the world of transfer printing. Apply disperse dyes to paper with a multitude of printmaking processes, including spraying, stamping, screening and monoprinting, and then using an iron or heat press, transfer to a variety of cloth, including synthetic sheers, felt, lutradur, lame, poly satins and velvets, and drapery fabric. With the focus on experimentation and discovery, many small samples and studies will be made. In the two day class, we will begin small works with design exercises and applications in mixed media work will be explored.
Waxing Eloquent: Using Soy Wax Resist
2 day workshop: Some experience with Procion MX dyes recommended
Environmentally-friendly soy wax brings a modern twist to the ancient art of batik. Explore mark-making in free-flowing wax with simple tools such as inexpensive brushes, wood or metal stamps, found objects, or blank silkscreens. Create depth in the cloth while layering color on color on cottons, silks, and sheer organza using Procion MX dyes. The ease and fun of wax will encourage your playful side as you create fabulous visual texture and color on cloth.
Layers Upon Layers
5 day workshop: Intermediate and up. Some experience with Procion MX dye recommended
Distressed surfaces are endlessly fascinating to artists. Weathered doorways, crumbling walls, eroding hillsides, peeling paint, and rusted metal grab our attention as they partially reveal and partially conceal. These surfaces speak of time and of process. They open the door to our inner thoughts and invite us in…..
In this class we will develop experimental approaches to the layering of color and visual texture on cloth. Students will choose to develop either
- 20-30 smaller (fat quarter sized) pieces displaying a range of techniques, but visually related in color themes
- 4-6 larger pieces (1 or 2 yards each) that focus on one or two aspects of the processes presented and use related imagery
We will use natural fibers, primarily cotton and silk, both opaque and sheer. We will build layers on the cloth, considering the effects of
- layering translucent dye and opaque paint
- layering value and hue
- layering textures in low water immersion
- layering textures created by resists
- layering stitch and patch
To develop the vision, we will brush and screen, mask, spray, and monoprint onto white pfd OR onto previously dyed, patched, and stitched cloth, using any or all of the following:
- Procion MX fiber reactive dyes
- soy wax and corn dextrin as water-soluble resists
- acrylic-based paints and mediums
- discharge paste
Stamp It Out!
1 or 2 day workshop
Have fun with stamped effects on fabric! This introduction to fabric stamping will introduce you to a variety of materials for stamping. Using everything from purchased rubber stamps to found objects, from leaves and flowers to hardware cloth and bubble wrap, you will learn
to layer imagery and color. Class members will leave class with numerous samples of painted and stamped cloth, including a t-shirt if desired, and a collection of stamping tools. A supply fee includes fabric paints and a kit of stamping materials.
Think Silk!
5 day workshop
Silk, that lovely seductive cloth which intrigues us with its luster and sensuous drape, is also very versatile in its ability to accept both fiber reactive and acid dyes. As students explore color on silk in this very focused class, they will create a sample book of swatches using fiber reactive dyes. In addition, students will sample multiple possibilities/solutions as they compare cold batch methods and steaming methods, as well as alkaline-based and acid-based reactions. Using a variety of application processes, including low water immersion, pole-wrapped and clamped shibori, and printmaking processes, students will create effects on a wide variety of silks such as raw silk, crepe, rayon/silk velvet, organza, chiffon, and more.
Freehand Feathering
1 or 2 day workshop
Take your free-motion skills to the next level! Learn to create beautiful, graceful feathers without pre-marking to enhance your traditional or contemporary quilts. Beautiful flowing feathers complement many traditional and contemporary quilts. In this 6 hour class you will learn the free-motion techniques to “feather freehand, ” without marking. Many feather designs will be presented, and you will learn to nest designs to fill the space. As a two day class, we will learn to create complementary background fills.
Improvisational Machine Quilting
1 day workshop
Learn to translate that “doodle” into a beautiful continuous quilting design! Using quilting motifs such as ‘meander,’ ‘zig-zag,’ and ‘loop de loop,’ we will advance through practice exercises into freely drawing with the needle. Fantasy flowers, spirals, feathers, leaves and vines and more will emerge at your fingertips! Suitable for the beginner in free-motion techniques, as well as those who wish to develop their skill in more complex designs.
Dragonfly Wings and Other Things
1 or 2 day workshop
Take your free-motion skills a step further! In this class we will explore a variety of threads both fine and heavy, using them through the needle and in the bobbin. Optical mixing of color and layering effects will be explored as well as two threads through the needle, single needle and twin needle effects. Working with and without hoops and the use of a variety of stabilizers as well as water-soluble products will be covered. Experience with free-motion quilting a plus, but not required. Be ready to have some FUN with your machine!
