
For the first time in several years I taught a class on surface design with natural dyes this weekend. It was at Gail Harker Center for Creative Arts in La Conner Washington, a beautiful barn studio in an awesome pastoral setting. There were five participants, all of whom were charming and enthusiastic, and overall I think the workshop was very successful. Surface design refers to the patterning of previously woven (usually plain white) cloth, as opposed to cloth with the pattern woven in (like a plaid). It's what you do to the surface, hence the name. This class was meant to introduce the students to natural dye extracts as colorants, and show some of the ways they could be used as paints, with freezer paper and wax as stencils and resists to hold the colors off the fabric in designs of the student's choosing. Its a ton of information to absorb even if you are familiar with some of the processes, but everyone leaped in and were able to produce interesting experimental pieces. I hope they found the natural colors to be as compellling as I have always done.
Getting ready was a lot of work. I had to mordant all the cloth we used, which means cooking it in an aluminum solution, since most natural dyes won't bond with the fabric without a metal molecule as a link. I also had to gather the tools from the far corners of my studio and storage. The long period since I last taught this class gave everything plenty of opportunity to lose itself, so I spent last week searching out all the bits and pieces I needed, making lists and packing things up.
When I actually started to talk at the beginning of the class I realized that I was pretty rusty at that too, and have been going over everything I said since then, thinking of better ways to explain and connect the disparate blobs of information I was spewing. As I said, the students were very gracious and interested, so they made the interaction highly energizing for me. A couple of the demonstrations failed completely, but most everything I talked about worked like it was supposed to. We made a very successful indigo pot and had lots of fun with clamp and fold patterning.
The experience was unexpectedly inspiring for me artistically. I used this scrap of linen/rayon as a sample, just to show how to apply and layer with wax. It started without thought, but the more I did to it, the more interested I became in it. It feels like it holds the seeds of a larger, more finished piece, and I can hardly wait to take it further. Also, I forgot how exciting and artistically motivating it is to work with other people who are doing the same kinds of stuff. Just seeing their choices and working methods throws new light on mine. It freshens my approach, and I am very grateful for that.
Now that I have hauled everything back home and stowed it, I am pulled between resting (must do, I am exhausted) and starting some new pieces. I hope I will have the chance to teach again soon, but not tomorrow.