Melissa finishing up her 4th scarf of the day!

Yesterday I taught back-to-back Batik Scarf Workshops at my studio. Nine students made 31 scarves over the course of the day. It was a batik factory!

Marketing is not something that comes easily to me and registration for the classes has been slower than I’d hoped. But it all came together with two groups from many different lists, so I must be doing an okay job at getting the word out after all. All of them brought their creativity, openness to new techniques and materials, and sense of fun to the studio on a rainy Seattle December day.

There are still a few spaces available for the workshops on Wednesday, 12/9 from 6 to 9pm. You can register on my Workshop page. There may also be space available on Saturday, 12/12 from 10am to 1pm. Contact me directly if you are interested in that date.

Below are some images of from our fun studio day.

Barbara working at the Waxing Station

Mimi’s scarf with wax over one layer of dye.

Mimi’s scarf after adding a second layer of dye.

Francesca working on her scarf inspired by an Indian textile design.

Finished scarves waiting for the washing out process which I do for each scarf made in the Workshops.

seeds of ideas

I’m putting together a series of workshops that I’ll be teaching in my studio starting this Fall. It’s a surprising amount of work: planning the classes, writing descriptions and supply lists, scheduling dates, and updating the website for on-line registration. Then there’s getting the word out to potential students. It seems the teaching is going to be the easy part!

I’m really excited about the program, though, and the idea of teaching and forming a community of dyers and other surface designers. I’m looking at it right now as a two- to three-year plan. In the next six months I’ll offer a series of workshops covering surface design fundamentals. Next year I’ll offer more advanced techniques. Ultimately, I’d like to work with a group of committed students on building their practice as artists, to whom I’d also offer mentoring through one-on-one meetings.

In the next six months I’m planning on teaching (drum roll, please):

Dyeing for Quilters (and Other People Who Love Fabric)

Telling Your Story with Silk: Making Silk Batik Banners

Surface Tension: Complex Results Using Low-Tech Resists

The Printed Surface: Mark Making Using Thickened Dyes

That’s my dream, anyway. First things first, plans and website.

Look for the registration to go live in a few weeks. Also, let me know if you’re interested in getting more information, or know others who would be interested.

I was supposed to be teaching a workshop this weekend call Positive/Negative: Improvisational Mark Making with Silk Screens this weekend. Unfortunately, I had to cancel because I’ve been blindsided by a particularly nasty cold virus. I’ve never had to do that before and I really struggled with the decision. Boy of boy, was it the right decision. I’ve been miserable and in bed for two days. I’m starting to feel a little better now, thank goodness.

On the positive side, it looks like we’re going to be able to reschedule my workshop at Pratt for April 27-28! Perhaps a few more students will have a chance to sign up.

I’m glad the workshop will still happen. I’m excited to share the new techniques and ideas I’ve been developing over the last year. I’ll be teaching ways of making related imagery with “positive” and “negative” prints. I did all my prep before the cold kicked my ass so now I’m ready to go.

Which is good because I’m heading off to Paris (!!!) with my family this next weekend.

our classroom at the Mariott

The workshop I offered at the SDA/SAQA Conference in Philadelphia, Beyond the Surface: Sculptural Explorations in Soft Materials, was a big success. It was a delight to work with students who started out with such a high degree of skills, energy, and motivation to learn.

When I first saw my classroom at the Mariott in West Conshohocken I thought, how am I going to teach an art class in here? There was no inspiration in the setting. It was just bland corporate America. But once the seventeen of us moved into the space it was filled to the brim and overflowing with creative juices.

Carol sewing away at her serious of nesting triangles.

Joan's project was more complicated than she thought it would be but she toughed it out.

Students came from all different backgrounds but all had a basis in working with fiber. Some were quilters, some surface designers, a felter, and all were sewers. It was nice not to have to hold anyone’s hand and introduce them to the sewing machine. I also had two grad students who added a nice mix to the group. They were a social bunch, helping each other out with questions of design or technique. It created a really great atmosphere as we trashed that hotel room.

taking over the hallway at the Mariott. I wouldn't want to choose fabrics on top of that carpet.

Ann adding stitched embellishment.

One of the biggest struggles with these students was getting them to draw. It’s not a problem when I work in at Pratt, which is a more traditional art school. Many quilters, or other people working with fiber, don’t have any training with drawing and it intimidates them. I definitely met resistance when I advised them that they should spend more time drawing before they moved into three-dimensional materials. It was gratifying that during the share we did on the 2nd day that a couple of students mentioned that following my advice to draw had helped them get further into their designs.

I’m always amazed at the end of a workshop that each student’s piece is truly unique. After all, they’re all working with the same basic materials and the same instruction. But I work really hard to help each student figure out how to make what is in their head. It would make my job as instructor much easier to just give out a pattern and let each student customize it with details, but where’s the fun in that? It was exciting at the end of the final day to see everyone’s work together.

I had a great time working with this bunch of creative women. I was honored that they brought their full selves to the class and that they were willing to share their personal stories through their art work. It was one of the best workshop experiences I’ve had.

Sydney was working with an image of a baby bird to talk about the plight of pelicans who are being fed plastic trash by their mothers.

One side of Fern's piece. She had never worked in three-dimensions before.

Betty, an acomplished seamstress, created a memorial to a friend.

Katherine's sculpture was working with themes of depression. She created a box inside a box with windows to the outside world.

Ann's piece was simple and elegant and could sit two ways.

The other way to stand Ann's piece.

Juli worked with complex curves.

coffee and dye nuts

This last weekend I taught a class at Made Sewing Studio, a new business in the Greenwood neighborhood in Seattle. At Made you can sign up for all sorts of classes in sewing. I’m their new dye expert and look forward to teaching classes every month or so.

As well as classes, you can also pay an hourly rate to use the sewing machines, sergers, cutting tables and there’s always someone there to help out with questions and advice. And, as of this weekend, you can also pay the hourly rate to use their dye studio.  I literally christened it this weekend when a container of boysenberry dye slipped out of my hand and splashed the newly painted wall. The dye studio is a great resource for people who want to dye fabric but don’t have the space. The dye room is small but they have a big padded table that’s perfect for printing or working on yardage.

I taught my first class there this last weekend on low-water immersion dyeing and low-tech shibori techniques. I only had three students but they were all great and it was actually good to have a small class while I get used to teaching in a new space.

Because we were doing immersion dyeing and everyone went home with bundles of wet fabric, a one-day class could be unsatisfying because there’s no “reveal.” My brainstorm for this workshop was to have a Sunday morning coffee hour. It gave us a chance to regroup in a more social setting and play show and tell. It was really nice to sit back and look at what everyone had made, talk through processes, and address questions in a relaxed atmosphere.

Pat explores using ferns as a resist with the silk screen

I taught a three day intensive last weekend at Pratt. We focused on layering by dyeing, discharging, and overdyeing fabric. It was a small but great group of really interesting women who were game to try everything I threw at them. It was also the first time I taught in the new Mixed Media Classroom at Pratt. I miss my old classroom a little, it was bigger and had a large outdoor covered work area but the new classroom has its own benefits. It’s in the same building as the Print Studio so it feels like we’re a little more connected to the school, a little less like we’re off in the hinterlands. I enjoyed walking through Teresa Neinas’ class and seeing the cool prints they were making over the weekend.

One of the disadvantages of the new building is that they haven’t built a covered outdoor work area yet (it’s in the plans). That was definitely a challenge given that the focus of my workshop was to use multiple layers of discharge using bleach and thiourea dioxide. I didn’t know anything about the change in the classroom situation six months ago when we scheduled the class. It ended up working out okay because we were really lucky with the weather and we were able to work with the garage door open. But by the end of the day Saturday I was feeling a little toxic. I woke up in the middle of the night worrying that I was poisoning my students. So Sunday I changed my syllabus and we explored printing with thickened dyes. It was still well within the description of the class  and it didn’t keep me up at night worrying.

Beth's black fabrics that have been discharged and overdyed

It was good to get back to teaching. A lot of classes haven’t been filling lately. Art classes just aren’t a priority in this economy. Teaching is a lot of work but I enjoy it. I always joke that I teach so that I can steal from my students. Just continuing in a long line of educators, I guess, but there is something to it. Students approach methods and materials in a different way. Getting out of the studio and seeing what they do gives me a chance to rethink and reimagine. Plus it is nice to get a paycheck every now and then.

Teacher Cameron

Every year since 2002 my family has been attending a family camp coordinated by friends at Seabeck Conference Center on the Kitsap Pennisula. Here we enjoy the woods and water, stories, arts and crafts, games, puzzles, a treasure hunt, and a talent show all coordinated by the campers for the campers. Each year the kids grow older and more independent and the adults get more relaxed.

For the past six years I have set up a batik studio at the camp for everyone to enjoy. We use soy wax resist and paint dyes on to silk scarves, bandannas, banners, tshirts, etc. This year I added a set up for low water immersion dyeing or, as the campers call it, “tie dye.” One of the great joys for me to witness is the way people have learned and expanded their skills over the years, especially the kids. It’s a working vacation for me, for sure, but I feel fully appreciated by the participants and there’s always lots of helping hands to ease the work.

Thalia's waxed design before dyeing.

Thalia, one of our talented teens, painting dye on her scarf.

Ben's orchid banner

projects drying on a the rack

Thea's tshirt

the scene around the dye studio