After nearly four years, please join the Mendocino Coast Mushroom Club, and Pacific Textile Arts, in welcoming back Alissa Allen of Mycopigments. She will be offering a two-day intensive, exploring the incredible dye fungi found here on the Mendocino Coast. This class is for all skill levels, from complete novice to advanced dyers.
Dates: Saturday & Sunday, April 15 & 16, 2023
Time: 9:00 am to 4:00 pm
Venue: Pacific Textile Arts, 450 Alger St, Fort Bragg
Cost: $390
Supplies: $40 (includes fungi, samples, silk scarf, and booklet) Payable at class.
Time: 9:00 am to 4:00 pm
Venue: Pacific Textile Arts, 450 Alger St, Fort Bragg
Cost: $390
Supplies: $40 (includes fungi, samples, silk scarf, and booklet) Payable at class.
In this two-day workshop we will explore the brilliant range of colorful mushroom and lichen dyes found on the Mendocino Coast. Using regionally available fungi and the latest extraction techniques, we will dye over 20 samples resulting in an extended rainbow of color.
We will explore surface design possibilities on silk using resist techniques and dye batches of color on various types of fiber to see how the dyes reveal themselves depending on the fiber used.
By the end of the workshop, you’ll be able to confidently carry on with your own dye experimentation at home. You’ll have experience choosing fiber, maximizing the dye potential of local dye species, working with mordants and pH modifiers, making larger dye vats of commonly found species, and utilizing exhaust baths to achieve even more color variation.
You’ll take home samples and the recipes used in class, a compact guidebook that goes through all the steps for working with fungal dyes, and a color guide to the best dye species in the area. You’ll have an elegant mushroom-dyed silk scarf and enough mushroom-dyed fiber for a small project.
We will explore surface design possibilities on silk using resist techniques and dye batches of color on various types of fiber to see how the dyes reveal themselves depending on the fiber used.
By the end of the workshop, you’ll be able to confidently carry on with your own dye experimentation at home. You’ll have experience choosing fiber, maximizing the dye potential of local dye species, working with mordants and pH modifiers, making larger dye vats of commonly found species, and utilizing exhaust baths to achieve even more color variation.
You’ll take home samples and the recipes used in class, a compact guidebook that goes through all the steps for working with fungal dyes, and a color guide to the best dye species in the area. You’ll have an elegant mushroom-dyed silk scarf and enough mushroom-dyed fiber for a small project.
Things to bring:
Bring multiple one-oz bundles of your favorite wool or silk fiber to work with (yarn, felt, or fabric). Secure if loose, wash and label with your name and the dry weight. We will mordant in class. You can bring as many one-oz bundles as you’d like. We will aim for a minimum of six oz total per person, but you may be able to dye more; some of the dye vats are seemingly endless.
Bring containers for taking home dye if you’d like to work with what we have left over.
Read more and register at https://www.mycopigments.com/collections/classes
Bring your own lunch/drinks each day.
Bring multiple one-oz bundles of your favorite wool or silk fiber to work with (yarn, felt, or fabric). Secure if loose, wash and label with your name and the dry weight. We will mordant in class. You can bring as many one-oz bundles as you’d like. We will aim for a minimum of six oz total per person, but you may be able to dye more; some of the dye vats are seemingly endless.
Bring containers for taking home dye if you’d like to work with what we have left over.
Read more and register at https://www.mycopigments.com/collections/classes
Bring your own lunch/drinks each day.
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Alissa Allen is the founder of Mycopigments. She specializes in teaching about regional mushroom and lichen dye palettes to fiber artists and mushroom enthusiasts all over the world. Alissa got her start in the Pacific Northwest and has been sharing her passion for mushrooms for over 20 years. She has written articles for Fungi Magazine and Fibershed, is published in Nature's Colorways: Conjuring the Chemistry and Culture of Natural Dyes, Long Thread Media, and her work with mushroom dyes is highlighted in True Colors: World Masters of Natural Dyes and Pigments by Keith Recker, Thrums Publications.
In 2015, Alissa created Mushroom and Lichen Dyers United and the Mushroom Dyers Trading Post Facebook groups as a platform to mentor, connect, and facilitate discussion between her students and folks with less access to her classes. These groups along with her prolific workshop offerings and informational dye booths have brought together a vibrant community of over 30,000 members. Though her teachings are centered around regional fungal dye palettes, her overall mission is to inspire people to engage more deeply with nature. It is her hope that with engagement, commitment to care for our planet will grow exponentially. To read more about her work, visit http://mycopigments.com/ |
