PLEASE NOTE THERE IS A $15 CASH MATERIAL FEE DUE TO THE INSTRUCTOR.
This class is intended to build on what you learn in Laura’s Intro to Natural Textile Dyeing class, which will be held in February 2020, and again in May 2020, immediately before this class. It’s not a pre-requisite, but you will definitely get more out of this class if you’ve learned the basics first.
Selective dyeing gives you much more control over your dyed designs by allowing you to carefully place each color, creating contrast and visual drama. Selective dyeing with natural dyes can be accomplished in many ways. We’ll focus on two methods, mordant “painting” and using carrier blankets to apply dyes or modifiers, and several variant techniques.
Materials fee of $15 (cash only, payable to instructor on class day) includes vats of indigo (blue), osage orange (bright yellow), logwood (purple), and madder (red/brown/orange tones). These dyes are all plant-based and vegan-friendly. You’ll also have use of all the various blanket fabrics you’ll need, other tools and materials needed for these techniques, and loads of fabric swatches for experimenting. Instructor will email more specific details and instructions to registered students before class.
Students may bring their own items to dye, but please note the following! Some of the techniques taught in this class require the materials to be wrapped tightly around a length of pipe for steaming, so if the items you bring cannot be wrapped (due to size, shape, embellishments, or thickness), you may need to use sample fabric (provided) or purchase a suitable blank in class for those processes. Instructor requests that all fabrics be woven, not knit (sorry, no tee shirts), because learning to roll fabrics for successful printing and dyeing is harder on knit fabrics. Items should be natural fiber, including cotton, linen, bamboo, silk and thin wool, woven fabric.
PLEASE DO NOT bring denim, canvas, cotton or wool fleece, yardage cuts over 1 yard, yarn, or other heavy fabric items; these items require a significant amount of extra dye and they hog the dye pot space. We’ll allow people to dye extra items as time and space allow. Students who are also taking the morning Intro to Natural Textile Dyeing class pay a total of $20 materials fees to cover both sessions.
Laura Davis is a fourth generation Californian who has spent the past 22 years living in Los Angeles. She is a lifelong addict to all kinds of textile arts, including crochet & knit, sewing, embroidery, weaving, spinning, dyeing and botanical printing. California is a rich environment for materials to use in dyeing, printing, and other arts & crafts, and
Laura spends a great deal of time exploring and discovering, collecting, and experimenting with ways to use our natural bounty in textile arts. Laura has been teaching fiber art classes through Griffin Dyeworks since 2015 and now teaches tie dye, ice dye, natural dye, and other textile arts classes for adults, teens, and children throughout the year.
The
Camera Obscura Art Lab hosts six artists-in-residence annually, and offers workshops with a changing roster of residents and teaching artists. Here you can learn dance moves, polish your writing, sew a seam, check out artists at work and find a creative community!
Web: santamonica.gov/camera
Contact camera@smgov.net & 310-458-2239
Fee-based events at ow.ly/IehoU
Free events at santamonicaculturalaffairs.eventbrite.com
Join our email list at smgov.net/artsignup
Tag us at #ArtSaMo
Directions: The Camera Obscura Art Lab is at 1450 Ocean Ave on the west side of Ocean just north of Broadway, in Palisades Park.
Train/Bus: Metro terminus at 4th St/Colorado, 4 blocks away. Upon exiting the station go west on Colorado to Ocean Ave, cross the street to the Pier and go north in the park just past Broadway. metro.netor bigbluebus.com.
Parking is $6 or less for 3 hours in Parking Structure 6 (2nd between Broadway and Santa Monica), and $5 on weekends at the Civic Auditorium lot just down Main Street at 333 Civic Center Dr. Meters on Ocean Avenue; $2/hr maximum 3 hours. More info: smgov.net/parking.
Registration: For fee-based classes, we encourage reserving online with a credit card. Some classes accept drop-ins. Bring cash to cover material fees, if applicable. Refunds/Transfers: Full refunds are given if class is cancelled before taking place - enroll online with confidence. For student withdrawals for any other reason, $15 processing fee for each multisession activity refunded; one-time classes & expended material fees are nonrefundable. Requests must be made in person, by mail, fax (310-899-0840), or email to communityclasses@smgov.net within 24 hours of first class meeting. All class dates, times, locations, and instructors are subject to change
