Think nature-inspired. Think plant dyes. Think paper and cloth. Put them together in a natural collaboration to create beautiful, one-of-a-kind artist books and elegant box structures that will amaze and inspire you. Each day will involve a new technique of surface design using plant material gathered from the Oregon countryside and a new box or book fabrication. You’ll make your own bookcloth, investigate a variety of book structures, and construct simple box shapes.

Continue the natural dye adventure!  Designed for students with some experience in natural dyeing, this course builds upon the basics of mordanting and dyeing with plant and natural dye materials.  Offered in two continuous sessions, each class will focus on expanding the basics, combining techniques, and experimenting with modifying and layering colors.  Some surface design, discharge and resist options will add to the variety of pattern and color.  This term we will focus on local, sustainable, low environmental impact dye processes.

Designed for students with some experience in natural dyeing, this course builds upon the basics of mordanting and dyeing with plant and natural dye materials.  Offered in two continuous sessions, each class will focus on expanding the basics, combining techniques, and experimenting with modifying and layering colors.  Some surface design, discharge and resist options will add to the variety of pattern and color.  This term we will focus on local, sustainable, low environmental impact dye processes.

Welcome the return of autumn with an exploration of natural color from plants on both fabrics and papers.  This term’s focus will be on the decorative art of printing with natural dye sources.  We’ll use traditional block printing methods, multi-color registration of pattern, screen-printing, mono-printing, direct application with brush, and some new shibori methods. Multiple mordant, dye, and pigment applications are included in the investigations.  While this course builds upon previous experience, adventurous beginners are always welcome!

Add an edge to your textiles with automotive resist! Machine meets nature in this workshop where we will combine man-made shapes and metal materials with natural rust processes and dyes to create beautifully balanced patterns on cloth. You will use several types of indigo, various traditional Japanese shibori resist techniques, and a variety of automotive parts and accessories to experiment with pattern, color, and contrast.

Think nature-inspired. Think plant dyes. Think paper and cloth. Put them together in a natural collaboration to create beautiful, one-of-a-kind artist books and elegant box structures that will amaze and inspire you. Each day will involve a new technique of surface design using plant material gathered from the Oregon countryside and a new box or book fabrication. You’ll make your own bookcloth, investigate a variety of book structures, and construct simple box shapes.

Join indigo dyer Judilee Fitzhugh and book artist Marilyn Zornado at the Newport Paper Arts Festival this April for a crossover exploration between their crafts. Learn traditional indigo techniques to dye uniquely beautiful papers and fabrics, and then use your hand-dyed materials as you create hand-built boxes and hand-bound books. Be warned: the results may be so gorgeous you find it hard to use them! (But you will leave with the skills to make many more.)