Category: Weekend Workshop

Pink from avocados? Yellow from zinnias? Natural dyeing means extracting dyes from organic sources and using them to color fibers. In this 4-hour class, students will prepare their wool skeins to accept and retain these plant-based colors, then learn how to make dyes from vegetable scraps, wilted flowers, yard prunings and weeds from the roadside. We will discuss equipment needed to dye safely and make color sample cards with notes of the process we used. Each student will leave with naturally dyed wool yarn from each dye pot, a folder with handouts containing class notes, recipes for dyes and mordants, Internet resources and a sample page for each dye pot with colored yarns. Wear clothes for working in the studio, though an apron is always a good idea. All materials will be provided.

Building on the experiences in the Introduction to Natural Dyeing class in April, we will dye wool yarn in some of the red dyes used throughout history for military uniforms (British Red Coats), religious vestments (cardinals), clothing for the wealthy and yarns for weaving pictorial tapestries. There are entire books written about these infamous colors! Brazilwood, cochineal and madder each have their own dye method and produce unique shades of red . Students will also use modifiers to make even more variations of shade and value. Each person will receive handouts containing dye recipes, supply resources, a bibliography and internet references. The class will conclude by making a color sample card with process notes for each dye. Please wear clothes for studio work and bring gloves, an apron and plastic bags for your wet yarn.

*This class is being held at the Tannery Arts Center in Studio 119, NOT at the Art League*

Kris holds a BS in Art Education from the University of Wisconsin-Millwaukee and a MS in Science Education from Oregon State University. She has taught numerous textile workshops for the Santa Cruz Knitting Guild, Carmel Crafts Guild, Santa Cruz Natural History Museum and the Santa Cruz Textile Arts Guild as well as teaching at local middle schools for 25 years. Kris uses her natural dyed yarns in her hand-woven rugs and knitted garments.

**Prerequisite Required: Intro to Natural Dying 4/27/19**

Indigo is a natural dye like no other! Students learn a simple way to make this stunning blue dye, then experiment with 3 different shibori (resist) techniques to create complex patterns on a silk scarf and cotton gauze scarf. Additional cotton fabric will be available for further experiments and you may bring your own clean white natural fiber yarn or tee to dye after the scarves have been dyed. Participants will receive handouts containing several recipes for making an indigo pot, supply resources, a bibliography and internet resources. We will be working inside and outdoors, so please have sun protection and water as well as wearing old clothes, gloves and an apron.

Want to drawing with freedom and ease? This workshop is for you if you:

• have no previous drawing instruction,
• would like to be able to draw with confidence,
• tried drawing and got discouraged,
• would like to let go of tight drawing habits,
• want to draw mindfully with a lightness of being.

Spontaneous Drawing as a meditation is for beginners, artists, and teachers who want to learn an approach to drawing that will guide you to new levels of creativity and awareness through the experience of drawing. You will practice may innovative drawing methods in a safe non-competitive environment. You will:

• Learn and practice many spontaneous drawing techniques
• Learn to draw faces, trees, landscape and other subjects
• Practice drawing as a meditation so that you will draw simply with joy, and ease.
• Learn to draw with awe.

This one workshop will save you months of trail and error and frustration so that your daily drawing practice will delight you, fascinate you, and give you peace. No matter what your skill or background, this workshop will provide the confidence to draw spontaneously for years to come.

Materials fee of $24 for The Pocket Drawing Book, an extensive handout, drawing paper and all your drawing supplies. If you can, bring a watercolor brush to the class. If not, the instructor will provide one.

Instructor:  Robert Regis Dvorák has been making drawing and painting fun and easy to learn for the last 35 years. He is an artist and popular speaker on subjects of creativity in education and business.  He has authored and illustrated a number of books on drawing and watercolor painting subjects: Travel Drawing and Painting, Drawing without Fear, Experiential Drawing, The Practice of Drawing as Meditation and The Pocket Drawing Book.

Note:  The materials fee of $24 is extra and will be collected at the beginning of the workshop.

Welcome blooming artists to this floral themed painting workshop taught by Carrie Clayden. Carrie is excited to be teaching her favorite theme: Flowers!

I encourage you to bring 3-5 canvases (minimum) and expect to leave with many finished paintings! I will demo how to build layers, use our hands for flowers and stabilo pencils for stems. We will dance and play listening to Carrie’s awesome playlist, and break for a delicious lunch. I thought it would be fun to have a potluck, everyone sharing their favorite dish. This experience is always a gift to yourself and your art. Everyone leaves happy and with paintings they can hang in their home. You receive valuable techniques you can implement into your art process while having FUN making art. What could be better?

Instructor: Carrie Clayden is a professional artist and teacher. Carrie graduated from UCSC in 1995 with a Bachelor of Arts in Women’s Studies and Fine Art in 1995. Her studio is in downtown Santa Cruz and her work can be found on her website www.carrieclayden.com

In this one day workshop, additional gouache and grisaille application techniques will be explored. Instruction, demos, and exercises will be available to further the artist’s understanding of the nature of this fascinating and versatile medium.

Cynthia Armstrong holds a graduate degree from UC Santa Cruz in Science Illustration and a Master’s degree in Education from Stanford University.  She has been a freelance illustrator and artists for over 20 years, and a teacher for the past 15 years. Cynthia, as a published illustrator, has traveled and journaled extensively throughout her career. www.cynthiaarmstrongart.com

Watercolor and pen and ink are the perfect portable media through which any place or setting can become a springboard for a creative sketch. An illustrated record of travels and seasons, sketching allows for a window into the moment. Bonni will demonstrate her facility with different approaches to sketching by melding water-soluble ink with watercolor paint and producing dynamic results. Discover the power of the imperfect line and how a simple blush of color can convert so much! Bonni will demonstrate simple ways to launch into using pen and ink for all levels. If weather permits we’ll sketch outside.  For more of Bonni’s work, please visit her website at www.carverart.com.

Botanical Art prizes both beauty and accuracy. In this workshop we’ll begin with close observation of our live plant specimens (to be provided), learning to see and draw the botanical details – a rose is not just a pretty flower! We’ll work on varied approaches to color mixing, and practice techniques of watercolor brushwork particular to botanical art – layering colors and small “dry brush” work that allows us to capture fine details of our subjects. You’ll get plenty of individual attention as you draw and paint, to challenge and encourage you at your own level of skill.

Instructor: Maria Cecilia Freeman is a professional artist with 25 years of experience bridging scientific illustration and botanical fine art. Her award-winning drawings and paintings have appeared in solo and juried exhibitions across the U.S. and in Europe, and in the Filoli Florilegium. You can see her work at her website: mcf-art.com.

Brilliant colour, and a step into abstracting from nature, this process creates stunning results for artists of all levels.

Using a technique that I’ve been developing and loving for years, we’ll first create our materials by painting fine tissue  paper with watercolor in a very free, loose and expressive way.  Each sheet of tissue is then like a sheet of stained glass, ready to be “glazed” , torn, cut, layered and collaged to create images of pure colour and texture that are unique and beautiful.

This intensive all-day workshops includes all materials .

You will learn this new technique, create one beautiful piece of artwork, meet some other artists, and its really fun!