2010 Maiwa Textile Workshops
Acid Dyes and Discharge on Silk
Ros Aylmer
$195 (Includes $60 Lab Fee) 2 full days

October 9, 10 (Sat, Sun) 10 am - 4 pm
Maiwa East – 1310 Odlum Drive, Vancouver, Canada
Class Limit 16
Registration Opens June 21, 2010

In this two-day workshop we will play with the many effects that can be achieved with acid dyes and colour removal on silk. Acid dyes are formulated to work with protein fibres and are easy to use while giving a brilliant, fast colour. Using various shibori processes, the class will work toward a multi-layered cloth with complex colour patterning achieved through several immersions into the dye pots followed by colour removal through discharge with thiourea dioxide.

Students will come away with a thorough understanding of this class of dyes as well as some of the various possibilities for discharging colour from cloth. They will take home a beautiful, hand-dyed, silk scarf.


ROS AYLMER

Ros Aylmer has an extensive background in the arts, with a BA in Fine Arts from Queens University (Kingston, Ontario), photography studies at Bournemouth and Poole College of Art, (Bournemouth, England), and textile studies at Capilano University (Vancouver, BC). She has over 20 yearsÕ experience working in surface design techniques and is active in a number of guilds and associations in BC. She was a founding member of fibreEssence Gallery, Vancouver.

Student Supply List

Please bring a bag lunch. All other materials provided.

Look for the full course calendar on the web in early May. A print version will be available in June. Registration opens June 21, 2010.

2010 Maiwa Textile Workshops
Indigo: The Organic Vat
Michel Garcia
$250 (Includes $75 Lab Fee) Two full days

October 7, 8 (Thu, Fri) 10am - 4pm
Maiwa East – 1310 Odlum Drive, Vancouver, Canada
Class Limit 18
Registration Opens June 21, 2010

Dyers can spend years mastering the quirks and personality of a specific indigo dye vat. Indigo has a reputation for being the master of the dyer and sometimes it keeps its magic to itself.

Michel Garcia comes to the vat with a fresh perspective. A background in botany and chemistry and an intense knowledge of colourants combine with his eagerness to share information. During this workshop, some new possibilities for making a natural vat will be presented using henna, dates, figs, pears or grapes as reagents. Students will be able to easily establish a fast natural vat that can be used to dye any natural fibre.

The natural or organic vat can be fed and maintained with many things. The vat can also be maintained and revitalized through natural ingredients. Students will gain an appreciation of the mechanics of the vat and move beyond any single recipe. Students will leave with a thorough knowledge of the indigo process and will be able to select the appropriate vat to match their technique.


MICHEL GARCIA

A French national born in Morocco, Michel Garcia was nineteen when he first discovered natural dyes. Since then he has followed his love of both plants and pigments. In 1998 he formed the association Couleur Garance (Madder Colour). The association hoped to connect young ecologically sensitive artisans with the substantial expertise of an older generation of dyers. Under his direction, Couleur Garance produced over twenty monographs on natural dyes and dye plants.

In 2002 Michel founded the Botanical Garden of Dye Plants at the Château de Lauris. In 2003 an international forum and market for natural dyes was added. A year later a resource centre was established.

In 2006 Michel handed over leadership of Couleur Garance so that he could further pursue his interest in colour and dye techniques. He has published three titles on natural dyes showing the range of shades available and how to obtain them.

Bibliography

De la garance au pastel, le jardin des teinturiers

Couleurs végétales: Teintures, pigments et encres

Plantes colorantes, teintures végétales


Student Supply List

Please bring a bag lunch. All other materials provided.

Look for the full course calendar on the web in early May. A print version will be available in June. Registration opens June 21, 2010.

2010 Maiwa Textile Workshops
Secrets from the Dye Garden: Extracts and Printing
Michel Garcia
$395 (Includes $75 Lab Fee) Three full days

October 4 - 6 (Mon - Wed) 10am - 4pm
Maiwa East – 1310 Odlum Drive, Vancouver, Canada
Class Limit 18
Registration Opens June 21, 2010

This class was the most talked about workshop of 2009. Michel Garcia's deep knowledge of dye chemistry is communicated in metaphor, humour, and wit. Students learn not only what happens with dyes but why. A founder of the Botanical Garden of Dye Plants in Lauris, France, Michel returns to share some special techniques for dyeing and printing with extracts.

The difficulties of using powdered dyestuff (such as a high concentration of madder root on wool) can be avoided altogether if the dyer makes an extract. An extract also presents a wealth of opportunities as it can be applied directly to a piece. In this workshop students will make different soluble extracts and use them to dye wool both as a primary colour and as the basis for a second over-dyed colour. The class will use extracts to print directly onto cotton using blocks and paintbrush. A variation will be presented that permits printing with indigo.

Printing with extracts can be expanded to mordants and mordant/dye combinations. Thickening techniques will be covered so that the student learns to make the dye the right consistency for the technique.

We have expanded this workshop to three full days to allow students to fully explore these processes.



MICHEL GARCIA

A French national born in Morocco, Michel Garcia was nineteen when he first discovered natural dyes. Since then he has followed his love of both plants and pigments. In 1998 he formed the association Couleur Garance (Madder Colour). The association hoped to connect young ecologically sensitive artisans with the substantial expertise of an older generation of dyers. Under his direction, Couleur Garance produced over twenty monographs on natural dyes and dye plants.

In 2002 Michel founded the Botanical Garden of Dye Plants at the Château de Lauris. In 2003 an international forum and market for natural dyes was added. A year later a resource centre was established.

In 2006 Michel handed over leadership of Couleur Garance so that he could further pursue his interest in colour and dye techniques. He has published three titles on natural dyes showing the range of shades available and how to obtain them.

Bibliography

De la garance au pastel, le jardin des teinturiers

Couleurs végétales: Teintures, pigments et encres

Plantes colorantes, teintures végétales


Student Supply List

Please bring a bag lunch. All other materials provided.

Look for the full course calendar on the web in early May. A print version will be available in June. Registration opens June 21, 2010.

2010 Maiwa Textile Workshops
New Pathways for Sock Knitters
Sivia Harding
$150 (Includes $30 Lab Fee) two full days

October 2, 3 (Sat, Sun) 10 am - 4 pm
Maiwa Loft Granville Island, Vancouver, Canada
Class Limit 16
Registration Opens June 21, 2010

“Cat Bordhi has once again turned the sock knitting world on its heel.” -Interweave Press.


In this workshop, students receive an introduction to Cat Bordhi’s brilliant rethinking of the structure of the sock. We explore her eight new gussetless sockitectures featured in the book New Pathways for Sock Knitters: Book 1. Students will knit the two sample learning socks from the book and choose one full size sock project to concentrate on, which could be a design of their own imagination based on one of the book’s sockitectures, or one of the designs found in the book.

SIVIA HARDING

Sivia Harding says knitted lace is her first and enduring love. As a teacher, Sivia appeals to the creative spirit, and few can remain untouched by her verve and passion for her subjects. In her classes, technique, though important, is a means to an end, which is always the delight of following the joyful knitting muse wherever it may lead.

Sivia’s classes and workshops often are built around making a particular project, but only as a jumping off place for discussions on all sorts of related knitterly things. Students will often find themselves inspired to experiment outside the realm of the original project, sometimes coming up with highly original designs of their own as a result.

She is proud to be part of the 2009 Rockin’ Sock Club Knitters World Domination Tour, along with Cat Bordhi, Cookie A., JC Briar, and Melissa Morgan Oakes. www.siviaharding.com


Student Supply List

Sivia recommends that each student bring to class a copy of Cat Bordhi’s book “New Pathways for Sock Knitters – Book One” if you own or can borrow a copy. We will have a couple copies available for student use in the class and copies can be purchased at Maiwa Supply.

The Maiwa studio is stocked with knitting needles for students use in the classroom. If you have your own needles it is advisable to bring them so you may take unfinished work home on the needles to complete. The needles used in this class are: 3.75mm (US #5) – your choice of double pointed (set of 5) or 2 sets of 24” circular needles.

Please bring a calculator and notebook. All other materials provided.

Look for the full course calendar on the web in early May. A print version will be available in June. Registration opens June 21, 2010.

2010 Maiwa Textile Workshops

Vat Dyeing
Ros Aylmer
$195 (Includes $60 Lab Fee) Two full days

October 2, 3 (Sat, Sun) 10 am - 4 pm
Maiwa East, 1310 Odlum Dr. Vancouver, Canada
Class Limit 16
Registration Opens June 21, 2010

Vat dyes are a unique class of dyes that are insoluble in water and have the unusual property of simultaneously removing the colour from a previously dyed cloth while laying down a new colour. Often a third colour is created where the base colour and the vat dye meet.

Vat dyes are most effective on cellulose fabrics but can also be used on silk. In this two-day workshop we will first dye our base cloths in a range of colours, using fibre-reactive dyes, and then, using different resist processes, we will discharge the base colour and layer in new colours with the vat dyes.

In this workshop you will gain a thorough understanding of the process and come away with a range of samples as a reference for future explorations. Samples may also be used in a pieced quilt or for cushion covers, place mats, or other projects.

ROS AYLMER

Ros Aylmer has an extensive background in the arts, with a BA in Fine Arts from Queens University (Kingston, Ontario), photography studies at Bournemouth and Poole College of Art, (Bournemouth, England), and textile studies at Capilano University (Vancouver, BC). She has over 20 yearsÕ experience working in surface design techniques and is active in a number of guilds and associations in BC. She was a founding member of fibreEssence Gallery, Vancouver.

Student Supply List

Please bring a bag lunch. All other materials provided.

Look for the full course calendar on the web in early May. A print version will be available in June. Registration opens June 21, 2010.

2010 Maiwa Textile Workshops

Working from the Inside Out: The Creative Process
Jean Cacicedo
$195 (Includes $60 Lab Fee) Two full days

September 30, October 1 (Thu, Fri) 10am - 4pm
Maiwa East, 1310 Odlum Dr. Vancouver, Canada
Class Limit 14
Registration Opens June 21, 2010


We all possess a wealth of personal inner resources that can be given shape and form through the creative process of our art-making. This workshop will provide students with the tools necessary to uncover an awareness of their own personal mythology.

Each student will focus on forming ideas, images, and themes for use in their work. These will be accessed through memory, reflection, and conversation and then further developed through a blend of writing, drawing, and paper collage exercises.

Class assignments will incorporate basic design principles that students can apply as they work on realizing designs for a final project. Projects can take on many forms including sculpture and performance.

Supportive critiques and discussions will elaborate on how to better define, develop, and sustain our art-making. This class provides students with a challenging and supportive environment for developing their art. All media interests and levels welcome.


JEAN CACICEDO

Jean Cacicedo received a BFA in Sculpture from the Pratt Institute, New York, in 1970. Cacicedo was a prime innovator in the Wearable Art Movement of the 1970s. For over three decades she has worked on special processes for wool fabrics as well as on works on paper. Known for her “signature coats,” her pieced and sewn, slashed, felted, and dyed constructions have been exhibited throughout Western Europe, Japan, and the United States. In 2000, a 30-year retrospective of her work was featured at the Museum of Craft and Folk Art, San Francisco, California. Her work can be found in the permanent collections of the de Young Museum, San Francisco, Oakland Museum of California, Museum of Art and Design, NYC. She currently works out of her studio in Berkeley, California.

Student Supply List

Unlined Sketchbook or Journal
Drawing pencils 2B and 4B
Permanent black marking pen (eg. Sharpie ultra fine point)
All fabric for this class are supplied by Maiwa but it is advised that if you have any fabrics that you are interested in working with for potential future or past projects bring these to class.
Mesh Laundry bag with your name sewn on
Embellishing bits and pieces such as ribbon, bias, yarns, silk, fleece etc.
Please bring a bag lunch. All other materials provided.

Look for the full course calendar on the web in early May. A print version will be available in June. Registration opens June 21, 2010.

2010 Maiwa Textile Workshops
Jean Cacicedo
$295 (Includes $75 Lab Fee) Three full days

September 27 - 29 (Mon - Wed) 10am - 4pm
Maiwa East, 1310 Odlum Dr. Vancouver, Canada
Class Limit 14
Registration Opens June 21, 2010

This special workshop, held every year, introduces an unusual combination of approaches to constructing or embellishing cloth. This year Invented Fabric is again taught by Jean Cacicedo who has adapted her workshop “The Textured Cloth” to this three-day format exploring the transformative properties of various cloths. Students will discover how the natural surface beauty and structure of fabric can be distorted to yield new inspiration and potential for both craft and art.

Methods of working emphasize surface and structure through manipulation, deconstruction, and reconstruction. Students use cotton, silk, polyester, and wool fabrics: the differences in fibre content create a range of transformational possibilities. Design ideas will incorporate shrinking, fusing, slashing, and stitching. There will be samples made of all the various techniques, slides to view, and time for creating larger samples for potential use in a garment design. All levels of expertise are welcome. Some sewing will be required.

JEAN CACICEDO

Jean Cacicedo received a BFA in Sculpture from the Pratt Institute, New York, in 1970. Cacicedo was a prime innovator in the Wearable Art Movement of the 1970s. For over three decades she has worked on special processes for wool fabrics as well as on works on paper. Known for her “signature coats,” her pieced and sewn, slashed, felted, and dyed constructions have been exhibited throughout Western Europe, Japan, and the United States. In 2000, a 30-year retrospective of her work was featured at the Museum of Craft and Folk Art, San Francisco, California. Her work can be found in the permanent collections of the de Young Museum, San Francisco, Oakland Museum of California, Museum of Art and Design, NYC. She currently works out of her studio in Berkeley, California.

Student Supply List

Unlined Sketchbook or Journal
Drawing pencils 2B and 4B
Permanent black marking pen (eg. Sharpie ultra fine point)
All fabric for this class are supplied by Maiwa but it is advised that if you have any fabrics that you are interested in working with for potential future or past projects bring these to class.
Mesh Laundry bag with your name sewn on
Embellishing bits and pieces such as ribbon, bias, yarns, silk, fleece etc.
Please bring a bag lunch. All other materials provided.

Look for the full course calendar on the web in early May. A print version will be available in June. Registration opens June 21, 2010.

2010 Maiwa Textile Workshops


THREE-DAY BOOKBINDING
Gaye Hansen
$295 (Includes $70 Lab Fee) Three full days

September 27 - 29 (Mon - Wed) 10am - 4pm
Maiwa Loft – Net Loft Granville Island, Vancouver, Canada
Class Limit 12
Registration Opens June 21, 2010

One of our most popular classes – the demand for professional bookbinding instruction has been overwhelming. As more people have seen the exquisite books created in these classes, interest has grown considerably.

On the first day students will practice fundamental binding techniques including Japanese stab binding, corner treatments, the pamphlet stitch, the use of book cloth, and single signature procedures.

As the workshop progresses, students will be taken through the steps of making a 6” x 7” hardcover book using more advanced techniques: cloth covers, sewing signatures, interleaf pages, hinges, linen tapes, and headbands. The books become personalized through add-in techniques such as sewn-in envelopes, specialty papers, block printing, insertions, and pockets. A wide variety of handmade and commercial papers will be used for the final project.


TWO-DAY BOOKBINDING
Gaye Hansen
$175 (Includes $50 Lab Fee) Two full days

September 30, October 1 (Thu, Fri) 10am - 4pm
Maiwa Loft – Net Loft Granville Island, Vancouver, Canada
Class Limit 12
Registration Opens June 21, 2010

This workshop is a shorter version of our very popular three-day class. This two-day class introduces the participants to basic bookbinding terms and techniques. The class includes corner treatments, the use of book cloth, and treatment of end papers. Participants will also learn how to create and sew signatures in different ways.

A wide variety of materials will be incorporated into the book projects: decorative papers, mounting film, book cloth, fabrics, book boards, text pages, linen threads, etc.

An accordion book, a simple journal approximately 5 1/2” x 7 1/4”, and an open spine book approximately 5 3/4” x 7 1/4” will be the main focus of the course. Many examples and visual aids will be on hand to help participants appreciate the materials, techniques, and resources available for bookbinding and journaling.

GAYE HANSEN

The maker of books of exceptional beauty that contain intriging wonders, Gaye Hansen has an extensive background in bookbinding and the textile arts. She has taught our popular bookbinding courses for the last five years. She is a master weaver who has taught weaving workshops for over 30 years. In 2002 she was chair of the Convergence Conference of the Hand Weavers Guilds of America. She has also been active with the Vancouver Weavers and Spinners Guild and is author of five Canadian best-selling cookbooks.

Student Supply List

All materials supplied.

Look for the full course calendar on the web in early May. A print version will be available in June. Registration opens June 21, 2010.

2010 Maiwa Textile Workshops
Karen Selk
$295 (Includes $100 Lab Fee) Three full days

September 24 - 26 (Fri - Sun) 10 am - 4 pm
Maiwa East 1310 Odlum Drive, Vancouver, Canada
Class Limit 16
Registration Opens June 21, 2010

Silk felt. Silk paper. Silk fusion. By any name it is exciting and beautiful, innovative, rich in lustre, with a smooth or textured surface. A spectrum of unspun silk fibres is arranged and fused with an adhesive medium to produce a ÒfeltÓ of varying thicknesses. Silk-fused fibres can be crinkled while wet and they will hold their shape. Other fibres, feathers, and ribbons can be incorporated into the silk felt. It makes a perfect canvas for machine- or hand-stitching, quilting, three-dimensional sculptures, jewellery, wearable art, book coverings, collage, and almost any project imaginable.

Participants will make numerous samples and then move toward patterns for hats, bags, or boxes. Embellishing techniques and ideas will be applied to the completed project. The possibilities are endless with this new medium.


KAREN SELK

Karen Selk has been a textile designer and artist since 1972. Her primary focus has been weaving and fusing felt with silk. As managing director of Treenway Silks, she designs and develops new yarns, fibres, kits, and colour palettes. A former director of product development for WomanKind.com, she also organizes and leads textile and cultural tours to India, Bhutan, and Laos.

A quest for knowledge of all aspects of silk has taken her throughout Asia researching the history and heritage of silk traditions. She teaches and lectures worldwide and has produced numerous magazine articles, an educational poster about the life cycle of the silkworm, and a silk fusion DVD. The cloth, culture, and people of other countries as well as the life in her own garden are the source of Karen’s creative spirit. Visit Karen at www.treenwaysilks.com.


Student Supply List
- Jar with lid to transport liquid.
– Variety of threads, ribbons, silk organza, lace or anything else for your special stash to insert into the fusion.
– Variety of needles, sharp - large eye, blunt - large eye and embroidery needles
– Materials from your collection that you would like to use for embellishing – beads, buttons, feathers… etc
– 12 clip clothes pegs with your name in permanent marker.

All other materials supplied.

Look for the full course calendar on the web in early May. A print version will be available in June. Registration opens June 21, 2010.

[Update: Our appologies! In our excitement to tell this story we neglected to mention the prices of the Ajrakhs:
60 x 60" - $59.95
60 x 90" - $69.95
90 x 90" - $89.95
90 x 108' - $98.95
Queen Duvet - $159.95
King Duvet - $179.95
all prices Cdn.]

Our first shipment of Ajrakh blockprinting made from certified organic cotton has arrived from India. This is a moment that has been many years in the making.

We started by finding reliable organic certification. Our cotton is certified by SKAL and Solidaridad, two independent groups based in the Netherlands. In order to purchase organic cotton we must buy the crop while it is in the field. After harvest, ginning, spinning, and weaving the yardage is ready. Bolts of organic cotton were then shipped to the Khatri community of blockprinters in the Kutch desert. They took the organic cotton and put it to the test by printing a range of samples in different patterns and colours. They liked it so much they made over 50 samples in traditional Ajrakh designs. The craftspeople were impressed: the cotton received the dyes very well and gave magnificent crisp lines. We looked at the results and chose a series of our favourites to bring into the store. Here is a photo of the results - but to really appreciate them we encourage you to come into the shop, open one up and feel the cotton.

(click on the image for a larger version)

There is another side to this story which many of our regular readers will know. Last year the Maiwa Foundation did a series of fundraising auctions to fund the relocation of the blockprint studio. Falling water tables, impurities and salt in the water meant that the blockprinting that has been going on in Dhamadka for generations would soon be gone. Through the generosity of those who attended our events the relocation was made possible. Here Charllotte Kwon, director of the Maiwa Foundation stands with Ismail Khatri on the new land. Below, the new washing tanks are design to reuse water four times before letting it out to irrigate the fields.

2010 Maiwa Textile Workshops
Natalie Grambow
$175 (Includes $50 Lab Fee) Two full days

September 25, 26 (Sat, Sun) 10am - 4pm
Maiwa Loft – Net Loft Granville Island
Class Limit 14
Registration Opens June 21, 2010

“If I knew the place where good songs come from, I’d go there more often.” – Leonard Cohen

What is creativity? How can it be tapped, mined, or made to flow when we need it most? In this new and original workshop, students will travel on an exploratory adventure, discovering techniques of creativity and letting go of assumptions that stop their work or hold it back.

The class will provide a wealth of images, sounds, and sensory inspirations. These will be combined with a variety of studies exploring the elements and principles of creative design. Such ideas as balance, symmetry, harmony, contrast, unity will provide a toolbox that may be opened to understand both what we like about an artwork and what we want to work toward in our own work.

Using collage, image deconstruction, mono-printing, writing, and drawing, students will learn to narrate their stories incorporating personal references and applying design principles. Students will leave the workshop with a creative journal, the beginning of their ongoing artistic journey, as well as a series of small textile art pieces.

“When the spirit does not work with the hand, there is no art.” – Leonardo Da Vinci

Natalie Grambow will also teach
The Creative Studio
Phototransfer for Textiles
Between the Colours: Creative Resist
Works on Canvas

NATALIE GRAMBOW

Natalie Grambow has an extensive background in design, teaching, and textile arts. An accredited Interior Designer, she spent many years in Ottawa working within the architectural design field and teaching Design Theory. Natalie’s first deep exploration of textiles began during her Visual Arts/Photography studies at the University of Ottawa when she experimented with non-silver techniques of transferring photographic imagery onto cloth. She subsequently studied at the École d’Impression Textile à Montréal and later travelled to Asia and Latin America where she spent six months learning to weave with local Mayan weavers in Guatemala. Shortly after completing the Textile Arts program at Capilano College in 2001, she was awarded the BC Craft Association’s Award of Excellence. Natalie has developed a line of naturally dyed and printed fabrics and has been commissioned by such clients as the city of North Vancouver (to present an artist’s vision of North Vancouver on fabric).

Student Supply List
There will be wide variety of journaling equipment available for use in this class. It is also recommended that students bring their favorite tools from home. Please label all your supplies. Some suggestions:
- drawing pencils
- charcoal
- watercolour pencils
- watercolour paints
- coloured markers
- inspirations, photocopies, clippings for collage.

All other materials supplied.

Look for the full course calendar on the web in early May. A print version will be available in June. Registration opens June 21, 2010.

2010 Maiwa Textile Workshops
Catharine Ellis
$450 (Includes $95 Lab Fee) Four full days

September 20 - 23 (Mon - Thu) 10 am - 4 pm
Maiwa East – 1310 Odlum Drive, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Class Limit 14
Registration Opens June 21, 2010

Woven shibori makes it possible to place the “stitches” into the cloth while it is being woven on the loom. Those stitches are actually supplemental warp or weft threads that may be structured as a twill, a lace, or other pattern. The supplemental threads are used to gather the cloth. Subsequent dyeing results in an image of the woven pattern that is visually softer and less rigid than the original structured cloth.

Explore the relationship between woven cloth and shibori using the loom to create shibori resist. We will start with the basics but quickly move into a variety of woven structures such as lace weaves, block weaves, and even plain weave to develop a larger vocabulary of patterned resist with the loom.

The ability to weave fabric and choose the yarns for construction gives the textile artist infinite variations for designing. Participants will weave fabrics of wool, silk, and other fibres to create woven resists for dyeing and shaping. We will explore the use of crepe spun yarns, polyester shaping, and felting to create one-of-a-kind fabrics suitable for wearables or interiors. In addition to hands-on exploration, the class will focus on understanding the theory behind the process. Natural dyestuffs will be used for dyeing in immersion baths, direct application, layering, and discharging colours.

Catharine Ellis

Catharine Ellis taught the Professional Fibre Program at Haywood Community College for 30 years before retiring in 2008. She is now devoted to studio work and teaching a limited number of workshops. Her original training was in traditional woven techniques, which led her to weave functional fabrics for many years, often incorporating ikat resist dyeing. More recently, her career has been defined by the discovery and exploration of the woven shibori process.

“Woven shibori has challenged all that I know about weaving and has led me to investigate new materials, resists, dyes, and finishing processes. The fabrics I have produced include combinations of dyed cellulose fibres, wool felting and resist, permanent shaping with thermoplastics, and woven steel with heat treatment. Continued exploration of woven shibori and its applications will define and my guide my work for many years to come.”

Most recently Catharine has been exploring applications of Jacquard and industrial weaving in combination with hand dyeing. She has been working in partnership with The Oriole Mill in Hendersonville, NC, to develop fabrics for both chemical dyes and natural colourants. www.ellistextiles.com


Student Supply List

Requires a 4-8 shaft loom, prepared according to provided instructions. Weaving experience is required.

Pre Workshop Preparation

- Warp and thread looms with the warp provided by instructor 4 – 6 weeks prior
to the class. Threading Drafts will be sent at that time.

Supplies

- Prepared loom
- 2 or 3 shuttles with bobbins
- Hand bobbin winder (if you have one)
- Sley hook
- Needles (large blunt tapestry, crewel and sharp sewing needles)
- Graph paper and notebook
- Pick up stick – longer than 12 inches
- One spool quilting or buttonhole thread, any colour
- Seam ripper
- Apron and old clothes to wear

Please bring a bag lunch. All other materials supplied.

Look for the full course calendar on the web in early May. A print version will be available in June. Registration opens June 21, 2010.

[Update: we have started to put the Aranya shawls and scarves in our online store. Find them here.]


We've just had a large order of shawls and scarves arrive from the Aranya Natural Dye project in Kerala, India. The pieces featured here range in size from 16" x 68" to 30" x 88" and in price from $59.95 to $98.95.

Behind the success of Aranya are a group of physically challenged young adults from the families of tea plantation workers. These young people are educated and rehabilitated at a vocational training centre managed by Tata Tea Ltd. The young artisans have shown exemplary determination in their endeavor to achieve economic self-sufficiency through projects like Aranya.




The entire process is environmentally friendly. Tea waste provides a primary source of tannins, browns and earth-tones. madder root imparts a variety of reds, indigo gives blues, lac, cochineal, marigold and other dyes round out the pallette. The waste water is used for irrigation in the adjacent garden project. Aranya have developed their own patterns through techniques such as batik, blockprinting and shibori. The results speak for themselves. Exquisite shawls and scarves made from silk and cotton masterfully dyed.



Maiwa has worked with Aranya for over nine years. We always look forward to our trips to the lush, verdant tea-lined hills. There is no more peaceful place in all of India. On our visits we assist with consulting for natural dye processes, marketing and production. The Aranya Natural Dye Unit was started in 1994 with the idea of reviving natural dye use, while creating a non-toxic, eco-friendly and azo-free environment. Aranya emphisizes craft practices which reflect a harmonious, sustainable relationship with nature and the local plant reservoir. It is a unique repository of community knowledge and skillful heritage.

2010 Maiwa Textile Workshops
Michele Wipplinger
$495 (Includes $150 Lab Fee) Five full days

September 20 - 24 (Mon-Fri) 10 am - 4 pm
Maiwa Loft – Net Loft, Granville Island, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Class Limit 16
Registration Opens June 21, 2010

This very popular workshop has expanded to a full five days. The Colour Institute is devoted to an intense exploration of colour perception, aesthetics, dynamics, theory, and use. Working from diverse historic and cultural sources, this class moves through classical concepts of colour to ideas of contemporary artistic and designer practice. The workshop will conclude with insight into the world of colour forecasting and the development of colour trends.

Michele joins us from Seattle to explain how methodologies such as colour bridging, composition, and creation may be learned and mastered. Colour systems such as NCS and Pantone will be presented. Theories developed by Johannes Itten, Josef Albers, and Albert Munsell will provide the tools to understand the chromatic realm with specific reference to textiles. Students will learn how colour functions in various environments and how it interacts both with other colours and with components such as texture and lighting. The Colour Institute will include exercises with yarns, colour chips, paintings, and drawings. Students will learn how to problem-solve colour mistakes and develop a deep understanding of value and saturation and how these affect finished work. As sessions progress, the focus will shift to student design problems and challenges. Students will apply the concepts of the class to their own work.

This inspired class is a must for designers, artists, or anyone interested in the complex world of perception, meaning, and interpretation behind the use of colour.

Michele Wipplinger

Michele Wipplinger is president of Earthues Inc., an international colour and design consulting company specializing in ecology and the artisan. She has over 30 years’ experience in the field of natural design and ecological process, with an emphasis on natural dyes. She lectures worldwide and creates an exclusive line of silk shawls hand-painted with natural dyes.

Michele has been a consultant in Nepal for the development of colour and natural dye processes for the Tibetan hand-woven carpet industry. She has developed products and consulted on colour for Aveda, Origins, Martha Stewart Living, Esprit, Terra Verde, and Nature Conservancy. Michele is on the Executive Board of Directors for Colour Marketing Group and received the United Nations award for her environmental stewardship on the development of an ecological natural dye process for the American textile industry.

Look for the full course calendar on the web in early May. A print version will be available in June. Registration opens June 21, 2010.

2010 Maiwa Textile Workshops
Michele Wipplinger
$300 (Includes $85 Lab Fee) One evening and two full days

September 17 (Fri) 7 pm - 10pm
September 18, 19 (Sat, Sun) 10 am - 4 pm
Maiwa East – 1310 Odlum Drive, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Class Limit 16
Registration Opens June 21, 2010

This three-day class is designed to help the student understand the rich assortment of colour that can be gathered and brewed from the earth’s crust. Explore yellow, orange, and red ochres like those found throughout France (including the caves at Lascaux) to create brilliant hues and a sense of light. An historic selection of exotic mineral pigments will be used to yield the intense violet, blue, and aqua colours associated with lapis hematite and turquoise.

The workshop will focus on the role of tannins to intensify the colour; the process of curing cloth; the appropriate media for painting and stencilling; and the specialty techniques used to layer colour and images with mineral-infused pigments. Instruction in mixing pigments will prepare the student to achieve an extended range of exotic colours. Michele joins us from Seattle www.earthues.com.

Michele Wipplinger

Michele Wipplinger is president of Earthues Inc., an international colour and design consulting company specializing in ecology and the artisan. She has over 30 years’ experience in the field of natural design and ecological process, with an emphasis on natural dyes. She lectures worldwide and creates an exclusive line of silk shawls hand-painted with natural dyes.

Michele has been a consultant in Nepal for the development of colour and natural dye processes for the Tibetan hand-woven carpet industry. She has developed products and consulted on colour for Aveda, Origins, Martha Stewart Living, Esprit, Terra Verde, and Nature Conservancy. Michele is on the Executive Board of Directors for Colour Marketing Group and received the United Nations award for her environmental stewardship on the development of an ecological natural dye process for the American textile industry.

Look for the full course calendar on the web in early May. A print version will be available in June. Registration opens June 21, 2010.