2013 Maiwa Textile Symposium

Beyond Blue - Taking Indigo Further

Bryan Whitehead

Maiwa East: 1310 Odlum Drive, Vancouver BC

This workshop will explore the rich tones that can be created by using indigo in combination with other dyes.

There are no natural dyes that will give a green. Yet it can be achieved through underdyeing yellow and overdyeing with indigo.

Indigo is unique in the world of natural dyes. Moreover, the nature of the indigo vat means that techniques for over-dyeing and under-dyeing must be properly sequenced to obtain the desired colour.

In this two-day workshop students will work with a variety of dyes (including gardenia pods, onion skins, madder, lac, and cochineal) in combination with indigo to obtain a range of purples and greens.

Instructor Bio

Originally from Vancouver, Bryan Whitehead now lives in a small mountain village in Japan. On the shady side of the slope in a house perched on a ledge reached only by a narrow twisting road, Bryan has a small silk and indigo farm. With traditional tools he reels the silk before spinning and weaving on an antique loom.