Colors Of Indigo

COLORS OF INDIGO

September 10, 17, and 24, 2022 10-12 am PST

Are you one of those souls hooked on fresh-leaf indigo?

Ready to take it one step further?

Join John Marshall in exploring all the colors possible with Persicaria tinctoria, Japanese indigo.

All? More than blue?

Absolutely!

$375

three two-hour sessions

August 26
10:00-noon & 1:00-3:00

September 2
1 0:00-noon PST

Turnip, by John Marshall

Using only Persicaria tinctoria on silk to illustrate all the colors possible from this one incredible plant. Shibori and katazome.

We’ll begin the session one with the basics of indican, the foundation of our blue, to make sure that we are all starting from a shared base of knowledge.

In session two, we’ll venture into extracting what most of us just throw away–the yellow found in indigo cells, kaempferol. So right there we have blue and yellow, and by extension, green. Why stop there?

Also found within the cells of our friend Percy, is a dye called indirubin that will amaze us with shades of magenta. And, armed with this red, we will be able to produce a full color palette of blues, greens, yellows, oranges, reds, and purples. Percy is so like some our very best friends–perhaps quiet and retiring in appearance but overflowing with hidden treasures if only we show a little patience and take time to get to know them.

If you have ever taken a class from John, you know that you are in for an exciting adventure, chocked full of dye tips and cultural side notes. With that in mind, don’t plan on actually working on projects during his live presentation. Instead sit back and allow yourself to absorb all the splendor of what is being offered in this Zoom presentation, ask questions as they arise, and save the actual hands-on for the quiet of your studio.

The projects used to illustrate the steps we’ll be covering will focus on figurative imagery on woven yardage. This will include string-, wax-, and rice-paste resists. Also covered will be tips on how to get great results on yarns.

The course will be recorded and you will be able to download the Zoom recording to allow each of you to clearly view highly detailed, up close filming – shot from a variety of angles to give you an unimpeded view of all that is taking place. You won’t have to sit and watch pots boil or tap your fingers as dyes are strained, drip by drip.

All steps have been carefully edited to ensure you have the clearest view of all that is taking place as we tackle the tasks at hand. However, sometimes Zoom recordings can be a bit rough, and so to help give you the best possible visuals, I’ll be uploading high quality versions of each individual segment to Vimeo, to allow you to freely view the details in their clearest format.

There is an added third session review in which we’ll have Q&A to allow you to clarify concepts and take advantage of the questions posed by others–and of course, John always has more information to share!