Aya Fiber Studio

his workshop intensively explores techniques developed by Rio and inspired by the ancient craft of Kalamkari from India. We will explore the magic of printing and dyeing by using natural fibers such as silk and basic elements such as iron and various tannins.

This natural and ecological method is quick in its results and has a low environmental impact.

During the workshop, you will be introduced to the history of Kalamkari and the use of iron in dyeing over the centuries. Rio will show you how to make your rust bath from iron bits and an alternative bath with Ferrous Sulfate crystals. Next, she will introduce tannins in the form of harvested plants and concentrate powders. We will create several dye baths to cross-pollinate the iron and tannin samples. We will create a soy milk bath from fresh soybeans for day two. This will create resist and color shifts while we print and dye a new set of samples with the tannin and iron baths. Printing with iron and the ancient method of Shibori will be introduced to create patterns and textures from the new processes you have learned. For day three, we will continue to develop a language with patterns and printing from the iron and tannin baths, plus any and all of the techniques you have learned thus far. The focus will be more on how to expand our samples and in what ways this process can be integrated into your personal practice. At the end of the workshop, you will have numerous silk and cotton swatch samples of color and prints and several larger silk or cotton panels of finished pieces.

30.00 Material fee paid to instructor

Students should bring:

Apron, pen (ball point), any textiles you may want to experiment with, any rust objects that you would like to print, plastic bags to bring home any wet fabrics

Provided to students:

Sample fabrics ( cotton and silk), larger panels for final pieces, nitrile gloves, dye baths, hand outs with recipes and information, a variety of rusted objects to print, thread for Shibori, needles,