EXPLORING SEASONAL COLOR and TASTE PALETTE
AT BLACK CAT FARM WITH sasha duerr

workshop details

no experience necessary
 

 

Over three beautifully immersive days, we’ll experiment with and dye an array of naturally sourced colors and plant-dyed textiles, learning to cook with color from the unique early autumn hues we will gather and forage onsite at Black Cat Organic Farm.  

Collaborating with local and seasonal sources of color from an abundance of bi-product edible plants, weeds, and food waste allows us to work with whole plants to create both taste and color palettes. We’ll make a very special seasonal color palette that speaks uniquely to Black Cat Farm, creating a full array of swatches for you to keep, as well as a collection of seasonally dyed linen napkins and a table runner in celebration of slow textiles. Inspired by her latest books, Natural Color and Natural Palettes, Sasha will share creative plant dye processes, unique ways to create patterns with the dyes on textiles, and provide recipes to inspire you to make your own natural "color stories” with what you find in the environments that surround you. These natural color techniques and recipes can be used in an abundance of ways, whether in your own art and design practice, or to imbue your everyday textiles and garments with vibrant, meaningful, and unique colors through natural plant-based palettes.

In addition to exploring nature’s miraculous colors that can be found all around us, we will explore the flavor profiles of the edible ingredients we will be using for dyes. Chef Eric Skokan will guide us in gaining a deeper understanding of these ingredients as he leads tastings to experience them in various ways, and sharing his favorite ways to use them to create wonderful dishes.

Our workshop will culminate in a shared ‘Luncheon to Dye For’, celebrating the seasonal color and taste palette of Colorado and Black Cat Farm, and highlighting the biodiversity of slow food and slow textiles with natural palettes made with the very same ingredients. We invite you into a colorful, experimental, and beautiful experience that will deepen your appreciation and expand your mind to embrace the possibilities of what might be growing right outside your door.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN:

  • How to map and identify and forage for natural dye plants - including from seasonal sources, food and floral waste, medicinal plants, plus local and seasonal weeds. 

  • Cooking with Color techniques to make beautiful natural dyes from scratch.

  • Modifying and expanding our color palettes. 

  • Surface design techniques

    • Shibori Techniques

    • Steam Printing + Bundle Dyeing

    • Direct Application for Printing and Painting  

  • How to create an installation for an immersive slow food and slow textile event. 

  • Regenerative and circular design methods - overlapping slow food and slow fashion and textiles.

MATERIALS PROVIDED:

  • All natural dye ingredients and fiber materials will be provided. 

  • Recipe cards and resources for all dyes we will create together. 

  • A full array of color samples of the palette we create and larger swatches and textiles exploring surface design and techniques. 

  • A set of 8 napkins and a table runner dyed in the seasonal natural dye palette of Black Cat Farm. 

  • Seasonal Color Wheel - Colorado

  • Signed copy of Sasha’s book Natural Color

WHAT TO BRING:

  • An open mind and heart


ONSITE AND IN THE STUDIO: 

  • Wear clothes and shoes practical for foraging, cooking and dyeing.

  • Closed-toed shoes for dyeing. Aprons and smocks are encouraged.

  • Practical outdoor clothing and layers for rain or shine.

  • Mindfulness for working with plants and onsite. 

 
 
 
 

SASHA DUERR is an artist, designer and educator who works with plant-based color and natural palettes. Sasha centers her practice and research on the collaborative color potential of weeds, food and floral waste, and local and seasonal ingredients. Teaching for over a decade at California College of the Arts with a joint appointment in Textiles and Fine Arts,  Sasha lectures, consults and widely designs curriculum and courses in the intersection of natural color, slow food, slow fashion and social practice. In 2007, Sasha founded Permacouture Institute to encourage the exploration of regenerative design practices for fashion and textiles.  From "Dinners to Dye For" to "Weeding Your Wardrobe" and "Seasonal Color Wheels" her extensive work with plant-based color palettes has been featured in the New York Times, American Craft Magazine,Domino, Elle Decor Uk, Selvedge, and the Huffington Post. Sasha is the author of The Handbook of Natural Plant Dyes (Timber Press/Workman 2011) NATURAL COLOR (Watson-Guptill/Ten Speed Press 2016) and NATURAL PALETTES (Princeton Architectural Press 2020).

 

*images by Sasha Duerr