Advanced workshops
These workshops will be scheduled when at least four students who have taken one of my introductory workshops or who have some dyeing experience are available, usually on Fridays and/or Saturdays. Any of these workshops can be either one or two days.
Individual projects
Students will work on their own projects, dyeing more fabric or scarves or trying clothing, tablecloths, neckties, etc. Additional dye colours will be available, as well as the option to use thickened dyes. I will help each person figure out how to best work on their projects. Students are also likely to get good ideas from each other!
Advanced colour mixing
In the introductory workshop, we made many colours from just three single-chemical dyes, a red, a blue, and a yellow. In this workshop we’ll add additional dyes and gain experience in mixing and using an even greater range of colours.
Mechanical resists
In this workshop we’ll do an intensive exploration of folding, stitching, and clamping fabrics to create patterns by resisting the dye. We’ll try overdyeing some of the fabrics to get even richer results.
Hand dyed fabric makes a wonderful fashion statement. Argyle Fine Art in Halifax had a fashion design competition called Off the Cuff in the summer of 2009. One week each designer had to make a garment using fabric created by an artist. I contributed two coordinated pieces of cotton, and this is the dress that the designer created.
Fun with thickened dyes
We’ll apply thickened dyes to fabric using brushes, squeeze bottles, syringes, simple stamps, and stencils. We’ll experiment applying the dyes to wet or dry fabric and combining them with thin dyes. The possibilities are endless!
Monotype prints
This is one of my favourite techniques. Using thickened dye, we’ll try different ways of making monotype prints on fabric, and possibly also on watercolour paper.
Pole wrapping
We’ll wrap silk or cotton around small or large poles, adding dye by dipping, painting, or injecting it, for a wonderful variety of patterns and textures.
Silkscreening (to come)
We’ll make silkscreen prints on fabric using thickened dye instead of ink. For even more variety, we’ll add in paper stencils and possibly soy wax.
Fee: $60 plus a $10 supply fee for a total of $70 per day. All dyes and chemicals are included. Students can bring their own fabric or can purchase a variety of fabrics and scarves from me. Please bring your lunch (or I can provide lunch for an extra fee with advance notice) and wear old clothes and comfortable shoes.
To register: Send an email to ann@annschroederstudio.com or call me at 902-945-2744 to tell me what workshops you’re interested in and when you’re available and I’ll try to put together a group. For groups of 4 to 6 who want to schedule a workshop at a particular time (including days other than Friday or Saturday), I’m available throughout the year.
