Wild Color: The Art of Dyeing with Fungi & Flora

TOTAL COST: $400
Course Fee: $375
Non-refundable Materials Fee: $25

DATES: SATURDAY, MARCH 15 & 16, 2025
TIME: 10:00AM – 4:00PM PST
LEVEL: Intermediate to Advanced
AGE GROUP: Adult (ages 18+), Youth (ages 15-17)
LOCATION: Building 324C, Fort Worden, Port Townsend.

DESCRIPTION
Ready to dive into the magical world of fungi and natural color? Whether you are enchanted by the beauty of wild mushrooms or fascinated by the art of botanical dyes, this workshop offers the perfect blend of science, creativity, and hands-on exploration.

Join artist, farmer, and Mushroom Color Atlas creator Julie Beeler as she takes you on a vibrant journey through the funga and flora kingdoms. You will learn how to unlock the mesmerizing hues from wild mushrooms and easily-grown plants while discovering sustainable practices that feel refreshingly radical in today's world.

Over the course of this workshop, we will create a kaleidoscope of colors, delving into the art of over-dyeing and learning to achieve stunning results on different fibers like wool, silk, and linen. Imagine turning leaves into blue, roots into reds, and blossoms into brilliant yellows and mushrooms into the rainbow beneath your feet.

Everyone will create their own dye journal to house all these beautiful swatches, this journal will be a beautiful keepsake of your colorful adventure. Expect opportunities to explore the stunning landscape of the Salish Sea, ask all your burning questions about foraging and dyeing, and soak up the beauty of the land around you. This workshop is best for those with experience in natural dyeing who want to take their practice to the next level — and have a lot of fun doing it!

Students will leave with an understanding of how to work with dye mushrooms and plants to achieve a range of colors across a variety of natural fibers (wool, silk & linen), an expansion of mordanting techniques to optimize vibrant hues, exploration of overdyeing techniques between funga and flora, and creating a handmade dye journal.

Students who successfully complete this course should be able to:

-Define/Recall different mushroom and plant species, types...
-Describe/Explain the identification components of different dye mushrooms and plants...
-Apply/Demonstrate creating mushroom and botanical dye baths…
-Analyze/Determine the properties of the dye bath to reveal the color...
-Create/Make various dye swatches…
-Evaluate/Compare mordanting and dyeing methods…
-Design/Develop a handmade dye journal…

This workshop is ideal for advanced beginners with a basic understanding and experience working with natural dyes, a fantastic workshop for practicing dyers.

SUPPLY INFORMATION

Please bring the following to the course:

-Writing pen & note-taking supplies
-Apron (if you prefer to protect your clothes)
-Gloves (if you prefer to protect your hands)
-Water bottle
-Small jars to bring home any left over dye baths

Everything else will be provided

COURSE DETAILS
After registration, course details are available via the Northwind Art School learning portal. Learn more

ABOUT JULIE
Julie Beeler is an acclaimed designer, artist, and educator inspired by the natural world. Her work has been featured by The New York Times, Popular Science, The Smithsonian Institution and The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, among others.

Julie created the Mushroom Color Atlas website to unveil and celebrate the resplendent chromatic universe hidden within the fungi kingdom, making it accessible to people around the world. Her book The Mushroom Color Atlas, recently published by Chronicle Books, is a comprehensive  primer on the universe of colors lurking inside fungi. It is equal parts art book, field guide, and dye-making workshop. In every form her effort is a timeless reference that will be used for years to come.

After a 20-year career at the vanguard of interactive design, Julie founded Bloom & Dye, a natural dye studio and farm in the Pacific Northwest ideally situated for foraging mushrooms, growing fresh-cut color, and creating fine art.

Artist website: Julie Beeler, @mushroomcoloratlas

—

DISCOUNTS
This course is eligible for a 10% member discount at the Supporter level and beyond. Get a membership today!

Don's Pharmacy and Art Toolkit in Port Townsend offer Northwind Art School students a 10% discount on art supplies.

—

CANCELLATION POLICY
If Northwind Art has to cancel a course for any reason, all enrolled students will receive a 100% refund (including any materials fee).

Students who withdraw from a course at least seven days prior to its first meeting will receive a 90% refund (less any materials fee). 

Students withdrawing fewer than seven days from the first day of class are not eligible for a refund except in the case of illness or injury, in which case they are eligible to receive a 40% refund (less any materials fee).

Please note that 10% of every course’s registration fee is considered to be a non-refundable deposit in cases of withdrawal to cover administrative overhead. All refunds will be applied to the same credit card that was used for enrollment. No credits or transfers will be granted. 

Please email admin@northwindart.org if you wish to withdraw or for more information.