Pre-tax total cost of workshop: $850 (includes $25 reg fee), 30% deposit: $255
Dates: Tuesday, June 23 – Saturday, June 27, 2026 (9am – 4pm)
Location: Art School, 15 NW Birch St, Coupeville
Materials: Benjamin- Supply List.pdf
Skill Level: Advanced Beginner with wax and dye experience to Professional level
*Important Note:* This workshop is about the process and is a quiet and reflective class. Conversation is kept to a minimum so students can focus.

Stenciling or stamping wax onto fabric is known around the world and has been famous in Japan for more than 400 years as Katazome or paste-resist stenciling. However, Ro-kata (wax stencil) is a new, twentieth century version of the original paste resist process, and utilizes the wonderful qualities of hot wax and dye to create pattern. The ease of cutting a paper stencil and the variety of placement possibilities makes this surface design technique on silk an exciting possibility.

In this intensive five-day class you will be introduced to four different innovative ways of interpreting the same design image that can be used singularly or in conjunction with each other.

The class will cover:

• Preparing a design, transferring, and cutting the stencil paper
• Applying wax and dyeing your own images using Japanese tools
• A variety of creative wax and dye applications and stencil placements
• Use natural soy and beeswax on silk utilizing the acid dyes of the kimono industry and their unique sizing and steaming process for permanency

Ro-kata is a process that Kiranada has happily used for the past thirty-five years to design wall-hangings, kimono, obi, scrolls, standing screens, and fashion and loves sharing this innovative process with others.

By special request, Kira will also demonstrate the more advanced hanbosen and menfuse (half resist and wax surface) techniques to students who have a special interest in experimenting with these two shaded-wax techniques.

Instructor Bio: Kiranada Sterling Benjamin is the author of The World of Rozome: Wax Resist Textiles of Japan and an accomplished fiber artist with many years of experience in wax resist dyeing and kimono design. The recipient of numerous awards and grants, Kira has exhibited her work in more than fifty shows worldwide, with solo exhibitions in more than six countries. She first went to Kyoto, Japan to research kimono design, and traditional resist processes, and returned to the USA after eighteen years to teach Surface Design at Massachusetts College of Art and Design. Kira has taught rozome/batik workshops in thirteen countries and nineteen states and thoroughly enjoys sharing her love of wax-resist and dye with others. She is also a long-term meditator.