Noble, Elin (#6268) Indigo: Blue, Brown & White, June 27-30

This four-day class will engage indigo dye from two vantage points. We will begin by applying indigo on cellulose cloth (cotton, linen, hemp, ramie). After that we will selectively remove indigo through a series of resist techniques.

The first day of the course we will make an indigo vat and dye cloth creating a variety of blue hues, and on the remaining days we will use paste and clay resists in addition to stitched, wrapped, and clamped resists. We will create a variety of imagery, focusing on blue on brown, blue on white, white on blue, brown on blue, or a combination of all of these.

We will remove the indigo dye using potassium permanganate, which first leaves the background color in varying shades of brown. Further processing removes the brown, leaving the background color white with an indigo blue pattern.

We will cover how to maintain an indigo vat as well as safe and effective methods for using the discharge products.

Instructor’s Bio: Elin Noble was born in Munich, Germany, grew up in the United States, the Far East and Europe, and now resides in Langley, Washington. She studied art history in Florence, Italy and has traveled and studied in Japan, India, Turkey, Peru, South Africa, Europe, and Mexico. Elin is the author of Dyes & Paints: A Hands-On Guide to Coloring Fabric, winner of the 1999 Independent Publisher book award for the best “How-To Book”. She has a BFA in Fiber from the University of Washington. As former Lab Manager at PRO Chemical & Dye, she has a vast experience and understanding of dyeing. She has appeared on PBS, lectured, and conducted dye and paint workshops across North America as well as internationally. Her work has been reviewed in Fiberarts, is on the cover of Fine Woodworking Design Book Six, and was included in the traveling exhibition, Fiberart International 2004. She was nominated for the teacher of the year award for 2005 by Professional Quilter magazine. Elin’s work may be seen at http://elinnoble.com.