Journal Postings: Stephanie Sato
| (10/31/08): Tapestry Weaving Workshop |  Last week I attended a workshop given by James Koehler on Color and Design and Tapestry weaving at Gail Denton's Natural Dye Workshop. It was very imformative and helpful. |
| (10/03/08): Natural Dyes Workshop | | The workshop is excellent! I'm in Boulder, Colorado doing a one-on-one workshop with Gail Denton for four weeks. We have made wool and silk samples dyed with a wide spectrum of colors from various plants, trees, insects. |
| (10/03/08): A view of the studio |  Here's a view of part of the studio. Her studio is 1400 sq. ft. The stoves are outside. |
| (10/03/08): Wool samples |  The spectrum is wider than I thought. Deep color saturation is possible. |
| (10/03/08): Wool samples |  Two samples of wool: one dyed with Logwood and the other dyed with Madder root. |
| (10/03/08): Rabbitbrush |  One morning we drove out to a spot where Gail had spotted Rabbitbrush, a desert plant that is blooming right now. We cut a few blooms from several plants, careful not take too much from just one plant. |
| (10/03/08): Rabbitbrush |  And here it is in the pot simmering away! We put some silk in the pot and it turned a lovely golden yellow. |
| (10/03/08): Silk Samples |  Cutch, Logwood, and Madder. |
| (10/03/08): Silk Samples |  Samples of Weld, Madder, Quebracho Green, Quebracho Black, Quebracho Red, Wattle on silk. |
| (10/03/08): A Natural Dye Chart |  This is a handmade chart to show how different dyes interact with one another. |
| (10/03/08): A Natural Dye Chart |  A close-up of the chart. You can see that some dyes act as a discharge on certain dyes. Others create a different shade. |
| (09/17/08): the barn | | The top level of this red cow barn is where I am setting up my studio. |
| (09/17/08): the barn | | The top level of this red cow barn is where I am setting up my studio. |
| (09/17/08): the barn |  photo |
| (09/17/08): inside the barn |  The floor is finished (well, almost) and only a few more finishing touches (lilke base boards, for example.) |
| (09/17/08): a close up photo of the looms |  The 16 harness loom |
| (09/17/08): the 4-harness loom |  My first loom purchased from an elderly lady, who also sold me the bench, the warping board, shuttles, books, yarns, and other various necessary tools for weaving. |
| (09/17/08): the looms |  Another photo of the looms. I consider myself fortunate to be able to purchase looms, what to speak of have my own studio. |
| (09/17/08): marigold harvest |  I grew a fair amount of marigold plants this year. The flowers are in abundance right now, especially with all the rain we have been getting.
This is only one small bag; I have collected several so far. I'm drying them out for later use for making dyes with them. |
| (09/17/08): pokeberries |  Pokeberry harvest. They are ripe and ready now. Although the dye obtained from them is vibrant, it is fleeting; the dye isn't very color fast. Nonetheless, I picked them anyway, since I found so many when I took a walk along the gravel country road near my house. |
| (09/17/08): Workshop | | At the end of this month I will be going to Colorado do do a natural dyes workshop with Gail Denton, in Longmont Colorado. She has a 1400 sq. foot studio and has arranged a one-on-one workshop with me, starting with the basics and expanding into the various avenues of exploration of natural dyes. It will be at least 2 weeks, perhaps three or four.
I'm really looking forward to it! |
| (07/14/08): New Friends | | I've never been so excited about tree bark and leaves before! It's like I'm establishing new relationships. Plants that never had much value to my life and that I knew nothing about just became my friends!
I'm collecting nettles, osage tree bark, apple tree bark, oak tree bark, oak galls, marigolds, black-eyed susans, and more. Reading books and meeting with local people with some knowledge, I'm learning about dye plants and wild prarie plants used for various purposes including dyeing. I met with an ethnobotanist who encouraged me to become familiar with the scientific names of the plants and compile a list of all plants used for dyes that are listed in all the books I am reading. I'm working on it.
I purchased two used floor looms, each at great prices. One is a Leclerc 4 Harness loom and the other is a Machomer 16 Harness Loom, about 60 inches wide. The 4 Harness loom was owned by an elderly woman who could no longer use it. Along with the loom she gave me a table-top loom, several boxes of yarns, shuttles, bobbin winder, warping board, and various small tools.
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