PROGRAMMING INFORMATION

Botanical Dye Workshop~ $65 *ticket registration below

Prairie Honey Creative Bundle Dyeing Flowers onto Silk Workshop is an experience of the playful power of plant color in the form of soft and vibrant yellows, earthy, moss-like, and cosmic greens, unique turquoises and blues, lilacs, bold purples, and majestic pinks and corals. Utilize and discover pigment from fresh wildflowers, fresh botanicals, in combination with facilitator Blaine Lunsford's personal dye collection of dried plant matter and extracts, to create a wonderous range of color and design that will be made possible working with silk as a canvas.

The bundle dye process is unique and truly magical! Participants will receive an in-depth how-to educational process throughout this workshop, highlighting specific techniques to apply to their own at-home practice. A myriad of topics, methods, and techniques will be discussed throughout, from plant pigment color theory to natural dye methods, and an e-book will be provided to all participants following the workshop.

This is the perfect boreal forest art activity to add to your Backwards Ness experience. Blaine’s favourite location to facilitate is in the Boreal, surrounded by tall birch and pines, non-human kin and flora. Northern Saskatchewan and the Ness Creek Site holds a special place in the hearts of many, and this fibre art expression / play therapy is a unique way to integrate the experience into a forever piece of wearable to art.

The process of this workshop includes:

1. Choosing and placing flowers, herbs, and natural dye extracts onto your very own 14x72, 100% silk habotai scarf (ideal for natural dyeing and prepped ahead of time by your facilitator to ensure long-lasting steadfast dyes and color pigment). This is where we PLAY!

2. Dive into the process of creation. This process is experimental, eliciting a sensory experience for the body, both externally and internally, regulating the nervous system and taking us to an active rest state, AKA, Play. Let go and feel the alchemy!

3. The Bundle. We will bundle our silk pieces carefully to then steam in steamer pots for a period of about 20-35 minutes, allowing the pigment to be extracted even further onto the silk via heat and steam activation. The smell will light up the room as this alchemical process takes place.

4. The Reveal! Once our pieces have finished steaming and the plant color is fully extracted, binding onto the silk, we will unwrap and unveil the magical work and beauty each participant has created.

This workshop is rooted in ecology, slow fashion initiatives, forest art, the science of play, nervous system-based regulation practices, ecosomatics, color theory, botanical alchemy, ceremony, ritual, connection, and community, and is truly Soul Activism.

12-person capacity. Refunds are unavailable due to the supply-based nature of this workshop. Dye kits and full instructions, as well as guidance online with Blaine, will be made available to anyone unable to attend.