‘Thanks Jonny and Ross for an incredible week. I left with a head full of knowledge and feeling very inspired! Really excited about my natural dyeing journey.’
‘It was such a good week. I can’t stop looking for galls on oak trees and common yarrow in the hedgerows!’
It was so great to be back at the V&A South Kensington teaching our week-long intensive Natural Dyeing course last week. Working in the Art Studio this time, a much more suitable space with large windows, high ceilings and lots of natural light, it was an amazing if exhausting experience. Sold out months in advance again, we had such a lovely group of people to teach and spend time with. A massive amount of work is involved prepping for a natural dyeing course, and we are still recovering!
We used Walnut Hulls, Pomegranate Rind, Rhubarb Root and Buckthorn Bark for our substantive dyes and Weld, Logwood, Sappanwood, Madder for our adjective dyes and demonstrated Cochineal and Sticklac (a new stinky experience for us all). We achieved such wonderful colours and the group was thrilled with the extensive sample set that they returned home with. Ross also prepped our Indigo Vat, as well as demonstrating a Woad and the 123 Vat method. On top of that we created 4 sample jars, using Rudbeckia, Marigold, Brown Onion skins and Common Yarrow (the latter two with added pieces of iron).
You can read more about the course in the journal post and see a full set of images. We will be running the course again, but are also looking at delivering shorter more advanced courses for the V&A Academy so contact them and register your interest. Keep an eye on the V&A website, here and on our social media for more information. We would both like to thank our great friend and teacher, the wonderful Jenny Dean, whose books we uses as the basis for this course, for all her ongoing help and support. A big shout out also goes to Stacy Gambrell, our V&A Academy producer for supporting us and helping make this second course a reality.