"Dyeing As If The Earth Mattered" with Michele Wipplinger Part 2

Tending to our drying skeins of wool. silk & cotton. Each skein had to be labeled wit the formula that was used. This was time consuming but very necessary.

Lush rusts, reds, deep purples & browns

One of my favorites that I will making a batch of soon - weld with a bit of Osage orange to mellow the vibrant weld yellow

Writing and checking the labels

Yes! We were a group of very happy dyers!

Gently separating the silks skeins from the wool and cotton.

I love this blue grey seen with a deep rust color of Quebachero Red and my favorite weld/osage

The deep, mysterious, bubbly depths of the indigo vat

Red wools (front) and cotton (rear)

Carol Strum created a knock-out scarf. Her first time to try some shibori techniques using some small rocks she found. Yum!

 

The weather was utter perfection during the entire workshop. Screaming blue skies and lilic bushes in full, fragrant bloom.

The "bunk-house" that we stayed in, courtesy of a very generous friend, Lola Deane, afforded us this view as we sat about chatting in the evening.  Thank you Lola! These are the ferries that we use to get around. This image was taken at dusk.

For me, one of the highlights of this weekend was being able to see the Benedictine sanctuary that has been on Shaw Island for many years. It's not a place that you can just walk into - we went hoping that we might get lucky and have permission granted to sit for a quiet spell. Our wish was granted and oh! how lovely this spot is. The chapel is made from many native North West woods and the air was redolent with the warm wood smells!

This is a beautiful stained glass window that graces the chapel on one wall.

The simple but elegant chapel itself. Silent personal retreats are allowed and I might just have to try that experience some day!

This was a very special workshop for me on many levels and it has left me with so much to absorb and review. It was darn near perfection in every way possible !