Welcome To The Plants & Colour Year Course

Thank you for signing up! I am excited to share this journey with you.

UPDATE

Hello! There has been a technical issue and many of the resources have become un linked from this page. I am working on this and I will let you know when the issue is resolved. If you need access to resources in the meantime, please send an email to flora@plantsandcolour.co.uk and I will share the ages with you.

Thank you for joining this year long journey taking you through various techniques for working with plant based colour for textiles and paper, developing your skills along the way. My approach to teaching is about supporting you on your own journey, allowing you to choose your pace and focus. Growing, foraging, and exploring the techniques I share throughout the seasons. 

Through this course you will have the opportunity to learn various techniques that build upon each other. The earlier months will be on foundational skills and we will work up to more complex techniques later on. Through this, You can go out and start to get to know the plants living around you and start discovering what colours you can create, and trying out different techniques to find the processes that work best for you. 

PRACTICALS:

The teaching will be mostly pre-recorded videos with some live zoom demonstrations that will also be recorded and shared for those who cannot attend live. This means that you can access most of the learning at a time that suits you.

Each module will be supported by online learning resources, including reading lists, equipment and supplier lists, and written instructions.

There will be a group online forum on Slack for sharing images of work, reflections, and questions.

I plan to stagger release of resources to you in bitesize chunks. If you are burning to get access to some of the resources earlier than scheduled, let me know.

GETTING STARTED:

1. Add the schedule dates to your diary. 

Our live sessions will be one Tuesday per month 4-6pm BST.

March 14th Session 1 - Launch - Meeting each other, setting intentions. Mordanting, fabric preparations.

April 18th Session 2 - Growing Dye Plants - Propagation, creating a dye garden.

May 23rd Session 3 - Fabric Dyes - .Extraction, colour, modifiers.

June 13th Session 4 - Indigo Vat Dyeing, Simple shibori and arashi techniques.

July 11th Session 5 - Ink & Paint - Processes for making ink and paint from plants including making lake pigments.

September 5th Session 6 - Making Crayons - With earth pigments and plant pigments.

October 3rd Session 7 - Flowers - Bundle dyeing and flower inks.

November 7th Session 8 - Making print pastes - with dyes, mordants, and modifiers.

December 5th Session 9 - Screen printing on fabric - with dyes and modifiers.

January 16th 2024 Session 10 - Printing on fabric - with mordants before dyeing.

February 16th Session 11 - Ending - Reflection, Sharing, Feedback

2. Equipment and Materials

Look through the list or materials and equipment. You can start to gather basic equipment and materials you would like to use (pans, sieves, spoons etc). You might want to wait until you learn the techniques before purchasing more specific supplies so you only get exactly what you plan to use. Most months, new learning resources will be made available to you. I will email you each month with the details and links. You will need to acquire new materials and equipment throughout the year. 

3. Join the discord forum and introduce yourself to the other people on the course. 

This is our online learning community. This is where you can share your explorations and questions. 
There are two rules:

1. If you would like a direct response from me about something, please make sure you tag me (@flora). This will ensure I will see your post. 

2. In order to keep the group tidy and organised, if you want to reply to a comment, please make sure that you ‘start a thread’ on the comment. 

4. Get a sketchbook  to document your year exploration of plant based colour. 

Consider why you are drawn to this course and stay true to what is inspiring you. Write down your intentions. What does plant based colour mean to you? What would you like to learn? This may be a general overview or a more specific outcome. What plants are you drawn to? What medium are you drawn to? Where would you like to be in a year’s time?