Dates: Saturday 25th February 10am-1pm | Sunday 26th February 10am-2pm
Place: Hawthorn Room, The Rockfield Centre
Age: 16+
Cost: £65

The Rockfield Centre has a fund available to support those who may not otherwise be able to attend our workshops. Please contact arts@therockfieldcentre.org.uk for more information.

Booking is essential for this event

2 Day Art and Textiles Course

Learn natural dyeing techniques to colour fabric or yarn with plant colours, including plants grown onsite in the Rockfield Dye Garden.

This fascinating two-day introductory course exploring extracting colours from nature offers a sustainable alternative to industrial colour production. You will be amazed at the variety of rich colours which can be extracted from plants.

The course structure is as follows:

Day 1: preparing and mordanting cellulose (linen, cotton etc.) and protein (wool, silk etc.) fabric and yarn, including an introduction to plants grown in the Rockfield Dye Garden.

Day 2: extracting dyes from plants, before dyeing fabric and yarn.

Materials will be provided for each participant to take home samples of naturally dyed fabric and yarn.

Participants may also bring one small item to dye. The item must be made of 100% natural fibres and have been thoroughly washed in advance of the course.

Deborah Gray

Deborah Gray is a textile artist based in Oban. Deborah’s recent work examines the links between the landscape, the natural materials which grow there, and the work created from those materials which reflect its elements. Her knowledge of techniques includes spinning, natural dyeing, knitting, botanical printing and stitch.

Deborah is lead Practitioner for the EcoCreative Cluster dye garden project at The Rockfield Centre, having developed the dye garden here, along with a programme of natural dyeing workshops (with co-Lead Naoko Mabon) alongside building a network of local and international practitioners who also focus on the use of natural dyes and related practices. Find out more about the EcoCreative Cluster.

Deborah is an experienced teacher of spinning, natural dyeing and knitting techniques and has been Artist-in-Residence at The Icelandic Textile Centre, Blönduós, NorthWest Iceland in 2018, 2019 and 2021.