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Natural Dyes for Bookbinding


  • Sitka Center for Art & Ecology 56605 Sitka Drive Otis, OR, 97368 United States (map)

For the natural dyer looking to expand into books, and the bookbinder looking to up their materials game…

Explore the gorgeous hues which lit up medieval manuscripts in this workshop for the 21st century book artist. Using colors derived from roots, leaves, flowers & colored earths, to create rich book cloths, linen stitching threads, inks, and decorative paste papers. An empowering journey of transforming raw materials into dye baths, and dye baths into stable pigments which can be applied to our materials in innovative ways.

We will use a few simple book structures to showcase our samples, and students will head home with a comprehensive packet to guide future efforts, and materials enough for binding several books.  This is book design literally from the ground up.