DYEING TO RUST WITH PAM NICHOLS

June 28-30, 2024

Port Orchard, WA

Pam Nichols is returning stateside and will teach a Dyeing to Rust class with Kathie Vezzani. The two are rust queens that love to share their rust collections and knowledge to create beautiful papers and fabrics for your artistic creations. Encaustic painting will be the focus of this workshop.

Itinerary

Day One: Friday, June 28

9:00 We will meet for introductions and we will go through the schedule. Pam will give a demonstration on how to create a “lasagna” of rusty gold. Then you will be set free to start making your rusty papers.

We will stop for lunch around 12:30, then return to prep boards and more demonstrations.

The day will end around 4:00

Day Two: Saturday, June 29

9:00 We will start with what is our favorite part of the workshop - the unveiling. Here’s where you get to see what you created. While your papers are drying, you have time to set up another round of rusting. Once dry, you can begin to use your papers in your encaustic paintings.

We will stop for lunch, then continue creating until 4:30 when we will break for appetizers and dinner.

Day Three: Sunday, June 30

9:00 We will finish rusting papers and your paintings, adding rusty bits if you so desire.

We will break for lunch around noon, then back in the workshop to finish up. Around 3:00, we will start cleaning up and then we will share our work.

THIS ESCAPE INCLUDES

• Three days of instruction by Pam Nichols and Kathie Vezzani

• Use of metal collection

• One 12” x 12” cradled board

• Hot plates

• Butane gas for torches

• Nitrile Gloves

• Chip brushes

• Encaustic medium and some encaustic paint

• One dinner, three lunches

• Facebook Private Page

• New Art Tribe

The price for this workshop is $700 and does not include lodging or transportation. A $500 non-refundable fee is due upon registration. The remaining $200 is due April 15, 2024.

Port Orchard is the site for the workshop. The location is 9 miles north of Gig Harbor, WA which is listed as one of the most desirable cities in the US to visit (or live). It is located south of Seattle, across the Narrows Bridge on Hwy 16.

The Bremerton-Kitsap Airporter stops in Gig Harbor and in Port Orchard.

There are many Arbnbs and B&Bs in the area. A list of accommodations will be provided if requested.

STUDENT SUPPLY LIST

• Bring encaustic paint - 3 or 4 of your favorite colors in tins with brushes,
  1 or 2 Hake 1.5" or 2" brushes

• Your favorite tools

• Apron

• Rusty Items (if you desire) to use for rusting or assemblage - I have a lot

• Natural papers such as silk tissue paper, mulberry paper, rice papers or cotton papers. Thinner paper works best in incorporating into the encaustic paint.

• Butane torch head such as Iwatani (we have some to share)

• Two 10 x 10 gessoed panels 1 1/2 deep or encaustic boards

• One 12 x 12 gessoed panels 1 1/2 deep or encaustic boards

• Any other materials you like to work with for mark making, etc.

• Box of waxed paper

Pam Nichols is an artist now living in Perth, Australia. While living in Portland, OR, she was a gallery artist with a thriving practice. Now, she is forever searching for rusty fodder in Australia since she was unable to take it with her. Kathie was the lucky recipient of a lot of her rust and blames Pam for her rust fetish. Picking rust at Swift & McCormick is their favorite activity to do together when they are not golfing.

Kathie Vezzani is a mixed media artist who loves anything rusty. She rusts, paints and uses encaustic and cold wax in her practice. She also creates mixed media sculptures. She creates workshops for other artists in her spare time.

Elizabeth Bunsen grew up in the Midwest, went to college, lived on the Ivory Coast for 3 years with the Peace Corps, traveled and then went to grad school for her MFA in painting and art history. She has taught studio art and art history at various colleges. She has also directed an art gallery, taught art to children and adults, and had a son late in life who has been her greatest teacher. She lives in a beautiful, natural environment where she takes long walks and where she tends to leave creative messes where she goes. She has a studio/gallery in her home on the shores of Lake Champlain where she is in continual conversation with the weather and the birds. She has been known to brake at the sight of a pink sky.

Kathie Vezzani is a mixed media artist who loves anything rusty. She rusts, paints and uses encaustic and cold wax in her practice. She also creates mixed media sculptures. In her spare time, she organizes workshops for other artists. She will be hosting this workshop in her new studio.

MYTHICAL CREATURES WITH THE PALE ROOK AND ELISABETH VIGUIE CULSHAW

Oaxaca City, Oaxaca, Mexico

October 11-20, 2024

Mexican Folk Art is a tapestry of symbolism and meaning, reflecting the country’s rich history, diverse culture, and profound spirituality. Join The Pale Rook and Elisabeth Culshaw in Oaxaca to explore the symbols of animals and colors while creating your own mythical creature or doll. This will be the only animal workshop that will be offered by The Pale Rook.

Mexican Folk Art uses colors, symbols, and animals to weave a story of love, pain, birth and death in ancient Aztec and Mayan mythology. Colors are more than just pigments; they convey profound meaning for emotions, nature and spirituality. Red is passion, love and sacrifice. Blue represents spirituality and tranquility, while yellow is a symbol of positivity and joy. Green is nature and growth symbolizing the harmony and balance found in our relationship with the natural world. Purple symbolizes royalty and spirituality and orange, creativity and energy.

Johanna has developed the methods we'll be working with over the last seven years in her own practice and they've been honed especially for this workshop. You can adapted them to make whatever creature, combination of creatures, or mix of human and animal that you want to make. 

The dolls/creatures can also use a collaged combination of fabrics, layered with symbolic embroidery, using as many or as few of the participants' collection of dyed fabrics and yarns as they wish. This means you can have a narrative element to your work, telling stories through symbolic use of color, pattern and form.

Elisabeth is a well known eco printer and natural dye creator and educator in Glasgow, Scotland. She will work together with Roman Gutierrez Ruiz, an artist from the weaving village of Teotitlan del Valle, for our dyeing of fabric and paper for our creatures and a book.  

Itinerary

Day 1, Friday October 11

7:00 p.m. Meet and greet in the hotel with some libations and botanas.

Day 2, Saturday, October 12

We will meet in the studio to go over the week’s schedule, then it is off to spend the day in the weaving village of Teotitlan del Valle.

Elisabeth will lead you in dyeing cotton, silk and yarn using locally sourced plant dyes.  We will work with traditional dyeing methods that have stood the test of time as part of Mexican textile heritage for centuries and continue to be used by contemporary artists and designers today. Each piece of cloth and skein of yarn will be a unique reminder of your time in Oaxaca. We will work with a variety of natural dye plants, creating a rich palette of colors to work with in our sewing projects. We will also be dyeing papers for a small journal. 

Lunch and dinner will be provided.

Day 3 Sunday October 13
Johanna will guide you in making an original doll inspired by the colors, textures and mythical creatures of Southern Mexico.  You can create a "human" doll, an animal or mythical creature from your collection of naturally dyed fabrics and yarns, embellished with colorful embroidery in a Mexican style.  Every stitch will be created by hand, giving you time to connect with your doll in a mindful and relaxing way, reflecting the experience and emotion of your trip to Oaxaca.  All fabrics and yarns will be provided, and you are also welcome to bring your own collection of fabrics, materials and found objects to incorporate into your doll.

9:30 Have breakfast at the hotel before meeting in the studio. Lunch will be at the hotel and class will be over at 4:30. Free time until we meet at 6:30 for a special dinner with our friend Chef Pilar Cabrera of La Olla.

Day 4 Monday October 14

We will continue working on our creatures/dolls.

Breakfast at hotel

9:30 Meet in the studio break for lunch at 12:30. Class is over at 4:30. Free time until we meet for dinner.

Day 5 Tuesday October 15

Have an early breakfast and then we are off on a travel day stopping in San Bartolo Coyotepec to visit our favorite black pottery artisan family.

Then off to visit Jacobo and Maria Angeles in their San Martin Tilcajete studio/school. When we first met Jacobo and Maria, they had a small studio where they worked on their intricately patterned alebrijes that are in museus and private collections around the world. Today, Jacobo and Maria are also painting, creating pottery, and are supporters of their community, teaching children from the village how to continue the traditions of their village.

Lunch will be at the entrance of the village and dinner is on your own tonight.

Days Six-Eight October 16-18

Breakfast in the hotel and in the studio breaking for lunch before continuing on with our creations. During this time, Elisabeth will show us how to create a small journal using our dyed papers.

Class will be over around 4:30 and then you will have free time before dinner in the evenings.

Day 9 October 19

After breakfast, we will finish up our projects and have our Show “N Tell. After cleaning up, you have the afternoon free to shop and pack. Lunch is on your own today and this evening will be our farewell celebration at Nois Restaurant.

Day 10 October 20

Everyone leaves or stays on to further explore beautiful Oaxaca.

This Art Escape includes:

• 9 nights accommodations (double occupancy)

• Two travel days to three different artisan villages

• Six days of instruction with Johanna Flanagan and Elisabeth Culshaw

• Welcome reception and fiesta

• All meals except for one lunch and one dinner

• Visits to markets

• Cooking Class

• Free time to explore

• Farewell dinner

• Some supplies

• Private Facebook page

• New Art Tribe

The price for this workshop is $3,975 and limited to 12 people. A limited number of single rooms are available for an additional $600.

A $1,000 non refundable deposit is due upon registering. The final payment is due June 11, 2024.

Price does not include:

• airfare to/from Oaxaca

• alcoholic beverages

Travel insurance is highly recommended. See FAQs for recommendations.

Accommodations: Located in a colonial building just two blocks from the zocolo, Hostal de La Noria has free wifi, a restaurant, a pool, bar and rooftop terrace. It is located across from the Textile Museum. 

Airport: Xoxocotlan International Airport is an international airport located in Oaxaca City, in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico. The Airport has only one terminal that handles domestic and international air traffic. Code: OAX.

Materials provided

• Florist wire

• Wool fleece

• Felting needles

• A selection of sewing threads

• Tailors chalk

• A selection of embroidery threads

• Pattern drafting paper

• Unspun flax

• Pliers

• Wire cutters

• Felting sponge

Materials to bring

• Hand sewing needles ( mixed sizes)

• Fabric scissors

• A small pin cushion

• Pins

• A sketch book

• A pencil

• Coloured pencils ( or any other colour medium you'd like to work with when designing your project)

• A pencil sharpener

• A selection of fabrics and found objects/trimmings from your own collection (optional)

• A range of interesting paper - size A4 or 8 1/2” x 11 “ - art paper or hand-made

• Some trinkets or beads

• Ruler

• Apron

This itinerary may change due to weather, new opportunities or the whim of the group.

We are so thrilled that Johanna Flanagan of the Pale Rook is teaching another Bellissima Art Escape. She is a Scottish textile artist, doll maker and costume designer, trained in fashion, constructed textiles and historical costumes. Doll making was her first love, and she has been making dolls for as long as she can remember. In the last fourteen years, Johanna has taught in art schools, museums and colleges throughout the UK and Europe, as well as writing and tutoring correspondence courses for the last two years.

You can see her work on her Instagram and Facebook feeds.

French artist Elisabeth Viguie Culshaw is a well known eco printer and natural dye creator and educator in Glasgow, Scotland. She started a Natural Dye Garden in the Glasgown Botanic Garden in 2022 and is very active in community art, often traveling to Thailand, Myanmar, and other places known for dyeing when she is not teaching at her Lansdowne House. She is a strong believe in collaborative art and invites students from around the world to her studio and online courses. We were fortunate to meet Betty to share a day of dyeing in her home studio. We are thrilled to share Oaxaca with her.

You can find her classes on her blog and follow her journey on Instagram.