Uncovering The Surface
May 28 - June 1
Pre-Conference Workshops

You do not need to be a member of SDA to take a workshop

ONE-DAY DEMONSTRATIONS
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 1

Balancing the Surface: Nature and Chemistry
Joy Boutrup and Yoshiko Wada This workshop is full
Using both natural and synthetic materials coupled with traditional skills and innovative methods, the two instructors will demonstrate new materials and techniques to find inventive and successful combinations. They will consider a variety of possibilities taken from within a wide breadth of textile practices. This one-day demonstration is a condensed version of the material presented in the five-day Master Class: Balancing the Surface.
Level: All levels
Workshop Fee: $80 - Supply Fee: $15

Japanese Indigo: Part I - Vat Preparation
Rowland and Chinami Ricketts
Indigo has limitless possibilities: from patterned shibori and katazome to uninterrupted sheets of solid blues. A traditional Japanese indigo vat is made by fermenting sukumo (composted indigo leaves) in wood-ash lye, along with limestone and wheat bran. This one-day workshop will examine Japanese indigo from seed to vat. Special attention will be paid to the farming and processing of indigo into sukumo, the roles of each of the ingredients in the vatting process and the maintaining of the vat over time. This workshop is designed to be taken in conjunction with the post-conference workshop Japanese Indigo: Part 2 - Dyeing, but can be taken separately.
Level: All levels
Workshop Fee: $80 - Supply Fee: $15

TWO-DAY WORKSHOPS
TUESDAY, MAY 31 - WEDNESDAY, JUNE 1

* The Art of Selling Your Art
Rae Gold

For more information
You get into a show, you look great, your work looks great, your booth looks great, but it means nothing if you do not know how to sell. This workshop is devoted to helping you become more professional about selling your work. You will learn the basic steps of "The Sale." Selling is a science. It does not necessarily come naturally, but is a skill you can learn. You will talk about presentation, approach and what shows to apply to. Role-playing exercises will be an important part of the class.
Level: All levels
Workshop Fee: $165 - Supply Fee: $5

THREE-DAY WORKSHOPS
MONDAY, MAY 30 - WEDNESDAY, JUNE 1

Undercover: A Book of Marks
Dorothy Caldwell This workshop is full
In this workshop, participants will explore new ways of mark making. There are many ways to make a mark. A stitch makes one kind of mark, a paintbrush another, a hammer and nail another. Working on fabric and paper, we will experiment with various methods including stitching, resist, discharge and more unconventional means, such as piercing, folding and burning to make a collection of richly activated surfaces. Looking at the book as a series of layers that conceal and reveal, these explorations will be constructed into a simple book form.
Level: Beginner to intermediate
Workshop Fee: $225     Supply Fee: $20

FOUR-DAY WORKSHOPS
SUNDAY, MAY 29 -  WEDNESDAY, JUNE 1

* Between the Warp and the Weft: La Tierra
Zapotec Tapestry Weaving and Natural Dyeing
Primo Aquino

This workshop has been cancelled

For more information

Plants, insects, leaves and fruits paint our world and blend together to create the hues of the earth. We wound them for a moment and with their blood we stain the threads to weave our dreams in this world. Combine natural dyeing and tapestry weaving with the flavor of the 2,000-year-old Zapotec culture. We will create a wide range of colors with indigo, cochineal and other natural materials. With these colorful yarns, participants will learn tapestry rug-making techniques that can be used to weave complex designs and unusually shaped weavings, including the circular forms that are Primo's signature.
Level: Beginner/Intermediate
Workshop Fee: $300 - Supply Fee: $40

Pattern as Powerful Imagery
Lee Bale This workshop is full
Underneath the surface of pattern design and repeated imagery lies potentially provocative and powerful expression. The unique processes of transferring mark and image to the fabric surface with screen, stencil, dye and pigment are the basis for technical investigation and discovery. A variety of methods for creating stencils will be explored, and pattern, fabric supports and colorants will be addressed in service of conceptual outcomes. Likewise a range of approaches to repetition and registration, some painterly and intuitive, will be examined in an effort to harness the potential of screen and stencil as a means of personally powerful self-expression.
Level: All levels
Workshop Fee: $300 - Supply Fee: $40

Digitally Printed Wearable or Sculptural Forms
J.R. Campbell and Jean Parsons
This workshop is an integrated course for designing, discussing and interacting with digital textile printing and its application to wearable or sculptural forms. We will focus on the relationship between 2D images and 3D forms by having students manipulate basic geometric shapes with draping to build sculptural forms. The objective of the course will be to understand and evaluate digital printing technology to integrate textile art and product design. Students will work in a 'hands-on' environment with access to wide-format digital textile printing technology, off-the-shelf and industry-specific textile and apparel design software, and garment pattern digitizing software.
Level: Experience using image manipulation software on the computer is required; some pattern making or draping experience is desirable.
Workshop Fee: $300 - Supply Fee: $55

Clothing Design Basics
Anna Carlson
Learn to blend beautiful textiles with functional design and flattering fit. Plan a garment using your own inspiration as the starting point and move through the steps a designer takes to create a successful design. We'll start by gathering inspiration, creating an idea collage and sketching. Pattern drafting is followed by a test garment, fitting and pattern alterations. Details are next: closures and seam treatments. At the end of the workshop you will have drafted a pattern that fits, and planned the fabric and details of your design. You will be prepared to pursue your own design ideas with confidence.
Level: Intermediate. Students should have basic sewing skills and have sewed garments using commercial patterns.
Workshop Fee: $300 - Supply Fee: $25

* New Slant on Knitting - Diagonal Knitting
Katharine Cobey

For more information

Diagonal knitting is a method of constructing flat pieces, seamless clothing and sculpture with rows on the bias.

This workshop introduces the concepts, methods and creative possibilities of this technique. We will address the advantages of diagonal drape and the incorporation and drama of traditional color and texture techniques in these slants. Experimenting with both traditional and nontraditional materials, we will work on the geometry and structure of diagonal pieces. Participants will plan and start their individual projects.
Level: Intermediate to advanced. Students should know how to knit.
Workshop Fee: $300 - Supply Fee: $25

Nassen: Color Rice Paste Resist Printing on Cotton
Akemi Nakano Cohn This workshop is full
'Nassen' means color resist printing based on Japanese rice paste technique and is a hybrid of traditional and contemporary applications. Students will experience the entire process of color rice paste resist printing from making the rice paste, coloring it and stamping the paste onto cellulose fibers, such as cotton, linen and rayon. The stamping technique creates amazing effects because color rice paste both colors and resists at the same time! Katagami (cut-out stencils) and tsutsu (like a pastry cone with brass tip) techniques will be introduced.
Level: All levels. Returning/advanced students will be given individual projects to develop their own ideas at their own level of creativity and flexibility.
Workshop Fee: $300 - Supply Fee: $45

Seductive Surfaces in Felt Making
Jorie Johnson This workshop is full
This in-depth felt making workshop will explore a variety of approaches to manipulating wool fibers during the felting and shrinking process in order to produce interesting surface effects. Participants will learn about fiber properties and color blending as well as how to create felt tails, loops, windows, spider lace and latticework. Demonstrations and slide presentations will be used as departure points. Participants will create individual projects and group interaction will also be emphasized through shared samples, which will become invaluable samples for new work.
Level: All levels, but some experience will prove helpful.
Workshop Fee: $300 - Supply Fee: $45

Beyond the Surface: Resist Dyeing and Printing on Wool
Carol LeBaron
Students will explore the possibilities inherent in wool through immersion dyeing and printing with acid dyes and create relief effects through printing felt resist and subsequent fulling (cleansing and thickening). They will develop ideas through sampling and then go on to create larger pieces. For weavers, this is a chance to move beyond patterns created by structure; for knitters and surface designers, it opens up new creative avenues.
Level: All levels
Workshop Fee: $300 - Supply Fee: $55

Pojagi and Beyond
Chunghie Lee This workshop is full
Pojagi patchwork wrapping cloths are used in Korea for ceremonial purposes and for coverings and wrappings. The traditional pieces use several stitching methods, including a triple stitching technique called gekki. The resulting seams are stiff, strong, linear elements used as design components in two and three-dimensional works. Piecing different fabrics creates variations in transparency, depth and drape. Participants will learn the basic techniques of pojagi and are encouraged to experiment and to adapt the techniques and concepts to their own needs and interpretations. The technique is adaptable to many forms of work from intimate wearables to large-scale industrial installations.
Level: Beginner to intermediate
Workshop Fee: $300 - Supply Fee: $25

Building Complexity with Design and Stitch
Mary Ruth Smith
As a design tool, basic hand stitching can be used to provide complexity, heighten visual awareness and strengthen conceptual viewpoints in a variety of fiber and fabric applications. Learn how the stitch can be used to draw intuitively on fabric, to enhance existing marks on cloth and to construct textured and dense surfaces. To provide imagery for stitching, experiment with a variety of low-tech ways to imprint fabrics and print with disperse dyed papers on synthetics and blends. Slide presentations will highlight artists from around the world who use stitching for expressive and personal concerns.
Level: All levels
Workshop Fee: $300 - Supply Fee: $15

* Handpicked Woven Imagery Using Lampas Structure
Bhakti Ziek

For more information

This workshop will cover the versatile weave structure called Lampas. Also known as diasper or tissue, this weave is found in many important historical, figured, draw-loom woven fabrics. Using eight-harness looms, Bhakti will teach the method of handpicked imagery in

lampas that she has used inher own work for the last 15 years. The workshop will include slide lectures on historical and contemporary textiles. There will also be discussions about narrative imagery and symbols, as well as the incorporation of processes, such as ikat, painted or printed warps and brocade.

Level: Intermediate to advanced. Students must be able to warp a floor loom and weave tabby and twills.
Workshop Fee: $300 - Supply Fee: $15

FIVE-DAY MASTER CLASS
SATURDAY, MAY 28 - WEDNESDAY, JUNE 1

Expressive Experimentation with Illuminating Discharge Techniques
Jason Pollen and Elin Noble  This workshop is full
This hands-on workshop focuses on the magic inherent in selective removal of color to create uniquely evocative effects. Experimentation begins with a variety of techniques of applying a ground color. Then learn to selectively discharge or replace color through immersion and print processes using thiox, formusol, bleach and vat dye/discharge. This workshop will also cover color mixing, safety issues and professional considerations for these processes. The techniques and concepts are introduced to build upon one another, so bring along questions, ideas and inquiring minds.
Level: Advanced
Workshop Fee: $450 - Supply Fee: $65

For More Information:
Conference Registration starts Jan. 3, 2005.  For Registration Information and Registration Form

Click here

You do not have to attend the conference to attend a workshop, however you will have an additional $50 "workshop only" fee.
You do not need to be a member of SDA to take a workshop.


If you are not a member but would like to request a conference brochure, e-mail Marie Plakos: marie.plakos@att.net

 

Questions:

For all conference related questions:
Carolyn Kallenborn
Kansas City Art Institute
4415 Warwick Blvd.
Kansas City, Missouri 64111
816-802-3370
e-mail: cmkallen@earthlink.net


For SDA Membership Information:

Joy Stocksdale
The Surface Design Association
P.O.Box 360
Sebastopol, CA 95473-0306
707-829-3110
e-mail: joystocks@worldnet.att.net

Did you miss the last conference?
"Hands On"       June 5 - June 8, 2003
Recap of the conference
Original 2003 announcement