BOTANICAL PRINTING WORKSHOP
Botanical Printing Workshop
taught by Charlottesville artist Lotta Helleberg
Saturday & Sunday, Aug. 22nd & 23rd 10AM-4PM
$350 + $20 supplies
In this two day hands-on workshop we will learn natural printing techniques using locally foraged or found fresh plant materials. The class will provide basic knowledge of botanical contact printing (also called eco-printing) on paper and textiles. The techniques used in class will be environmentally friendly, using a minimum of chemical components and no plastic.
You will learn how to achieve the best possible print outcome, including how to prepare the materials, how and when to use mordants, and how to select the most appropriate plants for the process. We will also explore more advanced contact printing techniques, such as using carrier blankets for mordants and colors. We will finish up the class by assembling a simple textile collage using some of the samples you have created in class.
The workshop fee includes the cost of all materials used to create initial print samples. Here is a list of appropriate papers, and fabrics to bring along for further explorations.
Basic tools such as heated pots, boards, rods, clamps, and string will be available for in-class use.
Lotta Helleberg is a Swedish-born book and textile artist, based in Charlottesville, Virginia. Her work focuses on botanical contact prints, alternative photographic processes, and plant-based dyes, to render works that both document and celebrate her immediate surroundings.
Her unconventional wall and book works have been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions across the United States as well as abroad, including the Festival of Quilts in the United Kingdom and Kyoto Shibori Museum, in Japan. Helleberg’s work has been presented in national and international publications such as Natural Processes in Textile Art by Alice Fox, Art Quilting Studio, and American Craft.
For more than a decade, Helleberg has taught book arts and natural dye classes in places such as Penland School of Crafts, Shakerag workshops, and Arrowmont School of Arts and Craft, as well as at local venues.
