Mycology & Color: Mushroom Dyes, Paints & Inks

Fungi have long been used as a source of natural color, yielding some of nature's most vibrant hues. In this workshop artist, farmer and creator of the Mushroom Color Atlas, Julie Beeler will teach students how to unlock the hidden colors within wild mushrooms and transform them into dyes, pigments, paints and inks. 

Julie will cover species of dye-mushrooms, the process of making dye baths and dyeing fibers. Students will assemble a kit of mushroom dyed wool and silk fibers and threads to take home and stitch their own mushroom dye textile collage. Dye baths will then be transformed through the process of lake making, to create mushroom pigments that can be used in a variety of forms. Learn different extraction methods for making inks, mull your own watercolor paint, and create a mini accordion book to capture the colors. Everyone will also leave with a ‘clothlet’ kit, a technique used by medieval monks to transport color, that will allow you to create your own pigment or ink at home, as well as some sample mushroom paint and an instructional craftbook including mushroom dye recipes.