You can never have enough of a good thing! In Stephanie Robertson’s fabric dyeing and printing class, all available resources are used to create art on cloth. Screen printing, rust and ice dyeing, direct painting, mono-printing, photo emulsion…all that and more are part of the fabric journey taken by students during the week.
Realizing there were 45 photos of people, processes and works in progress from this year’s class, it made sense to create one post to show as many as we could! You’ll see most of the techniques featured in the fabrics and garments below.
How did the fabric, shown above on the right, come to be? By a process similar to the photo below, on the left, with an elevated ice dyeing system.
Unveiled and drying under the Washington Island sky, is an indigo-dyed shibori scarf (shown above being unwrapped).
Stephanie began teaching at Sievers in 2002 after being recommended to us by one of our students. Her first class here was Silk Screen on Fabric and several of those students have come back for more. One has attended 17 of the classes Stephanie has offered at Sievers in her 22 years of teaching, including this year. Class titles she has offered include Design on the Island, Adventure in Fabric Printing and Dyeing, Stitched Sculpture, Making Your Mark: Continuing the Journey and for the past few years, Finding Our Way: A Dyeing Journey. A five-day class with Stephanie never seems long enough, so there’s the option of seven days to continue exploring all the possibilities.
Within the class description is a list of the many techniques covered during the week. That list is followed by this, “You will be encouraged to work at your own pace, exploring methods and experimenting with ideas and all of the tools at your disposal. Although all of this may sound daunting, it is really just a great big week of exploring dyes and pigments with a tribe of like-minded individuals, who all love color and fabric and dyes and paint.”
Some of Stephanie’s students have said this about her:
“…I learned so much about art, fabric dyeing – people caring – and what a superb teacher can do. Stephanie helped each of us to learn something new that would enhance our own style. She gave us room to grow by noticing our strengths and building on them. She has magic.”
“…she creates and maintains a supportive, nurturing climate and helps you move in new directions with your art. She validates each and every student and all efforts students make.”
We have hundreds of inspiring photos of the work done in Stephanie’s classes through the years. From the beginning, we knew her creative personality, tremendous amount of technical knowledge, enthusiasm for sharing, plus her sense of exploration and fun were a perfect fit for Sievers!
Stephanie is great to learn from! I really enjoyed her class a few years ago- it s time to take another one!!! These fabrics are all so special and unique!
Thanks, Claudie! You certainly learn (and do) a lot in Stephanie’s class. We hope to see you again soon! Carolyn
What beautiful creations. Lots of free spirits at work! Great work, Cheena
It is wonderful to see the art fabrics in Stephanie’s class!