Cocreating with Plants: Eco-printing in Autumn
Sat, Oct 14
|Berkeley
Play with the abundance of fall's autumn leaves in this backyard eco-printing textile workshop.
Time & Location
Oct 14, 2023, 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
About the event
Eco-printing is like capturing a photograph of plant onto fabric – the essence, color, shapes, the veins. In a way, you are immortalizing a leaf that might otherwise be discarded or blown into the wind.
As autumn leaves start to swirl around us, textile artist Verenice Berroa-Torres will guide us in infusing the medicinal, energetic, and physical properties of plants into the fabrics we wear into the world in this backyard Berkeley workshop. Our experience will begin before the workshop, with a guided walking meditation to collect leaves near your home.
Once we arrive together, we will learn how to prepare our fabric to receive the dye, place leaves, and how to care for your fabric afterwards. By the end of this workshop, participants will leave with two completed projects: an eco-printed silk scarf and a bandana.
Through mindful eco-printing textile techniques, we will collectively:
- Develop the confidence and expertise to eco-print our clothing at home, including knowing how to choose the right leaves, mordanting and preparing our fabric, and aftercare
- Find a sense of play, curiosity, and awe for our local tree ecosystems all around us
- Discover a more mindful appreciation to the season of autumn, a time of change, release, transformation, and preparation
What's Included
- All materials and containers required for eco-printing, including a silk scarf and bandana for your final eco-printed pieces
What to Bring
- Comfortable clothing and shoes for eco-printing
- Your favorite autumn leaves that are falling around you (i.e. maples, sycamore, sweet gum are great, but surprise us with your findings!)
Workshop Pricing*
By all of us contributing what we can afford, make this experience accessible for a diversity of incomes. The range reflects the disparity between economic conditions in the Bay Area, and is designed for those with more wealth to cover some of the costs of those with less access to wealth. Thank you for giving as much as you are able so that people of different economic backgrounds are able to join our programming.
As you decide what amount to pay, we ask that you not only consider your present-day financial situation governed by income but also factors including historical discrimination faced by your peoples, your current financial wealth, your access to income and financial wealth, people counting on your financial livelihood, and the socio-economic conditions of your locale.
- Partner: $150
- Supporter: $135
- Friend: $120
*Adapted from Dr. Bayo Akomolafe’s We Will Dance with Mountains: Into the Cracks Slow Study course with For The Wild.
Covid-19 Safety
Please do not attend if you are not feeling well, have COVID-19 symptoms, or have been in close contact with anyone who is COVID-19+.
About Wild Awake
Wild Awake curates immersive outdoor learning experiences that are rooted in connecting with and caring for ourselves, each other, and the more-than-human world. We believe that when we re-orient our attention to the time and space around us, we can cultivate relationships that recognize our mutuality and interdependence.
About the Guide
Verenice Berroa-Torres is an artist passionate about creating beauty with plants, minerals and textiles. Her curiosity, surprise and love for nature drives her to learn more about collaborative relationships with the natural world. She strives for balance and flow in everything she creates, believing that each piece she make has its own unique essence and vibration that comes from the plants used. Her hope is to share the magic of botanical dyes, reminding us all that nature has always been here to support us throughout our lives. You can find her teaching classes at The Crucible and across the East Bay.