One of the local arboretums offers a variety of classes ranging from cooking to horticulture. The spring catalog arrived in the mail on Tuesday, and I have already signed up for one of them.
This is where I took the class on resin casting last year, and I love the fact that the classes always incorporate natural materials. They do not always offer things of interest to me, but this term there are FOUR that caught my attention just from the Creative Expressions section. My short list included:
Weaving with Natural Plant Materials: Using strips of natural fabric and dried plant materials. I can’t decide if this would create something beautiful, or end up looking like a big mess, but it is intriguing.
Indigo Dyeing: My first attempt at dyeing yarn was a few months ago. I have always loved indigo fabric and would like to learn how to dye using natural materials.
Flower Pounding: This hit my RADAR last year. It transfers the image of the flower onto cloth or paper by pounding it with a rock or hammer. And since the cold has finally hit here, the idea of a project with fresh flowers is pretty appealing.
Japanese Ink Painting: I am no artist, but I have always been fascinated with this style where a few brush strokes can produce the essence of an image.
Really, how do you choose from a list like this? And I didn’t even let myself consider any of the cooking or horticulture classes. But choose I did. And the winner (for now) is….Indigo Dyeing. The course is not until April, and I may end up deciding on at least one more, but starting today I can look forward to this.
alookatthelittlethings 
What a wonderful choice, so envious. Enjoy!
I know at least two other people signing up for it, so I’m hoping it won’t get cancelled.
That is exciting! Awakening the Senses says it all 🙂
There is something exciting about just signing up for a class. And one is such a beautiful setting is a bonus.
Wow, flower pounding sounds like a lot of fun!
It does, doesn’t it? This one didn’t make the cut because it seems simple enough to try without having to take a class, and there are plenty of online tutorials. Now I just need to wait for spring and some flowers to appear.
All of them sound really great. Japanese ink painting sounds amazing.
That is the other one that may find its way onto my schedule. I would love to learn how to do the different brush strokes.
Yeah that would be really cool to learn. I’m pretty decent at drawing but I’ve always failed when it comes to painting anything but walls. I don’t have a lot of patience so it kills me to have to let the paint dry before working on something new.
Weaving sounds like fun to me
I have the materials for a weaving project at home which kind of makes me feel guilty about doing a different one.
Indigo dyeing is the choice I’d’ve made, too! I will look forward to hearing lots more when you take the class!
Indigo seems so magical. I always wonder if the first person to use it hoping for green was excited or disappointed when that rich blue showed up.