Class Description
Explore natural dyeing through plants that carry ancestral, cultural, and personal resonance. This hands-on workshop invites participants to engage with color, texture, and connection in a reflective, creative space. Participants will gain a deeper understanding of how natural dyes work, learn basic shifting and bundle-dyeing techniques, and reflect on their relationship to the natural world as a living ecosystem and lineage of color. At its core, this is a study of color, but it also invites story, deep listening, and intentionality, honoring the stories plants carry through their movement across lands and the personal connections we cultivate with them. No prior experience is needed, just curiosity and openness to color, plant materials, and creative exploration.
Abena Motaboli is a Basotho-Ghanaian interdisciplinary artist and researcher whose embodied practice weaves ancestral pigment traditions with contemporary sustainable artmaking. She explores natural color and earth materials through plant-based dyes and soil pigments, creating work that connects lineage, plants, land, and ecological presence.
What to Expect
Format: In Person
Class Capacity: 15
Class Style: Workshop; participation- and assignment-based
Materials List
Recommended
While no pre reading is required for participation, the following texts may enrich your understanding of natural dye practices, color theory, and material traditions:
- Natural Color by Sasha Duerr (an illustrated exploration of plant dyes and processes).
- Botanical Colour: At Your Fingertips (an accessible, plant‑based dye reference perfect for hands on makers).
- Found & Ground by Caroline Ross (a poetic look at natural pigments, materials, and craft) leaning more toward ochres and natural pigment paints.
- The Book of Earth by Heidi (reflections on earth materials and artistic practice) an in depth look at pigments and ecospiruality.
These are optional and offered as inspiration for those who wish to deepen their study alongside or after the workshop. All fundamental techniques and contextual framing will be covered during class time.
First Assignment
- Please read “The “Honorable Harvest”: Lessons From an Indigenous Tradition of Giving Thanks” by Robin Wall Kimmerer
- Guiding prompts: How do you enter into a reciprocal relationship with the plants, soils, and colors around you? Where in your life do you practice reciprocity? Optional threads to explore if you wish:
- What stories or wisdom might the plants carry from the past?
- How does your lineage shape your connection to the natural world?
- How can gratitude, attention, and care become active participants in your work with materials?
Cost and Registration
1 Session, $115 ($103.50 for Newberry members, seniors, and students). Learn about becoming a member.
We offer our classes at three different price options: Regular ($115), Community Supported ($105), and Sponsor ($125). Following the models of other institutions, we want to ensure that our classes are accessible to a wider audience while continuing to support our instructors. You may choose the price that best fits your situation when registering through Learning Stream.
To register multiple people for this class, please go through the course calendar in Learning Stream, our registration platform. When you select the course and register, you’ll be prompted to add another registrant.
Having trouble signing up? Take a look at our step-by-step guide to registration by clicking here.
RegisterThe views and opinions expressed in this class and/or by the instructor are not necessarily representative of the Newberry. We aim to ensure that in our classes, participants can have respectful disagreement to foster critical thinking. This is a space to challenge and expand our own worldviews to work towards better understanding and appreciating humanity.
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