Overview
Join us to create inks and paints out of plants. This is a 100% biodegradable process where students mix plant matter with water and a sap-based binder to make a watercolor. Students then can shift the ink’s color using bio-based modifiers like vinegar and baking soda and explore simple painting exercises.
In this workshop students will learn which native, non-native and invasive plants create color while reconnecting to this historic process. Through gaining a deeper understanding of the plants around them, students will further their plant knowledge and plant wonder.
NOTE: This is a fully outdoor event. Please come prepared for changing weather conditions, uneven terrain and extended time outside. We recommend bringing sun protection, water and comfortable clothing suitable for outdoor art-making.
Alia Knowlan is an artist, educator and designer exploring the interconnections found within our living world. Her work weaves together art, ecology and research into earth-based practices such as natural color-making, collage, printmaking, painting, regenerative planting and multispecies community-building. In her research on natural color, Alia ethically forages and cultivates plants and earth pigments to create an array of colors and artistic tools through low-waste, non-chemical and regenerative processes.
Her work has been shown across the United States and Europe in spaces such as The Arnolfini Museum, The Paris Collage Collective and The Centre for Print Research. She facilitates art and ecology gatherings globally and has designed for a wide range of organizations such as Brightside Health and Frog Design. She has a B.F.A in Graphic Design, a Master’s in Multidisciplinary Printmaking and is a lifelong student of the earth and her stewards.