In his newest DVD, "Natural Dye Workshop IV: Beyond Mordants: Indigo Intensive and Direct Application of Dyes," phytochemist and master dyer Michel Garcia covers ancient traditions from around the world that unlock the potential of natural colors without mineral mordants.

Join Michel at his new studio in Brittany, France, where he demonstrates methods for using dried leaves, fresh paste, sukumo (compost), and powder from various families of indigo to dye wool, silk, and plant fibers. He also shows how insoluble colors from alkanet and annatto can yield vibrant purples and reds. He shares simple methods to produce a brilliant palette for painting and dyeing on natural fabrics, using safflower, logwood, rhubarb, and cochineal.

Topics

• Indigo From Dried Leaves
• Preparing an Ancient Indigo Compost Vat
• Easy Giant Indigo Vat
• Analyzing Indigo Dye Quality
• Annatto and Alkanet for Direct Application
• Indigo for Direct Application
• Cochineal Lake for Plain Dyeing
• Direct Application of Polychromatic Colors
• Ancient Cosmetic & Food Ingredients as Direct Fiber Dyes
• Wool Printing with Extracts from Quinone and Flavonoid Dye Families

Review of Workshop IV by Yoshiko Iwamoto Wada and Michel Garcia

Produced by Yoshiko I. Wada (Slow Fiber Studios); Directed and Filmed by Andrew Galli (Studio Galli Productions); Music composed by Andrew Galli of Galli Creative; 2018. 2 discs; 240+ minutes; worldwide play; English audio; subtitles in Chinese, English, French, Italian, Japanese, Spanish.