Resume your study with master natural dyer Michel Garcia in Oaxaca, Mexico, where he explores dyeing traditions of Latin America in depth. Breaking down traditional methods in his signature style, Michel explains how to achieve red, blue, and yellow natural dyes using sustainable methods on wool fibers including some mentions of yak, alpaca, camel, and goat.

Includes in-depth explorations of mordanting covering alum, aluminum as a bio-accumulator, and tannins; extracting indigo pigment, brewing a vat using fruit skins, and dyeing black and brown on wool; recreating "pre-Columbian nanotechnology" Maya Blue pigment; dyeing yellow with pomegranate, fustic, and lengua de vaca; green shades with indigo; mixed orange shades with lengua de vaca, fustic, cochineal, and silver cochineal; violets and browns with logwood; purple shades with cochineal and indigo; black shades without ferrous components; beige and brown shades with sapote negro. Plus visits to local Oaxacan sites including the Ethnobotanical Garden, Textile Museum, and the Chavez and Mendoza family weavers.

Topics:

Mordanting
• Classical Alum Process
• Bio-Accumulator of Aluminum
• Achieving Multiple Shades of Red With Cochineal and Logwood
• Using Tannins with Organic Acid

Indigo Workshop
• Extracting Indigo Pigment
• Organic Vat with Local Fruit Skins
• Shades of Blue and Black on White and Brown Wool Fibers
• Achieving Maya Blue from Indigo: Ancient Method and Hypothesis

• Yellow Shades with Alum Mordant
• Pomegranate
• Fustic Wood
• Lengua de Vaca
• Green Shades from Yellow Fibers with Indigo

Developing Mixed Orange Shades
• Lengua de Vaca and Fustic Wood
• Cochineal
• Four Shades of Orange from Silver Cochineal
• Violets and Browns from Logwood

Purple Shades from Cochineal and Indigo
Achieving Black Shades without Ferrous Components
Developing Beige to Brown with Sapote Negro

Plus
• An introduction to the Oaxaca Ethnobotanical Garden by director Alejandro de Ávila Blomberg
• A visit to the Textile Museum of Oaxaca
• A visit with the Chavez family weavers
• A visit with the Mendoza family weavers
• An introduction to the Arts Center of St. Augustine (El Casa)

Produced by Yoshiko I. Wada (Slow Fiber Studios); directed and filmed by Andrew Galli (Studio Galli Productions); 2012. 2 discs; 16:9 aspect; 203 minutes; worldwide play; English audio with Spanish and Zapotec highlights; subtitles in Chinese, English, French, Italian, Japanese, Spanish.