Elucidating Soya Milk for Natural Dyeing
Online demonstrations With Natalie Stopka
February 4 & 11, 2025 4-6pm GMT (2 Two hour sessions)
Homemade soya milk is a powerful tool in the natural dye studio, serving so many functions that its potential can be clouded by misunderstanding. Join Natalie Stopka to learn about the characteristics of this mighty bean, how to grow it at home, make soya milk, and apply it for ultra saturated color on cellulose fibers. We’ll disentangle the dual chemical and physical roles of soya protein, so you can approach soya milk with confidence and enjoy all the benefits of this natural dyeing ally. This course will focus exclusively on cellulose fibers, utilizing both immersion dyeing and painterly surface design techniques with natural dye.
Learning Outcomes
How to grow and process homemade soya milk
Understanding the dual characteristics of soya, and how to take advantage of them
Soya vs. mordants vs. tannins for dyeing cellulose fibers
Conceptualizing the spectrum of adjective and substantive dyes
The role of soya in color saturation, washfastness, and lightfastness
Alternating the order of applications painterly surface design with soya
MACK
About the Instructor
Natalie Stopka is a New York based interdisciplinary artist and educator focused on the material history of color and sustainable studio practice. She captures material and elemental interactions in her collaborative, experimental printmaking practice. Raised on the south coast of Massachusetts, she holds a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design and MFA from the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque.