Sunday 25 June 2017

Sydney Morning Herald article on my eco dye course at Sydney Botanic Gardens



Robin Powell was one of the lovely ladies at my natural plant dye course at the Sydney Botanic Gardens earlier in the year and here is an article she wrote for the Sydney Morning Herald about what she got out of the two day course. Below is the online version of the article.


Gardening: channel your inner 
CHILD WITH ECO- dyeing

When I was a child I spent hours making potions and perfumes from the pickings in my mum's garden. The purple fingers of flowers that waved at me from a huge old buddleia were highly sought after, but what I didn't know then is that buddleia has a secret side for the potion-maker. When heated, those purple flowers produce a dye as saffron-yellow as turmeric. 
This astonishing metamorphosis was the most surprising finding of a weekend spent experimenting with eco-dyeing; and reliving my childhood as a garden witch/perfumier. The workshop was held at the Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney and run by eco-dyer and felter Gina Mastio.


Mastio makes hand-crafted clothes in wool and nunio, a fabric made by felting wool over silk. The fabric is dyed and printed with what she picks up walking the kids to school or gathers in her Frenchs Forest garden. The garden wasn't planted as a dyer's warehouse. Her interest was edibles, so there are natives out the front for the birds, fruit trees and vegetables out the back for the family, and flowers for bees and butterflies.
But it's all gone into the dye pot at some point. "When I walk around the garden there's always something new to try," she says. "I could use something familiar at a different temperature, or with a different metal to affect the colour. Or I might just use it as a print. I was pruning the 'Bronze Rambler' grevillea the other day and was stuck by its lovely outline – that would make a great print."


Eco-dying and printing is a sleek fit with the hipster appreciation of the hand-crafted; consequently the web is crammed with instructions about how to dye stuff and print stuff with the plants from your garden. To try out it yourself, simply jam some leaves or flowers into a jar of water, and heat up the jar in a boiler of water for 30 minutes (place a folded tea towel in the bottom of the boiler as you would it you were sterilising jars).
Let the colour develop, then strain out the organic matter, dunk a test strip of silk in the dye (silk and wool take up the dye best) and steam the dye jar and its silk strip in the boiler for another half an hour.
We found that banana leaves make a dull green dye, avocado seeds make soft apricot, onion skins make rusty orange, and the dried leaves of ornamental cherries turn silk a lovely pinky-brown. But nothing beat the buddleia for intensity. The tiny browned-off flowers print as sparkles of gold on the fabric. "You can deadhead the bush when the flowers have finished and store them in a paper bag," says Mastio. "They get pretty nasty-looking, but even a year later you still get brilliant colour."
The workshop gave me a whole new way to appreciate my garden – as craft cupboard, and not just for the kids and their potions.

Sunday 30 April 2017

Follow my work on instagram for more up to date posts

Some people like blogs, some facebook or twitter, instagram, pinterest or probably many other things as well. I've never gone for facebook or twitter but I do love instagram to both follow other wonderfully creative people and to post on. So if you're not a 'grammer but think maybe you might like to, this is to show you a bit of my 'feed'. Very photo based or small videos plus a little text. The rare ad but not like facebook. So have a browse, it's a pretty wonderful platform to use, in my opinion. My tag is @ginamastio and if you are already on instagram I hope to meet you soon. 




You will get more of a glimpse of my day to day life and creativity. Just incase you're interested...

Monday 27 March 2017

Photos from eco dyeing and nuno felting at the Sydney Botanic Gardens

plant dyed silks
Here are some photos from the two day nuno felt eco dye course I ran at the Sydney Botanic Gardens recently. This is the third year I have had the pleasure to give a dye workshop at the gardens and I'm always sincerely grateful for the honour, as I do consider it such an incredible landmark in Australia, a place of breathtaking beauty. 

In the workshop this year I combined eco plant dyeing with nuno felt making, so that participants learnt some techniques in both creative fields. In two days they learnt emersion dyes from garden plants, eco printing, created a nuno felt shawl with eco dyeing and a cushion cover, also plant dyed. They now have enough creative knowledge to continue to explore for the rest of their days!
eco prints 

 


Nuno felt shawls made with pre plant dyed silks and post dyed with plants. Try saying that quickly...


Nuno felt shawls and cushion covers, plant dyed and hand felted.

If you would like to be on a waiting list for my upcoming courses, feel free to contact me here or follow my instagram @ginamastio

Thursday 9 March 2017

Learn to nuno felt and eco dye with plants

silk fabrics dyed with plants
There are still a few places left in my nuno felting and eco dyeing course running at the Sydney Botanic Gardens next Friday and Saturday the 17th and 18th March 2017. Be quick to contact the gardens on the link below or contact them on Lyn Johnson (02) 9231 8182 | lyn.johnson@rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au


Two days of fun exploring creative and beautiful techniques that you can continue to practice at home after. Endless possibilities and you will take home two original creations made by you.
Hope to see you there.
https://www.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/whatson/Pland-Dyed-Nuno-Felt-Textiles-with-Gina-Mastio 

plant dye samples
nuno felt shawl dyed with plants
nuno felt shawl and cushion, dyed with plants



Sunday 22 January 2017

2017 Nuno felt plant dye course at Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney


 Plant Dyed Nuno Felt Textiles with Gina Mastio
                              
                                                                              17 - 18 March 2017

  
In this new course, textiles artist Gina Mastio combines two of her passions, felt making and eco plant dyeing in this creative two day plant/natural fibres course. Perfect for beginners or more experienced creatives of either medium, wishing to learn some of the wonders of natural dyes from plants and how to make your own original textiles pieces. 

Day one you will learn nuno felting, combining silk with merino wool to form a unique nuno felt scarf. You will then discover the eco printing technique, printing your scarf to your own design.
Day two you will make submersion dyes from plant material and learn to felt over a plastic relief pattern to create your own nuno felt cushion. These will then also be eco dyed with the technique of your choice. 
Further experiments with colour from the submersion dyes and eco printing will also be done throughout the course - Two wonderfully creative days to introduce you to some beautiful new techniques.
Places in classes of two days or more can be secured by paying $100 deposit and balance two weeks before class dates.  Deposits can only be paid by phone: 9231 8182.

Location: Joseph Maiden Theatre
Age: Adult
Transport info: www.transportnsw.info
More info: Class fee includes all materials, morning tea and lunch
Price:
$335 (Foundation & Friends $295)
Contact:
Lyn Johnson (02) 9231 8182 | lyn.johnson@rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au