Learn how to use hand-picked black walnuts to create rich and beautiful dyes and ink. A native plant to Southern Ontario, the husks of black walnuts can be harvested, boiled and used to permanently dye textiles, wood and paper.

We’ll show you how to prepare a natural dye bath, alter it to get different hues as well as teach you basic dye techniques and methods for textiles. In pairs, you’ll boil up some concentrated black walnut ink, learning about additives such as gum arabic, isopropyl alcohol and clove oil for drawing and preserving. We’ll have beautiful local grown maple wood chopping blocks for you to stain with black walnut, finished with beeswax and mineral oil.

Each participant will leave with a perfect package of hand crafted, harvested DIY goodies including:

• two 100ml bottles of black walnut ink

• various samples of ink brushed onto handmade paper including washi (Japanese Paper)

• a natural dyed placemat with fabric samples

• black walnut stained maple wood chopping block