Imagine you’ve entered a fabric shop with a variety of cloth donning a kaleidoscope of vibrant colors. As you take in the spectrum of possibilities, have you ever considered their origins? Can you speak to their spiritual connotations? Their political implications? Have you thought about the power we ascribe to color and its connection to the human experience?
Color is mysterious, and its mystery has inspired TATTER to explore these bold inquiries in The Color Series.
To the color novice, navigating color combinations for your next project can be an overwhelming experience. This series is an opportunity for students to think deeply about the brilliant hues that paint our world, what they mean, their history, how artists and makers have come to understand them, and what deeper opportunities may be to use this new information to further one’s practice.
Through this series, we hope that you will develop a deeper relationship with color. Within four sessions, participants will hear from a diverse range of voices and perspectives from theory to practice. Registrants will leave the series with a fuller understanding of color, a personalized palette, and hear from artists, historians, and thinkers about their respective relationships to this peculiar social construct.
The Series
Color Basics
with Erika Mulvenna
This lecture will introduce participants to some color basics: a brief background on how humans historically studied and organized color, definitions of color wheels, systems, and practices, and an introduction to using basic color terms, or color characteristics, to describe and communicate with color.
Friday, April 11th, 2025
Natural Pigments in the Past, Present, and Future
with Julia Phillips Norton
Historic natural color materials have aesthetic, cultural, and social implications that echo into the present day. This class focuses on the histories and legacies of these materials. We will consider their natural properties, unique cultural origins, and the contemporary artists who address them in their practices. This class will explore this vast topic through lecture, discussions, and activities. In our discussions we will be diving deep into specific themes, connecting them to our own observations and narratives. Topics will include language, spirituality, association, anti-colonialism, and identity.
Friday, April 18th, 2025
Color Transparency Quilting
with Erika Mulvenna
Transparency quilts create the illusion of overlapping shapes blending into one another with patchwork pieces of colored fabrics. Break down the basics of forming the transparency illusion using value (light/dark) and hue (related colors) with hands-on experiments and class discussion. Participants will explore each concept with colored paper and fabric kits to create two 12” x 12” transparency illusion quilt blocks.
Friday, May 9th, 2025
Personal Color Wheel Workshop
with Lisa Solomon
In this workshop we’ll crack open the world of color and using painting as a means of exploration and potentially relaxation. After a quick exercise to understand the paints in your palette, Lisa will walk you through a personal approach to color wheels. This will allow you to ponder how materials and other influences can impact our perception of color, and how to begin to develop and understand your own personal relationship with color. We’ll discuss some basic color “truths”, how color affects us, and some basic color theory/schemes. We’ll end class with a Color Meditation – a practice Lisa has instituted in her own studio for years now.
Participants should bring a watercolor sketchbook or paper and their favorite watercolor palette/paints and their favorite brushes. Students should have a minimum of 6 colors (there is no maximum!) that include a set of primaries – aka a red/scarlet or magenta, a yellow and some kind of blue/cyan. The class will also be an opportunity to ask Lisa questions about watercolor techniques.
Friday, May 30th, 2025
Dates
Color Basics – April 11, 2025 – 3-4:30pm EST
Natural Pigments in the Past, Present, and Future – April 18, 2025 – 1-4pm EST
Color Transparency Quilting Class – May 9, 2025 – 3-5:30pm EST
Personal Color Wheel Workshop – May 30, 2025 – 3-5:30 pm EST
*All classes in this series will be recorded. A link to the recording will be emailed to all registrants following the live session. You may purchase the series as a whole even after the classes have begun. You will be emailed the recordings upon sign-up.
Materials
A materials list is posted on each class page.
Cost
Color Basics lecture – $15 suggested donation
Natural Pigments in the Past, Present, and Future – $75
Color Transparency Quilting class – $95
Personal Color Wheel Workshop – $75
Full series – $240
Scholarships
We have two scholarships available for this experience. To be considered for a scholarship please email info@tatter.org requesting the scholarship application form.
Our Instructors
