Theresa Brown – May 7-9, 2024
Theresa Brown is a professional artist whose long art career embraces many areas of the arts. She studied Commercial Art and Printmaking at East Carolina University. Subsequent years in printmaking and graphic design led her to explore the fiber arts. Using many similar skills and accumulated knowledge, she evolved as a hand painter, felter and ecoprinter on natural fibers. She uses natural dyes and low impact synthetic dyes and merges them into unique, beautiful designs on silk, wool, paper and leather. She turns her transformed work into artisanal clothing, accessories, and art.
Her articles and designs in the fiber arts have appeared in international publications such as “No Serial Number” and “Belle Armoire.” She has a line of instructional PDF’s on ecoprinting techniques and is the first instructor to teach Ecoprinting on Leather in the US. She has been an instructor at many fiber art shows including Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival, Southeastern Animal Fiber Fest, Carolina Fiber Fest, Kentucky Sheep and Fiber Festival, Michigan Fiber Fest, Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival, Southeast Fiber Arts Association, John C. Campbell Folk School and many other venues.
Theresa and her artist husband, Stephen Filarsky, reside in rural North Carolina with their alpacas, chickens and family dogs.
ARTIST’S STATEMENT:
Art, in any form, is all about expanding one’s creativity while embracing and experimenting in areas of artistic interest or even need. In my many years of being a professional, thus self-employed, painting artist, specializing in portraiture and the fiber arts, my views on art have changed dramatically over the years.
My collegiate art history courses showed me that the parallels between my reality as an artist and those of past historical artists were similar. My goals shifted into productivity out of necessity. My fiber art began to expand into ecoprinting. I had continued my controlled methods of art in my portraiture to embrace silk painting but the ecoprinting began to open up an artistic area of spontaneous results that I did not realize I needed. In my “other” art, my supplies came from an art store. But in ecoprinting, my supplies were coming from Mother Nature – leaves, weeds, flowers, fresh, dried – and all subjective to the whims of nature and her environment. No guarantees, no “off the shelves” supplies. And it was a freeing experience!
In ecoprinting, everyone starts on a level playing field. There is just the artist, the fabric, Mother Nature and the great outdoors. And honestly, art doesn’t get any better than that!
Hybrid LECTURE: Tuesday, May 7, 2024, 9:30am: Nature’s Designs from Leaves and Plants – A Journey into Ecoprinting
Theresa Brown will discuss the basics of ecoprinting (also known as botanical printing) that involves collecting leaves, plants and flowers to imprint images directly upon protein fibers such as silk, wool and silk noil. She will discuss some of the techniques she uses to create beautiful, natural designs and colors. Theresa will share finished products to show the fascinating world of ecoprinting and how nature impacts the final creations..
IN-PERSON WORKSHOP: Ecoprint on Silk and Wool Naturally and in Color
Tuesday, May 7, 2024: 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Wednesday, May 8, 2024: 9:30 am – 4:00 pm
Thursday, May 9, 2024: 9:30am – 4:00 pm
Learn how to imprint beautiful plant designs from nature – naturally and in color – on silk, silk noil and wool. Students will learn the techniques of ecoprinting and how to enhance the natural designs and create richly-colored backgrounds on their silks and wool.
At the end of the workshop, students will take home a total of 6 ecoprinted projects (3 imprinted naturally and 3 in color) and the knowledge to continue ecoprinting from nature’s resources. Class is designed to be relaxed as well as beginner-friendly! Ecoprinting is a natural, sustainable art form.
• Fee includes all supplies except for the leaves, plants and flowers you will collect.