Lust for Rust - Saturdays October 17 & 24

Rust is an eco-friendly, inexpensive, and easy medium for dyeing fabric or paper. Found objects that are made of iron or steel can corrode to produce iron oxide, creating interesting, often unexpected imprints. Colors can range from taupe to oranges and browns and can transform already colored fabric into other hues.

In the first session you will repurpose used cloth (cotton and linen are best; silk, wool, thread, and yarn are also possible) by putting it through a rust dye bath to achieve different depths of color. In the second session you will examine the shapes and colors that were created and determine what kind of stitching will best enhance them. Your creations may be framed, added to quilts, collaged with other artworks, or integrated into clothing.

Mirka Knaster creates 2-D and 3-D fiber art in her studio overlooking the Pacific Ocean on the Sonoma coast. She works with old and new textiles and handmade paper from Asia, dyes used cloth with indigo and rust, and incorporates design samples that would otherwise enter a landfill. With degrees in three cross-cultural fields, she has found inspiration around the world and in her local environment. Her work has been exhibited internationally and is in private collections across the U.S. She has taught a variety of classes in Northern California, Chicago, and Korea. She was one of the founders of Korea Textile Tours and curated several exhibits of Korean fiber artists. A former board member of the Textile Arts Council, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, and chairperson of the tours and workshops committee, she organized fiber art events in the Greater Bay Area.

Website: www.mirkaart.com

Fee: MarinMOCA Members: $165; Non-members $195

Materials Fee: $15 to be paid to the instructor at the time of the class

Where: Marin Museum of Contemporary Art, 1210 Fifth Avenue, San Rafael (at B Street)