Deb MacCrea & Tonya Pettit

What began over 45 years ago as an affordable way to accumulate natural fiber yarns to feed a new knitter/weaver's hunger became a lifelong passion in search of color. From sampling simple "kitchen dyes" to trialing and extensively documenting historic dyeplants, Deb began adding dyeplants to her already large and productive veggie/herb gardens, along with foraging the farm's meadows and woods for sources of color. She was hooked. Many thousands of hues later, she began to explore various traditional and contemporary methods of adding surface design as well as color to textiles and clothing. Deb has been Costume Shop Supervisor at Alfred University's Division of Performing Arts for 25 years, teaching costume related classes for over 12 years, so sharing her knowledge of Natural Dyeing with students has become one of her life's greatest rewards.

This summer's Color From Nature workshop will add the talents of another passionate dyer- Tonya Pettit, whose artistic expression ranges from stunning and unique handmade baskets to many aspects of the fiber art world. Tonya teaches in an immersive way, with hands-on experience and collaboration. Most summer weekends can find Tonya in the woods, foraging mushrooms for dye. Once home, she begins with research and then asks the question "what happens if..?" in order to stretch the possibilities. Over 12 years' experience has helped Tonya develop a method of investigating the range of colors in each mushroom species she finds. The rewards are stunning!