Creating Natural Pigments from Flora & Funga, August 22 & 23, 9:30am-3pm. This immersive two-day workshop takes you from garden and forest floor, tracing the full arc of color-making from living plant and fungal material to a finished watercolor palette. Working with plants and mushrooms, participants will engage in the complete process of extraction, transformation, and paint creation.
Guided by artist, farmer, and Mushroom Color Atlas creator Julie Beeler, you’ll harvest seasonal plants, explore the chromatic potential of select mushroom species, and learn the foundational chemistry of natural pigments. Through lake-making techniques, you’ll convert dyes into pigments, then grind and bind them into watercolor paints. Along the way, Julie shares insights into sustainable harvesting, species selection, and the subtle shifts that occur when time interacts with color.
This workshop is grounded in experimentation and observation. Participants will test modifiers, compare results, and document their discoveries in a handmade mini zine. You will take home your own handcrafted watercolor palette—built entirely from flora and funga—and leave with the knowledge and recipes to continue the practice at home.
Part field study, part laboratory, part studio, this experience is designed for artists, makers, naturalists, and curious minds who want to understand not just how to paint with natural color, but how to bring it into being.
Painting with Natural Pigments, August 21, 9:30am-12:30pm. This workshop invites participants to work directly with pigments from plants and mushrooms as sources of vibrant, expressive watercolor paints and inks. This hands-on workshop offers a deep dive into the material alchemy of transforming botanical and fungal pigment into paints and inks, blending art, ecology, and practical skill-building. Designed for those curious about where color comes from, the workshop opens new ways of seeing both familiar plants and the often-overlooked world of fungi.
Guided by artist, farmer, and Mushroom Color Atlas creator Julie Beeler, participants will explore the rich chromatic range hidden within wild mushrooms and easily sourced plants. You’ll learn techniques for working with their pigments to produce inks and watercolor paints, as well as how to mull your own paint by hand.
The workshop emphasizes hands-on making, curiosity, and documentation. Participants will create a mini zine to record color tests, and will leave with a paint and ink sample, along with a craftbook of recipes and techniques to continue exploring at home. Equal parts studio practice and ecological inquiry, this workshop is ideal for artists, painters, naturalists, and anyone eager to deepen their relationship with color through flora and fungi.
Color Stories from Fungi, August 21, 6:30-8pm. Mushrooms offer a world of vibrant pigments waiting to be uncovered and transformed into dyes, inks, and paints. Julie Beeler reveals the science, processes, and experimentation behind these natural colorants—and invites participants to swatch the colors themselves, experiencing firsthand the art and wonder of fungi in full color.
*Registration opens May 12 @ 10am CT.