Botanical Ink making workshop - Glasgow

This one day workshop is taking place in my Glasgow studio and is aimed at those interested in ink making. You can be a complete beginner but it helps to be curious and be interesting in experimenting.

We will spend the day looking at plant bases sources from the garden and the kitchen to make Botanical inks.

You will be introduced to tannins and mordants that can bind together to create and modify colours.

You will learn what makes an ink and how to test plant based elements around you to make colour fast inks to use in your creative work.

We will make inks from 3 different sources and use modifiers to alter colours and give you a colour pallet to play with.

You will be able to take home three small jars (please bring 3 glass jars very clean with secure lids) of the base inks we made and your samples.

You will not be give notes but you will be encourage to take notes of the process so you can duplicate.

There will be time for application on Art paper and those are yours to keep.

Illustrated in the photos are oak galls and oak gall ink (modified for different shades).

Elisabeth is a textile artist and dye plant grower in Glasgow. She researches and study dyes and inks and teaches in person and online how to obtain and secure colour that are colourfast dyes. She trained traditionally with a number of practitioners and travels the world to learn from other dyers. Her last trip was in Mexico in the Teotitlan del Valle area to work with the local plant dyers.

She grows a dye garden (Indigo and Woad) in The Glasgow Botanical garden and runs an online project every summer to encourage dyers to grow and use Indigo and Woad at home. For information and booking on it https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/from-seeds-to-blue-grow-indigo-woad-with-the-indigo-plot-2025-online-tickets-1073782776189

Please note every booking is final but if you have a genuine medical issue I will transfer you to an alternative workshop.

This is not suitable for children and my studio unfortunately is down a flight of steep stairs so I am afraid I can not welcome to this workshop participants with mobility issues. Please email me if you are in that case and I will advise on which workshops I will have in 2025 that could be avaialble for you.

Host or Publisher Elisabeth Viguie Culshaw @ The Lansdowne House