Teachiing Venues:   WORKSHOPS, LECTURES, & PRESENTATIONS

Pavlos Mayakis, M.F.A. - Interdisciplinary Art, offers workshops, presentations, and college courses and lectures tailored to the needs of the individual or organization.  The following list detail many of the more popular venues that he is qualiified to teach.  Please contact him directly for more information.

Introduction to Dyeing (synthetic)

This class will explore tie-dye, resists, stamping, stenciling and other direct applications on fabric using fiber reactive dyes and synthetic pigments. Also covered will be the use of removing color (discharge process) and over-dyeing.  emphasis on the methods of application and use of two dimensional design principles on fabric.

Introduction to Natural Dyes

This introductory workshop will serve as an informative point of departure for anyone interested in working with natural dyes.  Many books are written on this subject often with conflicting information--this can be problematic to new learners.  Particpants will use both cellulose (cotton, linen, rayon, etc.) and protein fibers (silk and wool), address the use of both mordants and modifiers, and allow the participants to begin crafting their own natural dye workshop and notebook.  Students will be adding multiple dye samples to their notebook while surveying a sample of many of the most popular natural dyes including indigo. 

Introduction to Surface Design

Advanced dyeing techniques, image transfer, metallic foiliing, building layers of surface design processes on cloth.  Included will be dyeing and processing natural and synthetic fibers

Weaving I

Fundamental weaving techniques on a 4-shaft loom; fibers and yarns; yarn calculations; weaving tools and equipment; historic and contemporary weaving; design elements involved in weaving; pattern drafting, plain weave, and twills.  

Textile History 

A historical view of the world from prehistory to the present presented through the lens of textiles.  This full semester college course will consider the role of textiles in history and in cultures.  Topics to be considered are:  tools and techniques; belief systems; riturals; centers of productions and trade; fashion and costume; design styles, aesthetics, and motifs.  Selected multiple cultures/textiles will be studied in depth. 

Foam:  Dyeing with Shaving Cream

Discover the flexible nature of using shaving cream as the medium to transport Fiber Reactive dyes onto cellulose or silk fibers to create faux marbleized effects. Students will have an opportunity to explore additional direct applications including painting, stenciling, screening, and stamping will be demonstrated as well as the use of shaving cream dyeing with both paste resists and discharging agents.  Also, this class will learn how to use dyeing with shaving cream in tandem with other dyeing techniques to create one-of-a-kind works or art. Participants will take away from this workshop ample samples, completed projects, and dye recipes.  Quilters, weavers, surface designers, and paper artists, this workshop is for you!

The Magic of Indigo and the Mystique of Shibori

Indigo dye presents a range of blues and blue greens, often producing a distinct deep blue color on both cellulose and protein fibers.  Cloth after being dipped into an indigo vat and then exposed to air changes colors from an almost chartreuse green to an often deep blue in front of your eyes, seemingly magically!  Shibori is a method of preserving the memory of in which the cloth is manipulated or compressed. (folded, clamped, scrunched, stitched, etc.)  In this workshop, students will learn how to prepare at least two types of indigo vat dyes, sample a variety of fibers and learn many of the shibori techniques.

Dyeing and Surface Design for Theatrical Productions

An integral component of a successful theatrical production are its costumes.  This class will give your school or organization the capacity to enhance your productions with customized costumes that don't have to be limited to commercial fabrics.  You will learn a variety of techniques to dye yardage and individual costumes based upon the fiber content.  After dyeing, the costumes or yardage can be further enhanced through surface design (with stencils, stamps, screens, foils, and or by over-dyeing or removing color selectively (discharging)

Painting with Pigments

This class will begin with a discussion of what materials are suitable to use and pigments for painting.  Many suitable items can be found inside or outside your home including surprise items like instant coffee, instant tea, makeup, or soil from your backyard.  Pavlos will introduce two different binders or “glues” in this workshop (organic soymilk and a synthetic acrylic binder), each with its own benefits.  Each workshop participant will take away from this workshop a complete set of hand-out and several samples.  The handouts and samples will form the basis of your own reference book to be used as a point of departure for future projects.  Participants will have ample time to work on their own personal projects as well.

The Squeegee Board: Transferring Texture to Textiles with Fiber Reactive Dyes

This will be a fun, colorful, experimental, textural class that will encourage individual organic explorations.  If you like or would like to work with dyes, color and texture and if you are a fiber artist, quilter, weaver, or a paper artist—this workshop is for you!  Artists will transfer texture or pattering from a screen using thickened fiber reactive dyes to fabric and or paper.  This workshop will address and demystify several inter-related techniques in a clear, concise manner while explaining the chemistry.

Handwoven Shibori

Create unique patterned handwovens by weaving supplemental weft threads that will be gathered compressing the cloth into a mechanical resist.  Experience the magic of vat dyeing used in conjunction with fiber reactive dyes to create multiple colors with the potential of having a halo exist between the two dye classifications. This workshop is designed for the weaver at any level.  It will teach you how to apply fiber reactive dyes onto either cellulose or silk yarns creating a painted image or a faux ikat effect.  It will treat the warp as a canvas, allowing weavers to create flowing patterned color imagery.

Weave a Scarf - Painted Warp

This workshop is designed for the weaver at any level.  This wonderful technique will enable you to apply fiber reactive dyes onto either cellulose or silk yarns creating an abstract or impressionistic painted image or  a faux ikat effect working in a loose, free, expressive manner.  It will treat the warp as a canvas, allowing weavers to create flowing patterned color imagery.    We will learn how to mix colors working from six primary fiber reactive dye colors. Lectures will include dye safety, basic color theory, basic color theory, and will address the wide range of design potential that exists with painted warps.

Sustainability Awareness:  Weave your Trash, Save Yourself, Save the Planet

This workshop will give the participants an opportunity to examine their personal consumption practices by weaving their non-recyclable, non-repurposed "trash" by crafting both a written and a woven visual representation of this month long project.  Potentially, this experience has the potential to cause exciting positive life style modifications that could impact your diet, health, and foster more meaning community bonds for you (and your family).  This project is perfect for a guild or a business--it builds community on multiple levels. Through the physical act of cutting into strips and weaving your "trash" and witnessing the visual representation of your practices while journaling, you will become acutely aware of your own life style and to what extent you are connected to your community.  

For example if you were to purchase your groceries at a chain super market, there is a good chance that you place your overly processed, overly packaged items into your shopping cart and either self check your groceries out or silently stand in line waiting for that one "human" contact, "the check-out clerk" to ring up your groceries which are usually placed in plastic bags.  Contrast this experience with going to a local farmer's market where you engage in conversations with your local farmers, your groceries are lightly packaged with much less materials and you are directly supporting the local economy.

Presentations by Pavlos Mayakis on, "Weave your Trash, Save Yourself, Save the Planet" are also available.

Arts and Crafts Marketing

As a former award winning advertising and small business consultant and currently a full time studio artist, Pavlos will share his will expertise with you, the artist.  Many artists are able to produce high quality original work, yet a disconnect exists between their work and getting it to the proper market.  This customized workshop or class series can discuss the following subjects:  the business of arts and crafts (legal entities, business license, fictitious name statement, accounting) logos and branding, photography, how to design an ad, discovering your niche market, direct retail, fairs, direct wholesale, and the pro's and con's of having more than one product line.

Pavlos Mayakis, M.F.A. has taught, presented, and or lectured  at:

Convergence, the Biennial Conference sponsored by the Handweaver of America (H.G.A.)

Peters Valley Craft Center

Mendocino Arts Center

Mendocino College

Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts

NY State Museum

Yates Art-in-Education Magnet School

Weaving Guilds in California and New York