Spring Workshops
2011
DG Educational Services
Spring Workshop/ Open House/ Educational Tours
In 2011, DG Educational Programs will offer for the first time a series of workshop/ open house/ educational tours focusing on agricultural, ancestral and primitive skills. These open house events are designed to educate participants in skills that are an integral part of agricultural life and will give a first hand understanding of what it is like for human culture to be more connected with the natural world. The skills taught in these workshops will link present culture to our ancestral past in a way that can only be achieved with direct experience, and will give participants a new appreciation of agriculture and our connection with the surrounding natural environment.
This will be the first of what we hope becomes an annual series of workshop/ open house/ educational tours. DG Educational Services has gathered a talented group of teachers who will share their knowledge and their passion. All of the workshop/ open house/ educational tours will be conducted in the beautiful surroundings of Devil’s Gulch Ranch, and will utilize the unique resources of this environment. Each skill places a special emphasis on sustainability and the responsible use of materials and resources. For more information about these and future workshops, call Joe Barr at (415) 662-1099 or email joebarr.dges@gmail.com
The 2011 Workshop Series calendar is as follows;
Harvesting your Color; Natural Dyes from Native Plants - March 26-27, 2011
Cost: $200
In this special two-day workshop, you will learn to identify native and non-native dye plants, while building a relationship with the entire ecosystem from which our colors derive. You will walk the landscape with us and harvest natural dye plants while discussing biodiversity enhancement, seasonal harvesting regimes, and practice the long and ancient art of dye vat creation. You will then work with local wools, and a sampling of cellulose and protein fibers to create beautiful hand dyed fabrics and yarns.
Workshop Facilitator; Rebecca Burgess is a teacher and natural dye artisan who has worked for over ten years creating recipes from local flora. She is the founder of Ecological Arts--an organization dedicated to creating, revitalizing, and teaching functional art forms that utilize natural raw materials. She holds a master's degree in education and a bachelor's degree in art history. She teaches natural dye workshops throughout the country, and currently resides in Fairfax, California.
Blacksmithing - April 2-3, 2011
Cost: $300
Blacksmithing has been an integral part of agriculture for centuries. Before the age of industrialization, shoeing horses, making specialized tools, and repairing equipment all require the skills of the blacksmith. In this workshop/ open house/ educational tour you will explore the basic material dynamics of iron as well as being introduced various basic blacksmithing techniques. You will then apply these techniques to making your own tools such as hammers, hooks, and hinges. This workshop/ open house/ educational tour aims to address our culture of excess and waste by reviving some old, sustainable techniques and adapting them to contemporary life. We will approach this from a non-traditional point of view that employs the notions of recycling, reclaiming, and DIY culture.
Workshop Facilitator; Benjamin Carpenter began exploring his creativity as a child building cardboard forts and various other contraptions with tools smuggled from his grandfather’s garage in New England. Earning a B.F.A. from the Maine College of Art in Metalsmithing and Jewelry led him to explore the possibilities of larger scale architectural metalwork, kinetic and interactive sculpture. He gained experience working with several artists and craftspeople on both coasts of the United States. Now living in San Francisco, he spends his time pursuing his interests in a vigorous M.F.A. program and exhibits his work internationally. Backbone Metals is the moniker under which he does commissioned work.
Braintanning Buckskin - May 14-15, 2011
Cost: $240
Braintanned buckskin is beautiful, soft, durable, and washable leather which is made using the same natural, non-toxic, and biodegradable methods employed by most Native American groups. For two days, you will partake in the whole process-from scraping the hide to smoking the softened buckskin. The group will tan about one hide for every four people and, if all goes well, each person should take home at least 1/4 of a finished buckskin.
Workshop Facilitator; Tamara Wilder has been practicing, teaching & demonstrating primitive living skills since 1989 and has been running school programs across Northern California since 1998. She regularly teaches at the Solar Living Institute, California School of Herbal Studies, Occidental Arts & Ecology Center, Pt. Reyes National Seashore & the Mendocino Art Center; is coauthor of the book Buckskin, board member of the Society of Primitive Technology, and demonstrates ancient living skills for museums, fairs & schools. She is also featured on the History Channel in the Modern Marvels show entitled "Leather". For more information about Tamara, go to www.paleotechnics.com.
PO Box 876 Boonville, CA 95415 707-391-8683
How to Make a Rocket Stove - June 4 & June 5, 2011 (Two separate one day workshops) Cost: $115
The skills learned in building these stoves are of vital importance to agriculture and farm life. Incredibly simple to build, Rocket Stoves can be made by relatively un-skilled individuals out recycled and natural materials. Rocket Stoves work by burning wood in a completely new way, then delivering almost all produced heat for cooking, toasting, baking, and heating water or people. They keep you snug and produce far less air pollution than almost any other method of wood heating. In this workshop you will learn build a stove for yourself out of locally found, natural and recycled materials. This workshop is perfect for the do it yourselfer who has very little previous knowledge.
Workshop Facilitator; Kirk Mobert attended his first Natural Building course in 1998, where he fell in love with the philosophy and work of Natural Building. It was at this workshop that Rocket Stoves first came to his attention. Their workings quickly became a fascination with him, then his passion. During the summer of 2003, Kirk completed his Natural Building Apprenticeship with Cob Cottage Company and began his professional Natural Building career. Kirk has been teaching with the North American School of Natural Building since 2005.
Along the way, Kirk has experimented with Rocket Stove technologies and developed a unique view of their dynamic and versatile characteristics. He contributed to the Rocket Mass Heaters book written by Ianto Evans and Leslie Jackson, continues to experiment with them and teach about them. Kirk runs an internet Rocket Stove forum at: http://donkey32.proboards.com/
