The Workshops Behind “Week of Making”

Written by Saron Mussie

Last month, the MIX hosted a series of events called “The Week of Making” from March 2nd to 6th, which is a series of walk-in workshops for Mason students, faculty, and staff to participate and hone their creativity. Three of these workshops were held at MIX@Fenwick while the rest were held at MIX@Innovation.

Here is a look back of all the workshops during “The Week of Making”:

Monday: Indian Block Printing and Stencil Dyeing

For the first workshop of the week – Indian Block Printing and Stencil Dyeing, we had Trisha Gupta as our guest artist. Aside from being an artist, Trisha teaches students painting, printmaking, and drawing. For this particular workshop, she taught us how to do traditional Indian block printing on recycled fabric. Block printing (or woodblock printing) is a technique used for printing patterns, texts or images onto textiles such as fabric or cloth and eventually paper. This method is used widely throughout countries in East Asia. She also taught stencil printing for those who wanted to create their own patterns and images to transfer to fabric. Using patterned blocks, fabric paint, and recycled fabric, we were able to create many beautiful designs for personal use. I was part of the many participants of this workshop and had used the blocks to create an array of vibrant images onto my fabric.

Tuesday: Laser Cut Paper Lanterns

On the second day, we had the “Laser Cut Paper Lanterns” workshop led by MIX Maker Darby Hopkins. Students attended this workshop held at MIX@Innovation and made paper lanterns from nine pieces of 3 mm-thick birch wood and nine sheets of vellum paper (both materials safe for CNC and laser cutting), as well as four tetrahedrons to fit onto the corners of three triangles that were to be made out of the birch. All of the tetrahedrons were 3D-printed while all of the wood and paper had been laser cut by Darby prior to the workshop. My time at the workshop was a journey as it took a lot to time and a lot of wood glue on my fingers, but it was a fun experience. After we put everything together, we were given battery-powered fairy lights to place inside our lanterns, to light up the scenery of trees and mountains that had been cut onto the paper.

Wednesday: Shibori Indigo Dyeing

On the third day, our guest artist Trisha Gupta returned to teach another workshop – “Shibori Indigo Dyeing”, which is a Japanese dyeing technique of folding cloth, twisting and bunching said cloth, binding the cloth then dyeing it in indigo. When dyeing, it is important to make sure that all parts of your bonded cloth is evenly in the water. After the dyeing process was completed, participants had to gently squeeze out any excess water and carefully remove and unravel all bindings and twists done on the cloth. When seeing the final reveal of the patterns they created and were satisfied with the results, the participants of this workshop hung up their projects at the MIX@Fenwick to dry overnight and claimed it the next day.

Thursday: Jewelry Making

Our fourth workshop, “Jewelry-Making”, was led by MIX Maker Natalie Ledesma. During the workshop, we used charms made of birch wood, laser-cut acrylic shapes such as leaves, hearts, and triangles, and gemstone beads. Natalie taught us wire-wrapping and how to add the charms and stones onto chains. The participants were able to make their own rings and necklaces at the end of the workshop.

Friday: Cement Planters

Our fifth workshop is “Cement Planters” led by MIX Maker Cameron Struck-Hoover. The participants were able to make cement planters from 3D printed molds of different shapes and sizes. When initially mixing the cement and water, it is important to churn into the right consistency and not have too much water. After the mixture was made, participants were able to pick a mold of their choosing, but before they poured the cement, they had to make sure that their mold was properly lubricated. This meant that before every use, participants must heavily coat the mold in WD40, so the cement won’t stick when it dries. The planters take about three to four days to dry. Though the waiting period seems long for this project; the stunning results make it worthwhile.

All the workshops organized for the “Week of Making” were quite successful. The workshops were well-attended by a lot of students plus a few MIX staff members (including myself). Everyone had fun getting creative with their projects and was ecstatic to take their projects home. After participating in all the workshops myself, I hope that the MIX will organize more creative workshops in the future.