Come to the Botanical gardens at Berkeley

This is an invite from my lovely friend Deepa to come visit the Botanical gardens at Berkeley where she is the cooridinator for tours and programs

Everything is bursting at the seems at the garden. i truly encourage you all to come see the beauty and bounty-- including the first bloom of a 25 year old rhododendron, a bee hive and the fruiting of cute overload worthy pineapple!

i'm really excited to share with you an exhibit that is opening tomorrow at the garden of fiber & dye plants from around the world. this year we have the beautiful additions of judi petite's plant paint posters, which are just exquisite, plenty of fresh plants, a special edible dye table and new textiles that i brought from india.

along with the exhibit are three classes that are going to be really fun. i would love to see you there.

on sunday march 22 from 10am-4pm kathleen hubbard will be leading a pine-needle basketry workshop. we will be making beautiful baskets using Georgia pine (Pinus palustris) needles sticthed with raffia or waxed linen. we'll also be incorporating natural dyes into our baskets! the cost is $65, $60 botanical garden members and well worth it for 6 hours of expert instruction and all materials

on saturday march 28th from 1pm-4pm my beautiful friend and amazing artist Ashley Helvey is going to be teaching a felting workshop using plant dyed wool. i'm not really sure what else to say about this except that it is going to be so fun. i first felted with ashley in the fall and i was so amazed by how rewarding the process is. this one costs $50, $40 botanical garden members and includes all materials.

for the kiddies: on sunday april 5th there will be two sessions of naturally dyed easter eggs from 10 am-11am and from 1pm-2pm! last year we had such a blast and i'm so happy to repeat this program. i'll be introducing children to the joy of natural dyes while they make their own patterns on eggs with brilliant plant based-colors. $20, $15 members for one adult, one child and all materials.

-- also, not a part of this series, but also a wonderful class that i'm glad to host will be a contemplative drawing workshop that can be taken as a 1part or 2 part class on saturday april 11th and saturday may 16th. sylvia la will be leading contemplative drawing through the garden. it will be a great chance to wander the paths, take the time to really observe the contours and textures in the garden and use drawing as a tool for contemplation. please come! no previous drawing experience necessary these classes are $30, $25 members; $50, $40 members if you sign up for both!

if you'd like to come to any of these please let me know or give the garden a call to register: 510-642-7082. advance registration is required so we can have the appropriate amount of materials available.