Diving Deep into the Dirty Pot
Nicola Brown
Sustainable Eco Printing with Clarity and Confidence
Whether you’re brand new to eco printing, transitioning from powdered mordants or looking to deepen your textile practice, this confidence-building workshop offers a chance to explore the ‘dirty pot’ method in a fun, supportive and creative environment.
We’ll start by cutting through the overwhelm—setting up a fresh dirty pot, working with protein fabrics and limited vegetation to build a strong foundation for vibrant prints and complex background colours. From there, we’ll explore more vegetation options and expand into cellulose fabrics, protein binders, thrifted garments, vintage linens, paper and even yarn—creating space for personal direction and experimentation as our time together unfolds.
Expect hands-on learning, daily demonstrations and group discussion, balanced with time to follow your own creative path. Nicola will guide you to work sustainably and health-consciously—without traditional powdered mordants—and share practical insights drawn from years of studio and teaching experience.
This is more than a technique-focused class. It’s a chance to reconnect with your materials, work intuitively with nature and leave with a body of work that’s both beautiful and personal.
If you’ve ever wondered how to get consistent results—or breathe new life into forgotten clothes and textiles—this is your invitation to dive right in and discover what’s possible.
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Three words describe Nicola Brown’s textile practice: simple, natural, crafted.
She harnesses the natural dye in leaves, bark, seed pods and onion skins to create lasting prints on handmade felt, wool, silk, linen and upcycled clothing—in a health-conscious and environmentally mindful way, without using harsh chemicals.
Since starting to develop a sustainable way of working, Nicola has planted over 13,500 trees on her rural Irish property and laid out large print and natural dye borders. These support a diverse range of butterflies, insects, birds and mammals which help convey the wider ecological aspect of her practice.
Nicola’s primary focus is on sustainable, intuitive eco printing—helping students move from confusion to confidence while creating beautiful, meaningful textiles, time after time.
