Where do I begin?
I've been looking forward to this day since December when I discovered that one of the Alabama Studio Style Workshops was going to be held on the west coast in the cultural city of Berkeley, California. I own both of the stitch books (Alabama Stitch Book and Alabama Studio Style) and have attempted the stencils and techniques previously, but had not actually tried making any of the projects in the book until the day of the workshop. My husband found a lovely artist loft rental for the weekend and we quietly assimilated into the rural street, just a mile or so from where the workshop was being held. He rode his bike around town while I spent all day Saturday at The Edible Schoolyard.
Such an inviting and colorful space in which to create! Can you imagine learning about organic gardening in elementary school? That's what they do there at Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School. Now about the food! The good people of the schoolyard prepared a lovely breakfast for us, but the light and fluffy quiche we had at lunch might have been my favorite flavor of the day with a layer of caramelized onions on top of the crust. But then, there were also fresh, hot, chocolate chip cookies...
The entire day was filled with stitching projects, stories from Natalie about her life and her business, education, physics, nourishment and laughter.
All the attendees appeared to me to be accomplished stitchers, and the projects taking shape around the room were breathtaking. Many of the attendees wore their Alabama Chanin style garments to the workshop!
Natalie's partner Butch Anthony demonstrated the chair weaving technique with recycled ties. He's a national treasure in Alabama. If you're not familiar with him, you can read about his annual art show in this recent article from the New York Times. He is as soft spoken and genuine as they come, absolutely teeming with history and creativity, just below his skin. As attendees of the workshop, we had the unexpected pleasure of witnessing the filming of Les Blank's ongoing documentary of Butch and his life's work.
The workshop concluded with a tour of the gardens and despite the light rainfall, it was a perfect day. I completed about 1/8 of my project (although I was stitching every minute that I wasn't taking photographs) so I have a few more weeks of work before I'm able to model the corset. There was something to take in at every turn, from the stitching to the walls of the schoolyard, to the ground. If you get the chance to take one of her workshops - or perhaps visit her at the Studio in Alabama - you owe it to yourself.