There are some really great classes on fabric dyeing (dying is something else altogether!) and painting given at Quilt University. It's a wonderful place to try new things at a low cost and no travel at all. :) I took the Playing with Paint class from Lyric Kinard and learned so many new techniques I'll be busy playing for years! Here's the link to the class catalog.
http://www.quiltuniversity.com/catalog.htm