To pick up from my last entry…did we inspire her or what just happened? In truth, we know and we received our authentic taste of the season.
Gethin has discovered a new landscape. He asked to go out & play in it many times during the day.
Everything was ice covered yesterday bringing our world to a stand-still. It also brought quiet, discovery and inspiration.
雪花 (yukibana) – snowflower comes to mind, or maybe ice flower.
Back to it after some gloomy, damp winter weather and a bit of a respite. This week, for a few days, the weather turned spring like with welcome sunshine and milder temperatures. The idea of not dipping seemed like a missed opportunity. The vats had a bit of “revamping” with sunbeams to boot.
January dipping
Truth be told, I’m preparing for an early February workshop celebrating wintery motifs – an emphasis on sekka/snowflakes and itajime/board clamping. More information can be found here but don’t hesitate to ask if you have any questions.
Sekka/雪花
This month I’ve needed a break, a breather. I’ve taken that point of view as I was “ordered” to do so after giving myself a mild concussion a few weeks back. It has seemed prudent to take things at a more measured pace. However, I’ve returned to old habits – too easy to do. Generally, it’s made me aware that some things need to change.
a crop from a larger photo – early days in Kagoshima. I love the dress and am impressed that she’s wearing a hat!
Another thing occupying my thoughts and activities is a project centering on my mother who celebrates her 90th year in roughly a month. It has involved looking at old photos of her and what surfaces, on one level, is her sense of style. That aspect has carried through her long life. She always presents herself well.
Over the holidays I read Tim Gunn’s Fashion Bible and enjoyed it thoroughly. Between the two, I’ve had many thoughts about my own clothing influences as well as simply considering my mother’s style in the context of her times and the culture in which she immersed herself. Sometimes I wonder “Who was she? What was she thinking?” The stories that come to mind…!
Timbered Hill/Light Snow – Maud Gatewood – NCMA collection
A visit to the museum and a chance meeting with a landscape I don’t recall seeing before – it fit right in with the anticipation of snow due in the evening. In the end, it only amounted to a light dusting in my area – disappointing.
Detail of Kimono from the collection of the Gregg Museum
I like winter. I wished for more of those little flakes despite the inconvenience.- something to do with the effect it has on the landscape. It changes it, turns it into something new – ‘transformative’ – Kathy used the word last week. I keep pondering the word.
Silk study-detail
We had one mild day early in the week, so I was moved to “reboot” the vat to keep on with my studies in silk – form and that ‘that’ blue. The small results have given me some affirmation to keep exploring. Even a very small piece sends a message.”try it larger…see what happens.” Definitely.
Something’s brewing at the Gregg…what could it be?
I’ve also recently made a few additions to the Events & Workshop pages – there are a few added workshops and events (a few blurry lines there). Please take a peek. I’ll add more details as time goes on, but for the moment….じゃね！
I’d like to begin on a positive note, in spite of the challenges that some of my nearest and dearest have already been presented with so early in this year. It’s deeply affecting, but when I see the clarity of the moon after days of thick clouds and cold, then see the sun rise the next morning, I feel promise.
So…the day begins. Over the last few days, I’ve been viewing Michel Garcia’s Natural Dye Workshop and am intrigued. I’ve “played” with some of his ideas previously, but seeing him work and hearing his explanations was invaluable, inspiring and exciting (and now I want to work in the garden!).
Explorations in silk, especially that Gunma silk are ongoing, slow. The time I’ve been able to give to the one large piece I’ve started is piecemeal. I get to it when I can, but here’s a peek:
There’s a long way to go. I’m inching along.
The horse is another image I’m considering, it’s the Year of the Horse, after all. It’s still very much in progress. I have some thoughts about it – something playful to start off the year.
Preps are also ongoing for the February event at the Art Museum (NCMA).
I’m rereading Balfour-Paul’s Indigo, so full of history, facts about the plant, the dye, documented with beautiful illustrations. Revisiting it has been a pleasure.
There will be a hands-on dye experience or engagement after the book discussion and I am looking forward to giving that presenation. Further details are on the Events page.
So, there’s much to grow on in the year, explorations and workshops are “afoot” and there will be more to come as they reveal themselves. The very best to my readers in this New Year.
deliciously balmy….
To backtrack just a bit, while “everyone else” was getting buried in snow and ice, we were “basking” in a balmy 78° last Sunday – unseasonal and it brought out creatures unseasonal as well. As I had a project to complete for my son, and the day was my only window, naturally, I took full advantage.
from the home-grown
In the process, I also “approached” cleaning and organizing in the studio. This meant throwing out a couple of vats. The first to go was the fresh-leaf which I was discouraged with and had ignored for more than a few months.
The results of that were ugly. In cleaning up before actually pouring out the indigo solution, I realized that the liquid was a rich, deep blue which caused me to hesitate and provoked a few questions. The image shows the final results of that serendipity. There’s still more left to work with.
fermentation of another kind
Over this holiday, someone gave us an Amish Cinnamon Bread starter – not just tasty but engaging. Having a bag of fermenting “stuff” to “mush” daily brought to mind, of course, the vat.
It needed to be stirred for roughly 10 days, feeding midway through that time; then again, feeding it at the end before turning it into bread. Walking through that process was a simple reminder of the need for similar activity with indigo – a thing to be looked forward to in the next season.
Out with the old…
Spring. We haven’t had enough winter cold yet and we need some before we are ready for that balmy season. I do look forward to that cold, but I’m also looking to the softness of spring and its promises.
I must say, the day started well with sunshine and hope. I made a note to myself to do some yard work in the afternoon. I met most of my goal for the morning. The vat was giving good color, those ‘garments’ were lining up nicely on the clothesline, but it wasn’t long before feeling a few drops in the air.
It was raining by lunchtime. So much for those afternoon plans. Tomorrow we’re apparently welcoming winter for the day again. A day off wouldn’t be a bad thing.
There are a few other projects wanting my attention and a couple of good books.
You just never know around here. Some winters you see it, some you don’t.
It’s sticking just a bit. It won’t last, but I’m enjoying the view.
A cup of tea or maybe hot chocolate will do me at some point today – and maybe a good fire – cheering.
In the meantime, I’m watching the flakes fall.
My dictionary gives us:
「雪がひどく降っている。」Yuki ga hidoku futte iru.
It’s snowing thick and fast [well…just plain snowing here.].
降る・ふる・furu – precipitate, fall – rain, snow and ash fall.
「雪がしんしんと降る」Yuki ga shinshin to furu. The snow keeps falling silently.
「チラチラ降る」Chira chira furu – to fall in flakes.
Let it snow.
This is today’s challenge. So far, I’ve been fortunate and managed some morning work. The wind helped to diminish the drips on the pants I’ve been working with since last week. It’s all I can manage in this strange winter weather. I met my morning’s goal though – an arbitrary one for myself.
The drying has to take place in the dye studio. So the “pieces” are there now and hope it won’t be too many days before they’re completely dry.
It has been balmy (in the low 70s) these last couple of days – a huge change since last week’s ice – typical of the area generally. It has made it so much easier to work and I’ve been productive. A few more days like this interspersed would ease things a bit. Tomorrow We move back towards winter and I feel a little mixed about it. It is winter after all.
In the meantime, things to ponder…what will I do with the order of vintage Japanese silk (via Richard & Glennis) that arrived today? It’s lovely stuff.
It came and went fairly quickly, but it was an ‘event’ nevertheless. We were under winter’s brief spell. It’s typical for this area, but as I’ve said before, it has been awhile.
It did bring traffic snarls – accidents and many other mishaps – always the challenging aspect to this kind of weather. I stay in and tend to indoor things.
Obviously, work in the dye studio stopped and the vat went untended. The weather outdoors was too sloppy to even consider line drying.
I’m not sure yet what today will be. It is warming up, but precipitation is again, in the forecast.
Winter seems to want to spend time with us this year. The last few days have been chilly, but today the air has had a touch of bitterness with wind. It has added challenges to some surprising and serendipitous custom work that was delivered to the dye studio on Tuesday morning.
It has been cold outside, but in the studio, even though it’s unheated, in the warmth of the sun, it’s just fine. Layering up in warm clothes, hat and scarves, hands in warm indigo – I’m good!
Last night though, in an attempt to keep work inside, huge puddles formed on the floor in spite of layering plastic and blanketing drop cloths. I had no idea the pieces would drip so much.
So today I resorted to the outdoor clothesline again despite the temps. It hasn’t been so bad. At least the drips are outside and later the pieces will continue drying in the studio. Tomorrow we may be experiencing more of ‘that’ precipitation. Winter doesn’t last long here, so as far as I’m concerned, it’s welcome.
I’m also including a link with a video from NHK about the aizome (indigo dyeing) process. It’s in Japanese, but I think the information will be clear enough. Tanoshinde! Enjoy!
糸で/ Ito de/ By Thread 