Saturday 11 August 2012

Summer Indigo and Persimmon Dyeing and Atomic Dog Forgiveness


 A single lotus blooms for two days and is followed by another. Ogata san came by for some extra indigo dying with a few of her great grandchildren yesterday. They have the same life force as her.






Kamei san finished this huge patterned mokume shawl. A  lot of work, a lot of patience. Beautiful piece. Kelp under the waves motif.


This persimmon piece used an old stencil I cut with more seaweed designs. Seven separate persimmon coatings and 14 days in the sun. These  stencils can be used over and over again. I let students use them and it gives me extra pleasure to see their work with them.

The bill collector came from Tokyo Denryoku, the operator of the nuclear power plants that melted down.  Love these guys. 7000 million yen spent a year on advertising in every magazine, newspaper, and TV station, radio station and Internet site in the country.  Great way to guarantee that there is never a single word ever spoken or written about the dangers of nuclear power. They just pull the advertising income from the  media company. Like Toshiba and every other manufacturer of nuclear reactor parts.

 I suppose Geiger's previous owners who were forced to evacuate suddenly without any idea why (Nuclear power is safe, no other information was available, god forbid a school textbook might mention it either.) leaving their dog behind to fend for himself. Here the bill collector has come and I asked if I could take his picture with my new dog. I didn't mention that Geiger is a refugee from Fukushima but my students seemed a little uncomfortable with me having a little fun with the camera, the nuked dog and the electricity bill collector. Distrust and then forgiveness....Geiger you are a better dog than I am human.



9 comments:

  1. Hi Bryan,

    I found your blog when trying to view the 45rpm web site, and was excited to see that you hold classes in indigo dyeing and shibori.

    I have no artistic ability but I really like Japanese indigo, and would to learn how to dye a tenugui--similar to the designs that the children are holding up in the picture above. Do you offer classes on Saturday or Sunday? I live near Kamakura.

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    1. Dear Suguriko san,
      Yes, I have classes most Saturdays. Kamakura is a bit of a haul to get here. I am at the north end of Kanagawa and you are at the very south tip. Please e-mail me at leafytails@gmail.com for more information.

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  2. dogs are like that. they see the deep good. surely this guy has a life, maybe loves people, certainly dogs. i (used to) take wendy to work with the hooligans. she loves them and they, her. stuart brand says having an animal around makes us better people. the larger the better. and elephant is best. for me, it's a border collie.
    the kelp piece is amazing.

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    1. Hi Velma....He is making me a better human. He has so much good will aimed at him because of his unfortunate background as a homeless wandering nuclear wasteland pooch. He walks along with me without his leash on his walks now. He gets along fine with old Snooperoo as well. Hmm... he might be a keeper.

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  3. Love the persimmon piece! Gorgeous, as is everything i see here.

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  4. it's wonderful to see Ogata-san's greatgrands enjoying what she obviously loves to do. beautiful dyeing, love the kaki. Is Geiger becoming a permanent fixture??

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    1. Yes Jean...Geiger is such a good dog. Snoopy has a crush on him as well. I think he can stay. He behaves so well it is like he is saying...please keep me please!

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  5. kamei-san's piece is awesome!
    are the skeins behind ogata san's relatives kakishibu dyed?
    a little mischief is good for one's well being.

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  6. Hi Neki,
    Yes, I dip them every morning in the kaki shibu and hang them in the sun to get ultra violet rays. I rotate them and turn them inside out throughout the day to get a relatively even dye. It is like they soak up the heat of the day and browner and more golden day by day.

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