Monday 2 September 2013

Cocoon Day with Karin


Karin's approach to indigo is different from mine. She is a note taker. A careful planner.   Occasionally frustrated by the fickleness of indigo and the huge downpour of cultural and technical information her Scorpio intelligence boxed it all up for future reference. With one eyebrow raised and a warm slow smile interspersed with a wince and thoughtfully pursed lips, she surveyed a months worth of work as she packed up in preparation for her trip to Kyoto yesterday.

Indigo and it's friends shibori and stencil dyeing to take time. Time.... to deeply understand the history and potentials and limitations of indigo itself and the Japanese techniques that developed with indigo over a long history.
I have no doubt that her Scorpio spirit will have it all mastered in a few years. I can see that indigo and the peripherals are her calling.

Today we looked at silk. She had never seen a cocoon before.







I showed her several techniques of how to reel and make different silk threads and options for expanding those methods to make even more varieties.


She already had some very good shibori techniques in her repertoire. 


I believe that this work is the genten from which many more will spring. 






7 comments:

  1. cocoon day, what a perfect title. having you for a teacher, you who understands her scorpioness, must be a true gift. i have found the collaboration of differences a true blessing. seems like this sag (me) truly enjoys the precision of others not blessed in my own way, my virgo daughter teaches me all kinds of ways to organize things, for example!

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    1. This sag rising has his mouth open at the precision as well.

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  2. oh, i think i forgot to write how much i like karin's printed piece!

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  3. These photos have me drooling, particularly the tubes. Individually they are wonderful but together they are sublime. I love the brown over the indigo too. Fantastic Bryan.
    Thank you, Jean H from SA

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  4. I'm starting to think the indigo vat's personality and ever changing moods reflect that of its keeper. Maintaining a vat requires constant vigilance, a little bribery, some prayer and a smidgen of luck - saki helps, too!

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  5. hmmmm. I don't envy the vat these days then. Poor, cranky stressed out thing with a bad back desperately needing a shave and night out with beer and buddies.

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