Come and Stay in Japan and Study Indigo at the Farmhouse

The new studio in Atsugi....almost there.

I am still basking the glow of the autumn workshop while rushing around for the opening of the studio/shop in Hon Atsugi next weekend. Does this look like it will be ready in one week? Yikes!

I have inquiries about spring workshops and people who want to book their flights soon. Yes, spring and autumn workshops were immensely enjoyable (although the prep took a few years off my life.) I will hold them again in 2013. I tweaked the program a bit as I was biting off a tad too much and expecting the participants to chew through all the tough stuff with me. I was stressing my guests out at the indigo vat with too much work.

I will be busy with the shop. I ma certain their will be same typos int his. Please bare with me.

The Spring 2013 Japanese Textile Workshop in Japan:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vKGq9uyqSqFRksQDh2Y0HPDhknzzdgQczv1rxwk7nwM/edit

Thank You Autumn Workshop Participants.

I have to thank Angela, Jenny, Sally, Megan, Carmen, Baukje and Celia for travelling from such far flung corners of the planet to spend ten days with me at the farmhouse. Time flew. I wish we had an extra few years together so I could get across even a fraction of what I would like to share with you all. I enjoyed every minute. I was a little too ambitious with the projects. Sorry.  On the other hand, I was impressed at the mountain of items dyed. I realized how important it is to be there splashing around in the indigo and getting a feel for it's possibilities and it's limitations.

The effort gone into the shibori homework was impressive. I didn't manage to get a photograph of them all in the rush to pack and be off to your next adventures. Here are a few above. The preparation often seems easy when you are ready to see the end result of your labours. Unstitching can be a real headache! Check out Angela's indigo dyed lock. Matches her glasses perfectly.
Once again, thank you all. I hope all our indigo paths will wind around and we meet again.

Bryan

Ikebana.

Kimono and other Japanese textiles are literally covered in flowers and other motifs from nature. There is something Japanese how the flowers are composed and represented. Taking a quick look at Japanese flower arrangement composition might fire some synapses when appreciating Japanese textiles and designing stencils.
Hiro took everyone for a walk and gathered branches and flowers and mossy rocks to use in their own arrangements. He was such a good teacher. The results were great. Snoopy made a rare appearance on the third floor to enjoy the party.

Autumn Workshops in Progress

It as an enormous relief to meet all the members. It was the end of  six months of preparation. Actually, the past year and a half of life has been focused on one single thing. Endless carpentry work on this house to make it presentable for the guests. The end is in sight! I must admit it is looking pretty good. Hiro filled the house with flower arrangements. And friends have made such a stupendous effort to support me and to make my guests feel welcome in Japan.

The weather is cool and gorgeous.

The workshop members are enthusiastic and fun.
 (With all due respect to the original Indigo Sisters. I wish you were here to meet them.)

I had intended on posting about our daily activities each night, but that proves impossible with evening hot spring trips and campfires etc. Time is so short. I wish we had ten years instead of ten days.

Welcome lunch waiting.

Welcome lunch waiting to be eaten.

3rd floor table waiting to be used.

Preparing for the first indigo dips.

Kasuri First Try and Silk Mystery Solved

Imai san gave warp kasuri a try. (And me as well. Hardly qualified to teach kasuri I was winging it too.) There were a few problems but it turned out fine. She tried a few weft kasuri additions. Not perfect by far. But now she has an idea of what is involved in weaving warp and weft kasuri. Hmmm. Kasuri is a tough nut to crack.  It is very difficult to get it just right. Design wise and technically. Having woven a few pieces, the artistic and skill levels involved in determining the value of kasuri become clear.

Justin wanted to solve one of the mysteries of life while in Japan. How to get the silk off the cocoon into floss and reeled thread. Here he is in the kitchen reeling happily away. 

Ogata san..

is motoring along. She stitched up and dyed the homework example for the autumn workshop. It turned out great and now her three daughters each want one of their own. Do they know how much work goes into one of these?

When the stitching is finished the threads are drawn up but not tied. Just before dying, the cloth is wet and then the threads are pulled tight and tied two at a time. Wetting the cloth allows it to compress more and the resulting resist stitching is clearer when dyed. You can play around with the tightness of each thread to effect the crispness of the pattern, You can see some of the stitches in the center of the shawl were not pulled as tight. This adds an extra dynamic to the finished piece.

Ogata san has a little crush on Justin, my friend visiting from the States. She loves his rings and tattoos and gentle bearness. (Come on spellcheck that has to be a real word.)

She arrived at the house for class and proceeded to check out the cherry logs I have set by the stream to grow mushrooms on to see if they had come out yet. No luck there but she noticed my flowering ginger myoga were blooming. She gave me a little slap on the arm and told me I was wasting them. She gathered some up and in a jiffy she had a side dish ready for lunch. Justin smiled and told her 'she rocks'. (She giggled as if she understood.) Love..the universal language.

Indigo Knit Cafe

For the past six months I've worked every Wednesday on remodelling a 100 year old shop that sits in the entrance to an old house. It was a mess. Packed with junk, (but a few hidden treasures) we kept the garbage men in shape hauling stuff away. Kurihara san and I just worked away week after week by ourselves clearing out a ton of old stuff, designing and rebuilding.
 It is almost finished and we will open Aikoan  藍古庵　(Indigo Old Hermit Hut) in late November. It has some old knitting machines that make socks and tube knits for t-shirts. It has a small indigo vat outside. It has a shop selling my indigo work, both knitwear and katzome goods and work from my students. It has sewing machines and an over locker serger for friends to design, make and sell their knitwear designs. It has a kitchen to make food for guests and students. It has some great tables and chairs to use as workshop space. I am looking forward to having and managing a creative organic space. Here Daphne and I are checking out the funky plush loop sock knitter.

Here Liza  and Justin are helping Kurihara san with shelf sanding and oiling. 

What she looks like from the street. It needs a bit more love but what an improvement from six months ago.