Thursday, April 29, 2010

Recap: Style 2010 Show & Sale (via SF Chronicle)



Check out the SF Chronicle article (read it here) recapping the recent event, STYLE 2010, Palo Alto Art Center's wearable art show & sale. The article features images from various artists including Gabriel Russo, our friend & WSN web member whose insightful and hilarious SCHMATTA STORIES (nyc garment district in 1960s) we've mentioned on this blog once before.

Shame we didn't hear about this sooner (it just passed this weekend, Apr 24). The roster of participating artists included several of our shibori friends: Angelina DeAntonis, Ellen Hauptli, Ana Lisa Hedstrom, Carol Shanks.
Excerpt:
"Designer Gabriel Russo... salvages the rustic Japanese fabric known as boro and creates pockets from the lining of old kimonos, for patchwork-style vests. He also "excavates" tailoring details from vintage men's blazers to attach to wool gabardine shirts."

"It has to have a certain texture for me, and I love it if it's damaged and restitched. That's where the beauty of it is for me, where I can apply my aesthetics to balance it," Russo said.

photos courtesy G. Russo

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Events: Art Changes Lives (SF,CA & MN)

Two upcoming events I thought I'd sandwich in this single post because they both celebrate the same worthy message: Art changes lives.

In San Francisco: The wonderful organization Creativity Explored is holding its annual fundraiser. This year's theme, "ART CHANGES LIVES 2010: COLOR," takes its title from CE’s positive impact on the lives of artists with developmental disabilities working in their studios, and the community of people connected to the organization. This eccentric, diverse, spirited, must-attend fundraising event attracts 400 guests annually and is hosted this year at the beautiful Foreign Cinema restaurant in San Francisco's Mission district. Enjoy great food, wine, stunning atmosphere, and over 80 videos of Creativity Explored artists working in the studios. Chromatic attire encouraged since the theme is “Celebrating Color.”

Thursday, May 6, 2010
6:30pm–10pm
$125
Foreign Cinema

***

In MN: Textile Center opens ART: Healing Lives on April 28 at Textile Center's Joan Mondale Gallery. ART: Healing Lives is an international, juried exhibition part of Arts and Health Community Celebration hosted by the Midwest Arts in Healthcare Network (MAIHN). This compelling exhibition showcases mixed-media fiber works from artists who have transcended health related hardships through the healing powers of art. Laborious and often painful, yet meditative and ultimately regenerating, the work of these twenty-six artists serves as a spirit of hope to those traveling a similar road.

Opening Reception
Friday, April 30
6pm-8pm
Joan Mondale Gallery
Free, open to the public

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Event: "Experimental Textiles" Lecture & Reception (May 13, UC Davis)





On May 13, UC Davis will present:
"The Art of Fashion: Experimental Textiles"

experimental works by Kinor Jiang, professor of textiles at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, in collaboration with talented designers drawing on and paying homage to their cultural and artistic heritage. Focusing on applications of fashion design and abstract aesthetic forms, this archive of experimental textiles includes metallized and etched metallic fabrics created from technologies of physical and chemical treatments.

Lecture & Reception, May 13, 2010 (Thur)
@ Design Museum of UC Davis
5:45-6:00 Reception opens (light refreshments provided)
6:00-7:00 Artist Talk
7:00-7:30 Mingling and museum walk with the artist/s

If you are interested in carpooling from the Bay Area to Davis, get in touch with Yoshiko at yiw [at] yoshikowada.com

Monday, April 5, 2010

Class: Stitch Resist, Sue Cavanaugh (Jun6-10, Ohio)



There's still time to register for Sue Cavanaugh's spring workshop on stitch resist shibori. Hurry!

"Stitch Resist Shibori with a Twist" Workshop by Sue Cavanaugh
June 6-10, 2010
Quilt Surface Design Symposium
Columbus, Ohio
*Preregistration is required*

Learn the basics of mokume, ori-nui, and maki-nui, and see how Sue combines and tweaks these stitches to produce award-winning art quilts. Students will use fiber reactive dyes and paint on these dyes to various effects. Students will go home with several small studies.

For a gallery of Sue's work, go here on shibori.org or visit www.suecavanaughart.com

Exhib: Ethicus Collection (Apr 5-6, Coimbatore IND)

If you happen to be in India right now soaking up the beautiful textiles & craft traditions there, perchance you'll be lucky enough to find yourself in Coimbatore where you can see ETHICUS, the ethical fashion collection of our friends and Slow Fiber Studio soulmates, Mani Chinnaswamy & Vijayalakshmi Malani Nachiar, of Appachi Cotton.

ETHICUS Collection
April 5th & 6th, 9a-8p
Sarvaa Hall, Hotel Rathna Regent
Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu


Come by and see beautiful designs in 100% organic cotton handloom & ahimsa silk, crafted by skilled artisans on traditional jacquard handlooms, using natural and eco friendly dyed yarns.

See more information on their facebook page

Thursday, April 1, 2010

A Greener Indigo - workshop by Barbara Shapiro (Aug 28-30, No. Calif)

For you indigo lovers and practitioners, what better time than now to to learn a more ecologically friendly (and fume-free!) method of dyeing? Well, count your lucky stars. Barbara Shapiro will be teaching a 3-day workshop this fall in the idyllic northern California town of Mendocino. Read more about Barbara here or see previous posts about her workshops & lectures here

"A Greener Indigo"
Mendocino Art Center
August 28 -30, 2010
registration required


Discover the magic of indigo, one of the oldest and most influential dyes. Unravel the mystique and chemistry of traditional practices. Using an effective ecological formula revived from an 18th century vat, we will dye multiple samples in various fibers using shibori techniques and create a personal project. This fume-free formula enables contemporary artists to use natural or synthetic indigo in a safe, ecological studio environment.