"Greenest" Indigo & Basic Shibori Workshop (Nov 13, CA)

The 'Greenest' Indigo & Basic Shibori
with "Sustainable Natural Dyes” DVD launch

Short, hands-on workshop with Yoshiko Iwamoto Wada, co-author and author of 2 definitive publications on Japanese and Contemporary textiles. View demonstrations of how to set up an indigo dye bath with totally organic elements commonly found, safely and inexpensively. Learn simple shibori techniques to use with natural indigo, a perfect combination for achieving charming blue and white patterns. Students will dye their own bandana scarf, using a sustainable vat.

This workshop is based on sustainable, natural dyeing methods of Michel Garcia as revealed in his new DVD, “Natural Dye Workshop by Michel Garcia: Colors of Provence Using Sustainable Methods," produced by Yoshiko I. Wada, founder of Slow Fiber Studios. www.yoshikowada.com

Sunday, Nov. 13, 10am to 12pm
$25
Beginners or novices welcome

Class size limited, please enroll early to ensure your spot.
Call Dharma Trading Store 415-456-1211

Michel Garcia featured in GoodLife magazine (chinese)

read article here

Thanks for the tip, Edith Cheung!

Workshop: baandhani & leheria with kamaldeep kaur (May 2011, netherlands)

Baandhani & Leheriya:
reviving traditional Indian resist dyeing techniques

3-day workshop with Kameldeep Kaur (India)

- 19, 20, 21 May 2011 -

studio zijdelings

netherlands

India has been known since antiquity for amazing handcrafted textile techniques. Resist dyed and printed textiles have long been a popular Indian export with Gujarat and Madras serving as two important ports and producing centres for Dutch and British companies.

KAMALDEEP KAUR will instruct a 3-day workshop on the age-old techniques and patterns of baandhani and leheriya using natural dyes, such as madder, daru haldi, and lac. Kamaldeep is a noted researcher from India who has been involved in the revival of several traditional techniques as well as the continuation of existing crafts through design consultancy and product development.

Day 1. The course begins with the story of baandhani and leheriya: a brief introduction with images of process, wearers, makers, surroundings, and traditional and contemporary products. Next is instruction in leheriya on finer silk fabric, which we will prepare and soak overnight for you. Once tied, the samples can be dyed with madder the very same day. You will be able to make several different samples. Some of the samples can be opened, then re-tied and re-dyed the next day for two colour effects.

Day 2. Morning begins with a presentation on natural dyes, followed by preparing daru haldi. We continue with baandhani tying and dye at the end of the day.

Day 3. The final day is devoted to lac dyeing. Morning starts with tying, then working in groups near the dye bath to talk about how to develop it. Samples tied today can be full scarves rather than smaller swatches. We may do two different lac dye baths (time permitting): one with tamarind and one with vinegar to show the difference in brightness of colour. We may also use different mordants to yield different shades.

This class will be in English. Coffee / tea & lunch will be provided.

DATES: 19,20,21 May 2011, 10am-5pm

COURSE FEE: € 300,00 excluding materials. There will be an additional lab fee for natural dyes and Indian silk

LOCATION: Studio Zijdelings Tilburg - The Netherlands

INSTRUCTOR: Kamaldeep Kaur, India

CONTACT: Karina van Vught www.zijdelings.com

"To Dye For" Exhibition, De Young Museum, SF (July 31-Jan 9'11, CA)

Bravo to the De Young, whose recently opened epic exhibition, "To Dye For: A World Saturated in Color," has been scooped by some major fashion rags. “This is a textile-lovers exhibit,” said curator Jill D’Alessandro. De Young's press release here.

Click to see what WWD, Elle, Refinery 29 and Haute Living had to say.

ikat trench, Oscar de la Renta, c.2005
courtesy photo

From WWD:

“To Dye For: A World Saturated in Color” examines how cultures in Asia, Africa, South America and elsewhere over centuries have decorated fabrics by using tie-dye methods like knotting, bunching, stitching, stenciling, clamping, waxing or otherwise selectively blocking the absorption of color in fabric.

"Among other contemporary tie-dye examples is a synthetic fiber panel decorated using heat instead of dye by Japanese fabric artist Jun-ichi Arai, whose collaborations have included projects with Issey Miyake and Comme des Garçons. The Japanese tie-dye technique of shibori and its offshoots, which have thrived in the San Francisco Bay Area since the Sixties, are also featured, including works by Yoshiko I. Wada, Ana Lisa Hedstrom, Judith Content and Angelina DeAntonis."

A summary excerpt, reposted from Refinery29:

Besides the Met in NY, we love the de Young Museum in San Francisco for its retrospectives on fashion. In the past, they've featured retrospectives on Yves Saint Laurent, Vivienne Westwood, and a showcase of socialite Nan Kempner's closet. Well, the institution isn't disappointing with it's latest epic exhibition. Including over 50 costumes, the show will feature tie-dyed garments spanning the world, from tunics created in pre-Hispanic Peru in A.D. 500 and Mongolian rugs from the 15th century to gowns featured in Rodarte's spring '10 collection. The exhibition opens on July 31.

"To Dye For: A World Saturated in Color”
The de Young Museum, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco
Dates running: July 31, 2010-January 9, 2011

World Science Festival: Color, Science, Art History (June 6, The Met, NYC)

Some really great textile-art-science related lectures happening on JUNE 6 at the Met in NYC . Even better? They're FREE with museum admission. So what are you waiting for?

Explore the topic of color through science, art history, and the Met's collection. These events highlighted below are held in conjunction with the World Science Festival (JUNE 2-6) that takes place in New York City.

June 6, 2010

3:00p
Cochineal Red: The Art History of a Color
Elena Phipps, textile historian
The Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium
Free with Museum admission


3:40p
Renaissance Venetian Colore: A Material Thing
Barbara Berrie, Senior Conservation Scientist, Conservation Division, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
The Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium
Free with Museum admission

4:20p
Indigo: From Mummies to Blue Jeans—A Universal Story
Jenny Balfour-Paul, Honorary Research Fellow, Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter; Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society; partner in Silk Road Connect
The Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium
Free with Museum admission

Catharine Ellis: "Naturally" (Sydney, Apr 6-26)

BAROMETER GALLERY (Sydney, Australia)

"Naturally" by Catharine Ellis
6-26 April 2009
www.barometer.net.au

Catharine Ellis, an American weaver and shibori artist, is currently working on a body of work for her upcoming solo exhibition at Barometer, a gallery in Sydney owned by artist Barbara Rogers. "Naturally" will feature woven shibori textiles that explore Jacquard design and industrial weaving and are dyed using only natural colorants. The fabrics are all cotton, woven at The Oriole Mill in NC. Catharine comments on "Naturally":

"My dyeing is based on the information we got in France from Mr. Michel Garcia [formerly of the Association Couleur Garance] in Lauris. I have done a few comparative tests: more traditional cotton mordanting vs. Garcia's process and the result of the Garcia method is giving me significantly more color. I'd love to communicate with anyone else working in this way. It would be good to compare notes."

So if any of our readers work similarly in this way with natural colorants, please contact Catharine || ellisc[at]charter.net || www.ellistextiles.com

Catharine teaches woven shibori and held a workshop at the ISS08 in Paris. Barbara Rogers of Sydney, Australia, exhibited in the ISS08 show, "No Limits: shibori," held at the Artefact Gallery, Lyon. Both participated in the full ISS08 France program.