some monkeing around

We had an instruction class on how to put on a yukata, fun and games before the finals.
This is the carrot and stick theory in reverse.We were taught the skills of how to fold the garments which take precission and dexterity. The posing was also cheked and re checked by the evening sensei until it met her approval. We have nicknamed her bushido sensei.
The final will be on the 16th of June and will also include the three kanji lessons that we've done. Needless to say my tomodachi and I have already broken into cold sweat and are populating the world of nightmares.

neki desu

Tags: japanophilia

composite

This is another one of the kana series. The background fabric is a crinkle silk that doesn't come through in photos.I should reflect more on the composition and try to focus on art questions and be oblivious of the chaos around me..
I have been able to finish it in the middle of a lot of domestic BS. At least working on this one was good for my sense of balance. The terrace is being worked on and that means shifting huge plant pots without wrecking the plants and having workers in and out of the apartment leaving trails of dirt behind. The doorbell rings every five minutes and I have to drop what I'm doing and go open it.In times like these I inevitably find myself thinking about those guys I call my heroes Rothko, Rauschenberg, Stella and Motherwell. I cannot imagine them neither coping with domestic BS nor dealing with it.


neki desu

stitch in time

I've been toying with the idea that the stitching in this series is symbolic of my srtuggles in writing kana and now kangies. One stitch at a time , one by one, now backtrack, forward now.
I hadn't used handstitching before and at first I thought it was only embellishment.
But as work progressed I became aware that there was more to it than just rounding out the composition.
There habd been some previous challenges to this particular piece.I got carried away
doing the background and the shibori details and forgot to do the printing so a way to mask the shibori areas had to be found. I used thickened gum arabic as a resist and was pleasantly surprised with how it worked. The whole process was very simple and washing it off by hand was not a problem.
The two silk strips were mounted on a crinkly midnight blue silk which creates a subtle dialog with the silk strips texture. A border of the same fabric with some discharged motifs was added. The stitches here are not only symbolic, but also served to tack the border to the background. The raw edges are totally intentional since I really want to stress the fact that this is a textile work. They also curb any sense of "being precious" and brings the whole piece down to the real material world.

neki desu

WHOA!!

Saturday, blog gone! Freak out time I've been hacked??.Contact Blogger, get instant automated reply. Useless. Get on Google forums at least I find out I'm not the only sufferer.In company of others, but no good either. Someone suggests to pick up another template.Go there get a warning that all will be changed/erased -what's the difference? Decide not to go ahead.Feel stongly pressed to take 2 Valiums. Discard the idea as non operational. Meanwhile some friends e-mail informing that my blog has gone AWOL. As if i didn't know.

By now it is Monday and third message to Blogger. Can you guys help or am I on my own here?
Thank goodness Japanese class was fun and games, how to put on a yukata and wear it gracefully. In the meantime Ive been accumulating all kinds of faux passes, my good reputation is nearly gone.
Today there was a message from Blogger, the I'm sorry kind. There is this bug that ocassionally strikes them and I among others fell in the raid. They could not recoup my blog and suggested I upload a template. No problem because my posts were safe/saved.
WHY NOT START BY SAYING THIS? A lot of aggravation would have been spared.
There are some glitches still, but at least I'm back and can publish.
Another suggestion, copy and paste your template into Notepad. Therfore If you get hit by this bug that ocassionally hits them you don't have to start from scratch. In case it went unnoticed there's irony and some venom in the previous lines.
Bottom line withall this communications technology and communications society if people do not communicate the information it renders them useless.

neki desu

lordie lord -kangies

Too busy with kangies to blog. Let's face it, I will be unable no matter how hard I try to read Japanese. Kangies have two pronunciations-meanings one in Japanese and another in Chinese. And also they are concepts. So it is up to the reader to decide which one of the variables apply depending on the context. There is also the conceptual part with all the overtones and undertones so alien to a westener. So the bottom line is, well what's the bottom line anyway?

Graphically some of them are simply gorgeous, therefore I have started thinking about possible uses in the series. This finished work is going to bridge the change in direction. I used a digitally printed image as a background for the red organza. Organza photographs hideously!

I have made a technical discovery out of necessity. The piece that I'm currently working on has a mottled background, some solid color shibori on top and the kana leitmotif printed as the final layer. I got really enthused with the dyeing-shibori part and forgot about the printing. Since I wanted the black shibori to stand out in the foreground and the printing would have killed it and muddled the whole thing, resist ( me and the fabric ) was the answer.
Well to make a detailed account short I used gum arabic that I had at hand, painted over the areas to resist, printed the paint on top, dried the paint and washed off the gum arabic by hand.
VOILA!!! resistance! will have to try it with different paints and dyes to check possible sources of problems.

neki desu