the gift of time

With time, finally, in my hands some of it will be devoted to clearing UFOs.
This is the first installment. Silk organza digitally printed with a fractal image and then embellished with some stamping and stitching. i have some doubts about it though.


neki desu

Back from Mali

A friend came back from Mali and brought me natural indigo balls. A kilo of them. The story goes that he went to the market and asked around for indigo. A crowd of kids took him to the indigo seller. The man said he had both the traditionnel and the moderne and asked which one he wanted. My friend said traditionnel of course. The man looked at him and with a wry smile insisted that he also take the moderne. My friend just wanted the traditionnel but the man was very persistent. So my friend bought both the natural indigo balls and powdered synthetic indigo. Maybe the seller knows something that we don't.

I have already ground a couple of balls and put them with water and some madder to ferment. i am definitely skipping the urine-from-nubile-lads- fermentation method.
We shall see how this goes.

neki desu

TAST 25

Already! 25 weeks of TAST.
All the stitches i have learned and all the people i've come in contact with!
For this week's sample i used some heavy cotton fabric similar to
Pima cotton on which i had been testing starch paste resist.The fabric came out o.k, but it's a real killer to embroider because of its tight weave. The stitch was long and short which in my opinion is less demanding than satin and creates a variety of interesting textures. Threads were DMC embroidery cotton, silk cordonnet and spun silk for texture.

There's a maxim in our household that says: you can boil rice in a frying pan, but the existence of saucepans should tell you something. That can be applied to all things and situations in life. Like fabric for example.

neki desu

bushido

Or the way of the samurai. It is a code of ethics and action but to us poor poor Japanese students means being wiped out. So wiped out that i didn't even show up to pick up my grades. Figured i'd learn about it at the farewell lunch. After two beers i will have gathered enough courage to face whatever.
Nonetheless i have spent my time making tenugi as a farewell token for my classmates to wrap up this year. A tenugi is the cloth Japanese men tie around their foreheads to collect sweat as well as to imbue them with strength and fervor. As all things Japanese it has a ritualistic component.

My tenugi is an exhortation to study hard. Using the declension from Hades that had us going nuts this trimester i came up with the above.
The beauty of the project was that it started out being laborious and complex and ended up being concise and simple. Economy and simplification of techniques, the message on the fabric is it. Minimalism in form, execution and message.Then again less is more.

neki desu

Is this hardanger?

This is the front part of an outfit that belonged to my grandmother and was given to me during my last visit home.It was either made by her or her mother.Both women were very skilled in needle works and my great grandmother was also a very skilled crocheter. There are still in the family lace doilies and bedspreads that were made by her. I remember being taught how to do this kind of work, called calado in Spanish, when i was a child. I would sit for as long as i could sit still and get instructed by both ladies. Then i'd be released and given home made fruit sorbet as a reward. Little did i know then that would plant the seed of my future interest in textiles.



i was lucky enough to get 3 linen dresses and a couple of blouses profusely decorated with that kind of needlework. The dresses are gorgeous 1930-40 style full of interesting tailoring details. Notice the sweet buttons

neki desu

happy dance around the loom

Too bad the photo is crummy!
Finished the first weaving of the series. With just a couple of minor mistakes i consider it successful. And albeit slow it was exciting to weave. Already working on the next one which will be less forgiving because it is black weft on white warp. It is also going to be 1/7, 7/1 and 3/5 satins. Quite a workout those heavy lifts! Yet i'm curious to see the effect of the different satins creating mid tone values.The white on white relies on the contrast between shiny and matte and that is especially tricky to photograph.
Which brings me to the next point. Every now and then there's a question put forth about how to photograph textiles or take good shots. Well, as you can tell by the photo white is very tricky unless done with a professional set up. The photo took advantage of this tutorial on editing and enhancing photos with Photoshop. And this was the best i could get. Sorry folks!


neki desu

TAST 23-24

Cannot say whether it was because of the Nihongo test occupying all my brain cells and energy or the stitch itself but i had difficulties here.And called it quits. Then some days ago Deepa from This and That my Random Thoughts dropped by and suggested a link which recharged and inspired me to go back and try again next week. Not to mention Elisabeth's explorations which are alway inspiring. Anyway here is last week's effort.
i used rayon thread,very difficult to handle, #10 cotton perle an a bit of DMC metallic.


Now this week was something else. For the first time in weeks i was able to sit and relax and stitch. Not that i made anything earth shattering with the sample, but it was enjoyable and i just let the threads speak for themselves without coaxing them into anything. i even had a chuckle or two the times the knot went under. i especially like the contrast between the thin silk thread and the nubby space dyed silk noil from Stef Francis.
Really looking forward to relaxed stitching again.

nelki desu

on crafts and craft making

i’ve always thought that some of the debate of art versus craft was in part due to the fact that while art had an intellectual body and a research and critical mass to phrase theories and explain intuitions, craft lacked all that.
In recent years many movements as diverse as the slow food movement or the digital craft movement have converged creating a discussion platform and within this platform crafts are being re defined, analysed and codified with a new perpective.

Most important as i see it, a language pertinent to craft and craft studies and criticism has been generated. This has the advantage of analysing crafts aesthetics in their own right without having to resort to art criticism language and codes which, putting it mildly, create dysfunctions in the evaluation and perception of crafts.
At their worst fine art codes distort and devalue crafts.

From the 90's on scholars and lecturers have been dealing not only with crafts per se but also with the interaction between crafts and other disciplines and the social and political implications of present crafts are also being researched. To add on to the intellectual ferment conferences and meetings are being held on a regular basis.


To exemplify the above here are a few links i found surfing the net:
The conference in Aberdeen in the summer. i suggest you check the paper proposals ( go to the side bar and click on view submissions) The topics are very diverse.
Here's also a very interesting blog, The Craft Research blog -real food for the thought.
The 2004 conference is also worth noting for the interesting papers that were presented. Do read the abstracts of the papers. I think they are rich in ideas and present many fascinating concepts.

I will end with a quote from Peter Dormer
theoretician and craft historian who unfortunately passed away eleven years ago.

tacit knowledge is the knowledge of a specific material learned by experience and driven by unconcious rules embeded in practice… it is a practice that demonstrates a specific set of values.

Exciting times to be living in and creating, indeed.

neki desu

this tutorial goes for weavers

Celebrating that today is the first day in 3 months that i don't get up and rush to the books to study i wanted to do something creative,fun and useful. Not bad for someone who feels lobotomized after yesterday's test.

Here we go.
How do you visualize surface design techniques on your weavings? This is how i do it.

My drawing skills are not very good plus it is not easy to get an accurate rendering of a project just by drawing. At least not for me. Then again what are computers good for but to make life easier?
We'll assume that we want to simulate printing or discharging on the weaving.

• using an exacto knife cut your stencil on freezer paper
• take a shot of the stencil with your digicam
• open your image editing program and open the stencil image
• adjust the threshold level until you get a black and white high contrast image
• if simulating discharge skip the next 2 steps, use normal mode and adjust opacity, or experiment with exclusion or soft light
• go to apply image and select the a color if needed
• use flood fill and color the negative parts

• now go to your weaving program, open the weaving and make a screenshot.
• paste the screen shot in your image editing program
• cut all the unnecessary information, just leave the weaving image
• create a new layer and paste the high contrast image
• change the merge mode and opacity until you get to your goal as a finished piece
• create as many layers as needed
• merge layers and save.
• you have now an accurate idea of how the project will look

Notes:

Because you'll be using the same stencil for the fabric the rendering will be accurate.(O.k.,o.k. there is still room for serendipity, you're dealing with handmade not industrial processes)

Merge modes that work well are either burn or underexpose because you only want to see the negative spaces. however do experiment with opacity and different merge modes until you get a simulation as exact as you want.

If your weaving has a color progression you can imitate or accentuate it by using flood fill and gradients on the weaving image layer.
Questions?

Now, isn't this a brilliant excuse for not getting away from the computer in days?



neki desu

resurfacing without design

The Nihongo test (btw Nihongo is Japanese) went as bad as it could get. And here's an example of classmate despair. i could sneak my digicam out for a shot.
The only difference between studying like crazy and not studying at all is that when you see the paper you recognize things as having been seen before.Then you have to answer the test and here is when you cry for your mommy.
Results will be on Monday, but i won't be holding my breath.
We even have homework for the summer.
And as as always we finished the test and raced for the bar next door for a bottle of wine.
Kanpai!

neki desu

my brain feels like mashed potatoes without the gravy

i've been studying so hard for my Nihongo test that i'll go nuts if i don't take a break and do something else. So here i am in front of the computer,in a sort of occupational therapy mode.
The images are from the new series im working on -Shibori Twins where i've been experimenting with a few techniques and doing some fabric recycling. i went wild printing and stamping on a perfectly nice silk habotai shiboried scarf that did not meet the grade, but still good for cut and paste.The designs take advantage of the shibori motifs.

Here is what happened to the gum arabic tutorial fabric. i added digitally printed organza with fractal motifs and freeform embroidery.My first try at free form and if i overcome the fear of wrecking my sewing machine it will turn into a fun thing.


This is a detail of the fun part




neki desu

ok this blog needs some animation

i will be sort of awol because my Nihongo final is coming up next Wednesday. But before going undercover,understated, understandable, underwater there is this small animation i made using Tess,a neat design program.
As those who read my blog know i am an animation buff, and i like to animate textiles as well as fractals. This is an example of an animated textile, For more animation check here
and here

neki desu

TAST22- a quick one before i turn into a pumpkin

Satin stitch separates amateurs from real embroiderers.Woven satin is a bliss and that's what i have on the loom right now. Not to say that the embroidered satin is the stitch from Hades,it's just that there are a lot of variables to control. Take doubled thread tension.
Anyway contrary to what it may sound,this week's TAST was pretty enjoyable. i used assorted silk thrums and some silk thread bought years ago in Lausanne.
i had to time myself because with the Japanese final looming in the horizon i have a lot to study.
Just to think that while i am hastily posting this Sharon is sound asleep due to time differences. Maybe i should change time frames...

neki desu

gum arabic resist tutorial

i've been experimenting with gum arabic as a resist and there are some advantages that i've found.

• safe
• not messy
• easy to remove-no dry cleaner or laundry
• easy to use
• it works really well on silk
• it won't coagulate with acid dyes

First take the fabric and stretch it very well. If not the resist will pool and touch your table.
Mix your gum arabic with equal parts of tepid water and mix until dissolved. It won't thicken as alginate, but it will become less runny in around 20 minutes.
Use a brush for painting large areas or you cn also use a tjanting as you would with liquid wax. Paint a light even coat heavier for cotton. You can add on coats and layers as required by your design

Wash brushes while the resist dries. You know when it's dry because it becomes transparent and brittle on the fabric. Handle the fabric carefully because as the resist is brittle it can tear lightweight fabrics.

Paint or stamp your fabric. You can also screen print it.
Avoid however immersing the fabric in water or any liquid since this, as with any other water soluble resist, will dissolve it .

Rinse the fabric in tepid water until the resist is eliminated. You may have to rub it off lightly depending on the fabric or leave it in water for a while.
So far i've stamped Pebeo fabric paints , airbrushed Dekasilk and printed with thickened Procion MX.
Do not eat, drink or -heavens no!- smoke while carrying on the process. If you do it's at your own risk!!! And of course do not ingest.Leave that to the soft drinks and food industry as they are major consummers of the substance.
Experiment with this resist and let me know how it goes.

neki desu