japanophilia part II- my way

as the saying goes improvisation is the mother of invention. in need of harite on a long weekend with no possibility of buying anything. but minutia wasn't going to stop me. here is the home made department in all its glory. suffice to say the invention worked and it is also portable.

on with painting the reserve.i wanted to try a gum arabic rice flour resist, because i was going to paint the background with mx dye treated as acid. acid curls alginate hence the gum arabic which does not react with  acid. the flour was going to give the gum arabic some flexibility because the silk was going to be stretched and i  did not want it to tear. i was  experimenting with the different consistencies of the resist too.

                                                                            beauty shot

saturday's work:first red layer it looks wonky, but it is kosher, trust me.

sunday after batching for 24 hours. second red layer.
the big time bummer is that my beloved botan bake 牡丹　掃  aka  peony brush  is falling apart.it is great for paining gradation backgrounds and  i bought it in japan. i wanted it to last my lifetime so use was sparse. little did i know that the less you use it the quicker it falls apart. it seems that getting a replacement will entail a trip to japan unless i find a kind soul that can ship me one (hint, hint)

and why the all the flurry  you may ask. last week i posted  this  and mentioned sakuran. ever since joan lintault posted the link i've been under its spell and in a red black white colourway mind frame in  a mix of techniques including shibori. inspiration comes from unforeseen sources when you're working.

take a look . do you understand me now?

neki desu