Random Acts of Color

This year, we're in a new venue: the Century Club, a beautiful old mansion on East Avenue located across from the Strathallan hotel at the corner of Strathallan Park. Much bigger than our previous site and we will have lots of events!

First, the details: ADMISSION IS FREE. Most important. The sale takes place from noon to 9 p.m. on Friday, November 7; from 10 a.m. till 5 p.m. on Saturday, November 8; and from 11 a.m. till 3 p.m. on Sunday, November 9. Our members have an enormous range of talents, so you will be tempted not only by handwoven pieces, but also by jewelry, pottery, woodworked pieces, baskets, visual art, and handspun yarns. I have probably missed something on this list, but you get the idea.

On Friday evening, we will have a fashion show featuring garments that are for sale. Weavers and handspinners will demonstrate their craft throughout the sale and there will be information on classes at the Weaving and Fiber Arts Center. For more information, here's the link…

Silk gauze has a mystery to it: When you hold the fabric up to the light, it nearly disappears -- but when you wrap it around you, it gains color and adds warmth. Plus, it responds wonderfully to natural dyes.

A few days ago I mordanted a piece of silk gauze in alum and waited overnight to make sure it would take the dye well. Next, I immersed it just once (honest!) in an indigo vat, and again let it sit overnight to oxidize. Finally, I folded it in half lengthwise, wrapped it around a 12" diameter PVC pipe, wound twine around and around and around the pipe, and finally scrunched the fabric down as densely as it could go. The process took a long time and hurt my hands, but that's what you do to achieve the beautiful patterns of arashi shibori.

I see these colors as earth and sky -- and the arashi lines look to me like tree bark or waves on the water. Random but rhythmic and endless intriguing, like the patterns of nature herself.

Here's another photo, showing the shibori…