maki age shibori and flexible thinking

I have been working on the Maki Age Shibori challenge on Flickr and it has been a lesson in staying flexible when things do not go as planned. Entwinements has a lot of info on the process and definition of Maki Age here, so I won't go into long explanations...

I decided to try a discharge process on some mystery fabrics I've had around forever, I have no idea what the fiber content of this stuff is but it is definitely not found in nature. Often black polyester can be discharged (bleached) and it will turn a nice golden color, if that happened I thought that it would sit nicely next to the pale golden beige and I could try piecing the two treated fabrics together, good idea no?

No.

I don't know what is in this black fabric but full strength bleach makes NO impact on it whatsoever, The beige discharges nicely but the black is exactly as it started, except wrinkled.

(Here is where flexibility comes into play)

The wrinkles are really neat looking...Tinctory does wonderful heat-set Shibori Poly jewelry...I wonder if I could heat-set those shapes?

Next test: tie up some shapes and run 'em through the microwave when they are damp.

Cool! it works! Umm... now what?

Can my original design concept use the sculptural shapes, rather than the bold graphics?

This is as far as I've gotten so far. I have created the fabrics and I now I'm going to see if they can't be used in something based on my preconceived ideas.

Mokume Shibori Ginko trial

Mokume Shibori Ginko trial
Originally uploaded by alsokaizen

Shibori is teaching me to think on my feet. As much testing and planning as I may put into a piece of work the results are often surprising. Sometimes this is pleasant other times not so much. This is a project I have struggled with. I went into it with a very strong image of what I wanted it to look like, and it did not perform as expected. My original idea was to create a ginko leaf motif using a mokume (wood grain) shibori technique. The results were not what I planned for and less than successful in conveying my original design idea. The line that defines the motif is obscure and the color contrast between the ground fabric and the dye was not as strong as I wanted it to be. I made other attempts at it and remained frustrated with the results there too. I recently shared the project at the All Things Shibori pool at flickr and I am now reconsidering the piece. I think I may have been too tied to my preconceptions of how the piece should look and not as appreciative of how it does look.
I am beginning a new design for the Maki-age shibori challenge this month and I’m going to try to keep in mind that flexibility is a virtue when it comes to this art form. I have already had to change my initial concept due to the unexpected performance of one of my materials! I will be posting on this project and the ways I’m having to adapt for the results

CWE Open House

Back in January I took a number of classes for women entrepreneurs at the Center for Women and Enterprise (CWE) an extremely supportive group here in SE New England. This month I was invited to set up a booth at their Open House Event to promote my business. It was a nice way to catch up with people I had met before and meet some new folks, exchange ideas and, as always, learn a little more about myself
The upshot of these three very different experiences is hard to define but I think I am learning to trust my gut a bit more with regard to what I want to pursue. I know I am most excited when I am talking about my piecework weather it is virtual or sewn and that excitement is conveyed to others. This affirms for me that those are the paths I should be focusing on.

Burriville Arts Festival

The second event of the month of September was the Burriville Arts Festival. This is the second time I have attended this festival. This is much more of a craft fair type of event... two days, outside, nice crowd. I did well with t-shirts and socks especially socks the first day (cool and a little rainy) I definately enjoy getting to meet people and getting the feedback from my customers.

This is the venue...no complaints!

Here is my booth (my dog Rasta and Larry are on the right)Another good experience for me.

Pawtucket Open Studio Event

Well this has been a very busy month. In addition to getting my Etsy store up and running I have been involved with three different events.

The first was the Pawtucket Open Studios. During the month of September the city of Pawtucket has a month long Arts Festival featuring everything from Dragon Boat races to theater openings. Many of the old mill buildings in Pawtucket have been converted to artist studios and an Open Studio weekend is a part of the Arts Festival, this year I attended as a visiting artist (my studio is in Woonsocket, close but no cigar). A few of us offsite artists got to set up in a unrented room, it was a terrific opportunity to meet other artists and people who are interested in the arts in Pawtucket.

It was hot for September so turn out was light on Friday and Saturday many thanks to the intrepid who made it up to the third floor! Sunday was cooler and we saw a few more people come through.

My roomates for the weekend were Anne Cerullo (gorgeous wheel thrown pottery) and Norma Anderson (scupture and cool stoneware whistles).
This was my booth:

Some of Anne's Pottry:

Norma's WhistlesThis is the whistle I got for my husband we have named him Oscar:

Overall it was a good experience for me, I am still developing my creative identity and attending these sorts of events seems to be helping with that process. I received positive feedback on my cards and my piecework and that means alot to me since those are the things I do that are closest to my heart. I also got an invite to become one of the artists represented at Mia's Gift Shop in Scituate another affirmation that I am on the right path.

New Etsy Store

Hooray its up, its active and I had my first sale!

Approximately a year ago I learned about Etsy and began to think about setting up a store. Back in the spring I took my first tentative steps and set up an account. I finally got serious toward the end of August and began to work out the difficult details (shop policies, shipping paypal, etc.) I finally got it up and running the first week of Sept. and lo and behold a sale!

This was a real accomplishment for me. Making business decisions is not something I'm very comfortable with and being a bit of a perfectionist I sweated every last detail like it was the end of the world. I'm still coming to terms with the idea that its a work in progress and if something isn't working I can change it so it does work

The store is going to cover many bases: jewelry, shibori, paper goods, art...whatever my little heart desires. Like I said a work in progress something that will develop through trial and success.

Here is the first item I listed My Shibori Beetle card set:

Its also the first sale I had on Etsy!

Shibori Paper Process

The paper has been unclamped

Here you can see the pattern emerging almost done
Ironed flat...now what?