I will be teaching a 3-day katazome workshop at Grand Marais Art Colony this summer. See more info below.
Bees, Bears, and Blossoms detail
I’m looking forward to teaching a 3-day workshop at Grand Marais Art Colony on the North Shore of Lake Superior. This is a wonderful place to be inspired and learn something new. Registration is now open.
Find out more here:
https://grandmaraisartcolony.org/events/introduction-to-katazome-japanese-stencil-dying/
Last weekend I taught a 2-day katazome class at Grand Marais Art Colony. The compressed two-day format meant that on day one we cut stencils from Yupo, pasted our work with rice paste resist I made ahead of time, cooked our own rice paste, and learned how to make soy milk. I gave a demo on soy sizing the fabric, but given the time constraints, I sized the students’ fabric ahead of class. Two students chose to cut stencils from designs I provided, and two chose to design their own. I also brought along some of my own small stencils so students could experience the difference between pasting a Yupo stencil and a shibugami stencil.
On day two students learned about natural pigments, made soy milk and mixed it with pigments. We painted our work with three layers of color, drying thoroughly between each layer (with help from a hand-held hair dryer).
At the end of Sunday each student soaked one of their pieces in water to dissolve the rice paste. Normally, work will air cure for at least 3 days to allow the soy to do its work. Nevertheless if the work is dry, and handled VERY gently in the water bath, it is o.k. to rinse off the paste. And, it will continue to cure after that – I recommend students set the work aside where the air can get to it for a week or so before handing and/or washing it.
Grand Marais is a beautiful setting – only had a little time to enjoy the rocks and water at Artists’ Point!
This past Sunday I had the opportunity to give a presentation at the local Japan America Arts Forum. Started by artist and teacher Sheila Asato, the Forum is a collaboration between the Japan America Society of Minnesota (JASM) and the Minnesota Minnesota Center for Book Arts (MCBA). Each month, people interested in Japanese visual art forms and related materials and processes gather at MCBA for friendship, learning and hands on fun.
Over the two-hour meeting, I gave a brief overview of katazome, shared materials and examples, and led a hands-on activity. Since each step of the katazome process is time intensive, I created a simple activity that would give participants a taste of the materials and processes. Participants drew and then cut simple stencils from Yupo (synthetic paper), and stenciled their fabric with natural pigments mixed with soy milk, trying out some of the traditional brushes, called surikomibake. Normally, rice paste would be spread through the stencils, let dry, and then pigments painted on the non-pasted areas of the fabric. So this activity was more like the Western approach to using a stencil in visual art, also known as pochoir. Many of the attendees were visual artists of some kind, and left with their minds brimming with fresh ideas! I think the results were really wonderful! If you want to see all of the photos, visit Sheila’s website.
silver minnow 