Katazome Workshop Planning

I will be teaching a 3-day katazome class from June 26-28 at the Grand Marais Art Colony (GMAC) in Grand Marais, Minnesota. The course is suitable for beginners. I’ve taught katazome techniques on fabric at GMAC twice in the past (2012 & 2019). 

In this class, we’ll be making nature-inspired katazome samples on both cloth and paper. I will test some ideas and approaches as I plan the details of the workshop, sharing my process here on the blog.

Mock-up of concertina flower book

First, I plan to make a small concertina book based on the mock-up shown here. I will test several different types of paper to see what works best for this application. If all goes well, I will have a nice example to show students . Then, I hope to be able to create an “open edition” of the book, i.e., I can create copies whenever I want, trying out different color palettes, for example.

What led to this idea?

As you can see from my recent work, I love drawing and sketching flowers. I am not yet done with this theme! Two recent learning experiences have led to the idea of creating a katazome book.

Concertina books by Kit Eastman

In 2021 I took a terrific workshop at Grand Marais Art Colony with Karen Kunc (see Constellation Studios in Lincoln, Nebraska) called From Block to Book. We created reduction woodcut prints and made a concertina book from our prints. We made enough prints to create an edition of 7 books, which I completed at home and gave as holiday gifts that year.  My chosen theme was flowers, and here are my completed books.

Then, just this January I participated in a workshop on the Domestika platform taught by Spanish Illustrator/Artist Jesus Cisneros called Artist Notebooks: Explore Illustration Techniques. It was a wonderful course to stimulate the imagination during this cold, dark, and monochrome season. Cisneros teaches how to create colored paper by rubbing a very thin layer of oil pigment onto the surface with the corner of a paper towel or tissue. Multiple colors can be blended on the same piece, if desired.

Example 1: Oil-rubbed paper cutting, glued to sketchbook

Example 2: Oil-rubbed paper cutting, glued to sketchbook,
with colored pencil added (pink)

Then, using the theme of “garden and forest,” we were encouraged to create a series of symmetrically folded and cut plant and/or insect forms using the paper colored this way. The two examples of this shown here are from my sketchbook. 

This particular technique – rubbing pigment on the paper – is similar to the way that pigments are applied to fabric in katazome. But rather than using oil as the medium, soybean juice is used along with a dry brush. Similar effects such as smooth blending and graduation of color can be achieved. This is one of the qualities of katazome that I particularly enjoy. In addition, with the folded and cut paper designs, there is a play of positive and negative space – “notan” – that is also an important part of designing stencils for katazome.

Please watch this space to see how this project (and workshop plan) progresses! For a full description of the workshop I will be teaching, Click Here.

The Robins

I have a thing for Robins. They are a symbol of the joy I feel in spring after the long, dark winter. A certain robin, the same one for 3 or 4 years, has raised, along with her mate, 2-3 broods every year. She builds her nest on top of a sheltered post on our open back porch. I lure her back to this spot with raisins. She and her mate show up in April, “asking” for raisins with a plucky stance as they gaze up at me through the glass of the kitchen door. In feeding them this occasional treat, I always remember my mother, who started this activity many years ago and derived great pleasure from it, as I now do. Both male and female are devoted and energetic parents.

It is now mid-July, and I think the Robins have moved on for the summer.

Double Vision

I’ve recently been inspired by the catalog from the Colorful Realm exhibit,  a show of scintillating silk paintings created by Japanese artist Ito Jakuchu, which was on view at the National Gallery of Art earlier this spring. (Click the first link in this post to see a great slide show of some of the works.)

Jakuchu completed these 30 large silk scrolls of (mostly) flowers and birds between 1757 and 1766. There is so much to see and learn looking at the images. I find it fascinating that Jakuchu sometimes painted pigments (mineral and/or vegetable) on the verso (back) side of the silk to subtly influence the color on the front. The excellent detail images in the catalog convince me that I can see these hints of color and tone peeking through from the reverse.

This intriguing fact floated in my mind as I began to work on several wool scarves. The thought occurred to me — what if I paste a different stencil on the front and back of the fabric — and then dip the pieces in indigo? Perhaps the images will combine in an interesting way when viewed from either side. And so an idea from a master silk painter of 250 years ago influences my katazome exploration.

This is a medium weight wool — so called “Italian suiting” (???). I knew it would be sturdy enough to paste on both sides yet soft enough for a scarf. After washing and drying it became very soft  (and did not felt).  I’ve chosen to use my water and spring stencils because they combine nicely.

After pasting the water stencil on one side of the wool,  I pinned the work to my carpet-covered table and allowed the paste to dry to a leather-hard state, i.e., still damp but not at all sticky.

I turned the pieces over and pasted the 2nd stencil (Spring).

After the paste was completely dry, I dipped the work in an instant indigo vat, but soon realized I wouldn’t be getting the depth of color I wanted with the wool (protein) fiber. So, I stretched and soy sized the scarves, and then gave them several quick coats of indigo pigment on the front and black (soot) pigment on the back. I like how the images mix in a soft-edged and subtle way.