Folding Cloth

I love getting to the Thunder Mountain Studio* early in the morning. Lisa and I have been chatting on the drive here but we are silent as we enter and get to work opening the windows and doors, she does the left side of the room, I take the right. We step out onto the covered porch area on the side of the building and prepare the tables and electrical cords for the two heat presses. Together we carry the heavy machines to their places, one, two, three, lift, and flip the switches on.

Heat presses at Thunder Mountain Studio, Peters Valley Craft Center ©2012 Jennifer Libby Fay

Returning inside we organize the classroom and materials for the day, Lisa reviewing her lesson plan and samples while I clear my table and mix up some new dye colors. Misty rain falls outside, called a wet soft in Ireland, Lisa told me on the way here. It looks a bit like Ireland out there—luscious, green and wet.

Out back • Thunder Mountain Studio, Peters Valley Craft Center ©2012 Jennifer Libby Fay

Yesterday afternoon Lisa demonstrated a couple of Shibori dyeing techniques. Shibori is a Japanese word for a method of dyeing cloth by binding, stitching, folding or twisting it. The folds, stitches, etc. create tight places (resists) that restrict the flow of dye and create lovely patterns. If you ever tie-dyed a tee shirt then you’ve done shibori. On the one hand, an artist could spend a life-time studying Shibori techniques and never learn it all. On the other, it is an extremely accessible technique that produces great results. (Admit it, you loved that tee shirt.)

Itajime (pronounced eeta-gee-may) Shibori is the folding kind. Last night I made a few sample bundles, which hopefully are dry now and can be set as soon as the presses warm up.

Itajime, folded, Shibori bundles • ©2012 Jennifer Libby Fay

Finished Itajime Shibori sample 1 • ©2012 Jennifer Libby Fay

Finished Itajime Shibori sample 2 • ©2012 Jennifer Libby Fay

Finished Itajime Shibori sample 3 • ©2012 Jennifer Libby Fay

I’m thrilled with the results of my experiments and decide to make more. This time I use these wooden blocks to form the resist.

Wooden blocks used for resist • ©2012 Jennifer Libby Fay

Finished Itajime Shibori sample from wooden blocks • ©2012 Jennifer Libby Fay

One of the many benefits of attending a workshop is the chance to experiment with something new in a safe environment—I’m not trying to make Art here, I’m learning, I’m practicing. This is good for me—I can tell my inner perfectionist to wait outside (in the rain!) and while I’m not sure how I will incorporate this process into my work when I get back to the studio, I don’t need to know all the answers today. I can relax and enjoy what develops.

The breeze blows, the rain falls, I fold cloth.



*This is Part Two in a series about my experience at Peters Valley Craft Center attending Lisa Grey’s workshop, Disperse Dyes: Reinventing the Wheel. Part One can be found here.