louise bourgeios fabric exhibit

this month there was an exhibit of louise bourgeios at hauser and wirth in london, called 'the fabric works.' i heard about it on CRAFT, via the wonderful magazine about textiles, selvedge.
from the show's description:

Fabric played an important role in Bourgeois’s life. She grew up surrounded by the textiles of her parents’ tapestry restoration workshop, and from the age of twelve helped the business by drawing in the sections of the missing parts that were to be repaired. A life-long hoarder of clothes and household items such as tablecloths, napkins and bed linen, from the mid-nineties Bourgeois cut up and re-stitched these, transforming her lived materials into art. Through sewing she attempted to effect psychological repair: ‘I always had the fear of being separated and abandoned. The sewing is my attempt to keep things together and make things whole’.

love it.

seoul

oh, i am quite behind on posting photos from so many different things...if my life had a little more free time in it, i would so much like to properly post photos right after each event! but for now i have given up on anything like a timely chronicle...and i will just share here somewhat randomly. these are a few pictures from last month's trip to seoul, korea, with my seminar at the university. the colors of the textiles are all so lovely, bright and distinctively korean in the color combinations, gorgeous silks, including these worn ones.
and the food, super yummy! this is actually just all the little side dishes that accompany the main course, in this case yakiniku in japanese, (grilled meat) not sure what the korean name for it is. but i love the way the table is just covered with white dishes--and this was just one section of a long table.

farmland carpet

earlier this month i returned from an all too quick trip back to the states. to be honest, i have had a hard time catching up since i've been back, but i am working on it, and slowly making progress.

these custom carpets were featured on CRAFT a while back now, and are actually made in a variety of custom designs: netherlands, africa, usa, and this one, which is called europe. but to me, and this may just be the midwestern holstien cows, it looks more like the colors of the american midwest. i always find it mesmerizing to look out of the airplane window and see the squares of fields, cut into a grid by county roads perhaps, usually a little house and outbuildings, surrounded by trees, and then fields filling up the rest of the square.

gion matsuri floats part 2

after my last post about the gion matsuri parade, i realized i completely forgot to mention the textile aspects of the floats!
i'm not sure how that happened! but here are a few more photos showing more close up views.
in my opinion, the most interesting thing about the tapestries on the floats is that they were collected from far away exotic places several hundred years ago. for example, china, persia, or europe. so the floats are actually like moving museums. and, it's like these collections that the wealthy kimono merchants of the edo period (1600s-1800s) were then preserved over time, because they are still used for the floats today.
so it's a traditional japanese festival, but even traditionally, it includes textiles and tapestries (and other treasures) from other far away countries that were exotic to the japanese of the edo period.

tuulikki titine and poppytalk 'oil spill response market'

i love textile jewelry like this piece from tuulikki titine. this is one of the many many wonderful things in the poppytalk handmade market, which is currently the "oil spill response market," with each participant donating one item's proceeds to benefit the gulf coast. check it out and support these folks!

tabi patterns from sri threads

this images is a collection of tabi patterns from the beautiful sri threads blog.

i've had a few friends visiting from the states during the last few days, and all these pattern for shoes seem like a good representation of everywhere we've walked! i'm having a great time showing off my favorite places, and discovering some new ones. and of course adding to the list of things i want to share here--sights/shopping/crafts--when i can find the time!

wake robin, and the power of paper textiles

velma bolyard is textile artist and bookbinder. she spins paper, along side many other wonderful and creative projects.
i saw her work via an article in handeye magazine, which is in itself an amazing publication, dedicated to the empowering role of craft and the handmade as well as design as development.

in the article, velma explains how one of her works, a handmade book, is being used by a therapist, and how people connect with the book. it's an incredibly touching story about the power of a handmade object. also it makes me cry everytime i read it. velma's paper mill is called wake robin, which is also the name of her blog. good stuff.

february kamigamo jinja handmade market-part 2 felt and textiles

the work of very talented feltmaker, from scarves to tiny leave sprouts.
and a different feltmaker who specialized in life-sized cats!! not really my style, but i have to her points for dedication to an idea. also, i saw someone carrying one of these cats when i was waiting for the bus, so...maybe it's successful?woven, sewn, spun and dyed. yay for multiple fiber arts!
cute bags with detail appliques; so japanese.
steel furniture upholstered with upcycled textiles, nice.

by the way, all my market photos are on flickr.

weekend crafting: kogin

this weekend i finally got around to a project i've been planning to do for months: kogin embroidery! i used some cotton towels with a loose weave, and some sashiko thread i had on hand. technically kogin thread is a bit coarser. basically kogin is a type of counted thread embroidery.
i was inspired by this book, which is in the shop, and here is a complete flickr set.
i used one of the most simple designs, but there are so many more i would love to try.kogin is kind of traditional embroidery from the northern part of japan. originally used as a form of darning or reinforcing work clothes, the patterns became and beautiful and intricate decoration. like the related embroidery sashiko, kogin is most commonly done with white thread on a indigo blue background.
but i love this book also and especially because of the way it shows how to use the kogin techique on contemporary objects. another example of the perfect blending of traditional and modern in japanese craft.

carpet map art by instant hutong

this is one of the carpet maps created by instant hutong, which i found via flickr. hutong are the traditional dense courtyard neighborhoods of beijing, and the artists behind instant hutong have done a whole series of pieces where figure ground maps are made into carpets. maps plus textiles? on a large scale? i love it!

more brilliance from bookhou, and repeat studio

i saw these gorgeous new items from bookhou on bloesem, and was reminded about how i love everything they make and do. and that somehow i hadn't noticed their lovely blog.
AND then i discovered that arounna khounnoraj of bookhou is collaborating with roisin fagan of bespoke uprising to create hand printed textiles as repeat studio. just lovely.

here's another sweet item from bespoke uprising, available from her etsy shop.

i'm spending a few weeks at my mom's house in rural wisconsin, and while these farm themed prints are distinctively canadian, fields and canning jars are the same in the late summer countryside everywhere.

kanzashi

kanzashi is the traditional japanese craft of making intricate flowers or petal arrangements from fabric. the image above is one of the amazying pieces created by atelier kanawa who is one of the few tsumami kanzashi artisans today. it's a hairpin called 'rain drops world,' which is quite appropriate for these days in japan, as we are waiting for rainy season to finish up this week maybe.
kanzashi in bloom, by diane gilleland of craftypod, just came out, and can be seen around the internet on a blog book tour. whip up has an feature about kuniko kanawa of atelier kanawa, and also a giveaway for the book. betz white also has a copy to give away (you have until wednesday to enter, u.s. addresses only).

recycle LACMA

recycle LACMA is a very cool project by robert fontenot, reinventing new uses for textiles that were decommissions by LACMA. this pink garment bag is made from the dress below:

here's the description of the project from the recycle LACMA site:

On January 14th, 2009 the Los Angeles County Museum of Art announced that it was deaccessioning more than 100 items from its costumes and textiles collection. Once carefully collected, catalogued, and cared for, these items have now been cast back out in to the world. What will happen to them? Like any other useless item, they will need to be recycled or disposed of.

Recycle LACMA is a project of Los Angeles-based artist Robert Fontenot. At three separate auctions he purchased over 50 items deaccessioned by LACMA and is now trying to find new uses for these otherwise unwanted items.

where there are more projects, like this sailboat made from guatemalen pants (below).via design sponge

printed textiles from girlscantell

i've been daydreaming about outfitting my new apartment (i'm moving next week!).

i love the style of girlscantell on etsy, line drawings or diagrams printed on fabrics, or in this case felt!

dana robson of aquarabbit

dana robson of aquarabbit makes beautiful mixed media creations, with a winning combination of vintage maps, gocco printing, and embroidery.

she has a showcase here on the website the beholder (that i just discovered). you can see more of her available work on flickr, and she has an etsy shop too.

if you're in seattle, you can see her works right now at the fabulous bluebottle gallery.

(thanks justin!)

house portrait tea towels printed by leanne graeff

check out these excellent tea towels printed by leanne graeff and available in her etsy shop. they can be ordered as a custom design based on a picture of your own house. what a lovely housewarming present!

sevilla rock collection from skinny laminx

heather moore of skinny laminx is a genius fabric designer from cape town, south africa. her new collection, sevilla rock, is based on cave paintings, and it's gorgeous. these are just a few of the patterns and colors.the sevilla rock collection will be available for sale as tea towels, aprons, cushion, shopping bags and zip pouches. tea towels are available now in the skinny laminx etsy shop. via design*sponge.