Malaysia - Things Textiley

At the end of 2015, our annual family holiday was spent in Malaysia.

Malaysia has lots of things textiley to interest those who are interested in fibres and textiles.

Here am I standing beside one of the king's guards inside his guard house, where it was in the shade and breezy (hence the flying hair) while it was 34 degrees and body dripping humid in the sun.

The king's guard is wearing an impossibly clean white uniform trimmed with gold braid and epaulettes. Wrapped over the top of his uniform is a length of cloth secured with a gold belt. It is the traditional Malay men's garment akin to a sarong and called a sampin. The shimmering cloth is handwoven from either cotton or silk (I didn't risk bending down to confirm the fibre with that bayonet so close by) with a supplementary weft of gold to make the elaborate traditional pattern. His songkok hat completes the traditional Malay man's ensemble.

I took this pic to capture the line up of buses that look like colourful ants with their antenna-like mirrors. It was only when looking at the image later I saw I had also caught a sampling of the typical dress worn by people of different races and beliefs.

Left and wearing blue are Muslim Malay women with their body garments covering their whole body except for their hands and head. Their heads are covered with hejab scarves tied and pinned in place.

In the middle are 2 Indian Malays, the left one wearing a Punjabi suit with its full trousers pulled tightly around the waist with a draw string and the pant leg pulled in by a cuff around the ankle. A long, loose fitting simply-shaped shirt is worn over the top.

The other Indian Malay woman is wearing a sari outfit, a 5 to 9 yard length of cloth skilfully wrapped around her body and secured by folding and a tight fitting short-sleeved choli blouse. 

Both of them have finished off their outfits with matching baseball caps which may be compulsory wearing for their tour party. 

The 2 other people in the image are dressed in the international style found in most countries.

Many of the religious and sacred sights we visited had sumptuous old embroideries.

A banner hung outside a Chinese ancestral worship centre.

A detail of the above banner shows the traditional Chinese gold and silk embroidery on a silk ground.

These fire men's jackets caught my eye. Firstly I wondered why firemen would wear camouflage and I noticed the high intensity colour of the camouflage. Are there two oxymorons at work here?

Every city in Malaysia has its 'Silk Centre' where the fabric stores are found side by side. Each one is an Aladdin's Cave (for the Textiley Person) with the regular shop-front opening up as one is lured back into it's depths, with fabrics stacked floor to ceiling down every narrow aisle. Digging and persistence will lead to the discovery of treasures.

'Aunt Flow Speaks Out' Has Been Installed

'Aunt Flow Speaks Out,' Kirsten Horel & Lesley Turner; size variable; cotton, silk, linen women's handkerchiefs, cotton thread, earth pigment, nails, notebook, pen; thrifting, laundering, ironing, lettering, painting.

This is Aunt Flow's official photograph.

'Aunt Flow Speaks Out' has been installed.

The Community Arts Council of Greater Victoria (CACGV) is commemorating International Women's Day with the art exhibition "Women Hold Up Half the Sky." It is in the Bay Centre, downtown Victoria, on the 3rd floor, next to Club Monaco.

The exhibition is on from February 25th until March 13th.

The Installation

The curators, Stepanie and Brin, have given Aunt Flow 8 feet. The ceilings must be 12 feet high so this is going to be the largest Aunt Flow has ever been. The bigger the better for Aunt Flow.

Step 1. The Template

Pin up the template and mark the wall through the holes.

The template is made from an on-point interfacing. The red dots are around holes in the template where I can make a pencil marks on the wall.

Step 2. Nail a handkerchief with a tag over each pencil mark.

Step 3. Place the plinth in the centre with the book and pen on top.

Complete.

VISDA Current Threads 2015: Garden Tapestry

I want to make another post about the Vancouver Island Surface Design Association's current exhibition because every work is such an excellent example of  the many techniques fibre artist's have to work with.

The above detail is Linda Elias's "Beet Harvest" where she used actual beets and leaves on a Gelli-plate to print on the cotton fabric and she added a layer of stamping. She backed the cotton with a hand woven wool cloth and machine stitched into the layers before adding hand stitching and beading.

Linda's expression of the excitement in bringing in a plentiful harvest moved someone because they bought the work even before the official opening. Congratulations Linda.

Lori Mudrie's "Thistles and Lace" (detail) has to be seen to be fully appreciated. This work is much fresher and softer looking than what you see in this poor image. What you are looking at are all fibres and fine thread. She needle felted a variety of different rovings blending the colours in a painterly way then she incorporated hand and machine stitching to catch the characteristic forms of thistles and Queen Anne's Lace.

Laura Feeleus's "Conservatory" (detail) shows a number of the different ways stitches can be used to attach items to a ground. On the right are dried rose petals trapped under hand-dyed silk. On the left is a vintage lace doily held in place with a layer of sheer silk and french knots. Elsewhere on the work are tree seeds and stones held in place by hand stitches.

Christine Fawcett's "Dawn's Delight" (detail) shows raised surfaces using a number of different techniques: furrowing, Kantha, and spot applique. Silk taffeta was dyed with avocado skins and eucalyptus bark using natural dyeing techniques.

Jo Ann Allan's "Medieval Garden" (detail) has many historical textile references going back to the European Middle Ages. It is also a showcase of exquisitely worked hand stitches, techniques that have been practiced for centuries: Hardanger, blackwork, casalguidi raised embroidery.  In other areas of the work, there are machine embroidered slips, a contemporary take on an Elizabethan technique for applying heavily embroidered pieces to a ground. The old and new have also been combined with a traditional linen ground fabric and an area of hand-made silk fusion fabric.

Jo Ann is the co-ordinator of this exhibition and has done an excellent job in organising the details and communicating them and the deadlines to all of the artists. The theme is gardens and Jo Ann began by sending members a 3-page list of ideas related to this theme which I am sure was a great source of inspiration for many of the works in this exhibition.

The exhibition is on for another week, ending November 10th.

I do hope you can go and see this exhibition if you haven't already done so.

Studio Footwear and Laundry Centre

I received lots of comments and questions about my choice of Studio Footwear, as seen in this previous blog post.To answer you all, here are the details.

Outside: (Left) Suede, Danish-style clog. Brand - 'Simple'. The best feature is when I step in soft soil the heel print says 'past' while the toe part has a forward pointing arrow and says 'future.'

Inside, winter: (Middle) Shearling sheepskin suede, backless moccasin. Brand - Nuknuuk.

Inside, summer: (Right) Thong/jandle/flip flop with moulded sole and cloth straps. Brand: 'Axign'. (Thank you sister for putting me onto these. And for letting me wear yours until you took me shopping to get my own pair.)

All are easy to slip on and off as I move in and out of the studio.

So there you have it.

Now to the Laundry Centre.

Regular laundering of cloth I will continue to do in the house.

Wash-out of dyed cloth I will do in the studio, beginning with the cold rinse in the big, deep tubs.

Since learning about Carol Soderlund's wash-out method, the next step will be to simmer the cloth in a stock pot filled from the instant boiling water tank.

Out of the cupboard under the tubs I will lift out the spin dryer...

... and set the outlet spout over the tub. I put the cloth in the top, plug it in and away it goes, spinning out all excess water into the tub.

It is one of those appliances with lots of names all over it - The Laundry Alternative Inc., Nina Soft, Mueller Electrodomesticos (the best name). They also make/sell? a small, bullet shaped manually operated washing machine - appliances for those who live in small spaces.

After the spin, I will steam-iron cellulose fibres dry, a technique known as polishing. Protein fibres such as silk and wool I will dry on a rack in the shade before lightly steaming them.

This is the studio laundry process. 

I didn't want 2 big machines when there is a set in the house. I didn't want to make the studio plumbing more complicated than a single tub area. And I didn't want to take up valuable studio space with machines at the expense of the horizontal work surfaces.

I'll keep you posted on how this laundry system works out.

Jane Dunnewold Workshop

I attended Jane Dunnewold's Dye workshop at the Pacific Northwest Art School in Coupeville. Jane took us through many different dyeing techniques. I picked up lots of valuable tips to fine tune my dyeing practice and I was able to correct the bad habits I had developed over the years.

The first exercise was to dye cloth to make a colour wheel. Jane talked about the importance of making a colour wheel that was our own personal 'colour constant' - a reference check for all colours produced. I use Joan Wolfram's 3-in-1 Color Tool but it is printed on paper. I have put on my 'To Do' list to make a cloth one.

We worked with thickened Procion MX dyes. Here are 2 different cloth samples batching. A lesson learned was: take to workshops my best fabrics for the exercises. I had taken several used 100% cotton bedsheets and got some disappointing results. I suspect one wasn't true to label and there was some polyester spun in with the cotton thread. It did not take the dye well. When the base cloth is inferior for the job it is very difficult to assess the results of the other dyeing variables.

Pots were set up outside for silk dyeing.

It was such a warm breezy day the conditions were most pleasant for working outside. I dyed all the silk I brought with me.

Shibori and random scrunch resist techniques with results that could be achieved within minutes.

Jane demonstrated many unique techniques she has developed over the years and left us lots of time to experiment with whatever we wanted. She created such an atmosphere that for me it was low stress and intensive at the same time. I felt tired at the end of each day and so keen and energised at the beginning of each day.

Jane is thinking of offering her 'Complex Cloth' course again, after a hiatus of several years. It was this course coupled with her book 'Complex Cloth', plus her own output that played a major role in a better understanding of surface design in the art world.

So keep your feelers out for 'Complex Cloth' and 'run-don't-walk' to sign up.

Body of Work: 'Regression'

'Regression'

48"w x 84" h x 10"d. Materials: cotton, wool, silk, polyester, nylon, paper cord, wood. Techniques: strip-piecing, couching, hand and machine stitching, knitting. Photographer: Tony Bounsall, Tony's website

'Regression' is the companion work of 'Succession', View "Succession" here

'Regression', detail. Photographer: Tony Bounsall

The removal of components such fallen leaves from under a tree or the disruption of natural process by clear felling a forest, puts the whole ecosystem in a state of unbalance. The complex web of interconnected elements and processes are no longer able to rejuvenate. The fabric of life begins to unravel just as it happens to knitting when a needle is pulled out.

I have used textiles and crafts associated with the home to link our actions in the home with our actions in the natural world, our shared home. To disrupt the natural world is pathological behaviour.

The Process

I used the same technique as for 'Succession'.

The fabric covered cord was knit with large sonotube cardboard 'needles'.

The Process

Couched strip-piecing wrapped around a cord.

Summer

I have finished my Christmas stocking knitting. Christmas 2013, that is.

Son William's scarf is blocked.

It is made from a lovely cotton and silk yarn.

It is winter in New Zealand so I mailed it straight away.

This was my newly planted Garden Tower back on 10th June.

To date I have harvested over 2kgs of swiss chard, arugula, celery, cilantro and basil.

Tonight we made a delicious vegetable curry.

The Wedding Shawls

The bride wanted to give her bridesmaids and brother's girlfriend shawls to wear in case things got a bit chilly standing on top of the mountain.

She asked me to make them. I was delighted.

First the sampling with white mohair.

Blocking the sample.

I knit a sample shawl on the bias using a Church Mouse pattern.

It was decided the pattern worked but the yarn was too woolly. 

So I had to go to the yarn store - oh dear.

We settled on a kid mohair/silk mix in colours matching the dresses.

Seven shawls, plus the sample one, were completed in good time. But I had to watch lots of movies on TV to get in the necessary number of knitting hours each week, to meet the deadline.

Here is Amber wearing her shawl.  Each time I saw her over the evening she was wearing it a different way. She made her dress too. She's such a clever girl.

Auction house Treasures cont.

The 3rd treasure I spied in the box at the auction was this neatly worked Russia icon-like embroidery on a cloth hemmed at one end and torn at the other.

(detail)

The 4th treasure was this Chinese silk jacket which is reversible.

It has lots of lovely details like these hand-made frog closures.

It needed a gentle wash before it could be worn so it was lowered into a warm bath with Orvus paste.

I was a little concerned the colours might run so I added a couple of Colour Catcher sheets to the bath.

Wouldn't you know it - the red was the fugitive, but surprisingly little excess dye came out.

The jacket is now lying on a towel in the boiler room drying. 

It sounds as though this jacket is at a spa.

I'll show you pictures of its new owner wearing it, once I have delivered it

Synesthesia #6 Blue Green

Making another in the Synesthesia series.

The sample looks right though the ground could do with a little more stabilising.

Coming along.

That ground is still wrinkling up a bit with the intensive stitching and changes in direction.

I am using strips cut from my collection of silk blouses. 

Lightweight silks can be warmed with the fingers and easily manipulated.