Katazome - Day One
I'm at Cascade Head Ranch, taking a class in Katazome at Sitka Center for the Arts and Ecology. This is the last weekend of my break in MSW classes, and I wanted to do something just for me. This is the perfect place - I have a lovely guest house to stay in, the trail to Cascade Head just steps from my front door, and my day is filled with creativity and good company.
Katazome is a Japanese fiber art involving applying a resist to fabric through a stencil, and then dying the fabric. It's sort of like batik, sort of like printmaking, and sort of like stenciling. Except, because of the two step process, you end up having to think of your design as a double negative.
We worked on two projects today. First, we chose a design to use for our own stencil. Our teacher showed us a variety of options and styles, and when she picked up a little set of four squares, with the same image portrayed four different ways, she said "if you do one of these you'll really learn how to create a stencil." I thought "that's why I'm here!" and decided I would do one of these positive/negative samplers. I chose an antique printer's ornament as my image, from a book I had brought along. I spent the better part of the morning figuring out how to create a stencil from this image four different ways. Here I have just started to cut my stencil, after MANY hours of preparation!
Then we moved on to creating the rice paste that is used as a resist. It is mixed together, steamed, and then allowed to cool, until it is a consistency like honey. We selected two already made stencils from a large selection, and got a chance to practice applying the resist.
This is what the fabric looked like when the stencil was removed. It is clamped to a frame to dry.
After a long day in class with fog outside the windows, suddenly the day cleared and the sun shone bright. I grabbed a bite to eat and headed out to hike up to Cascade Head again. I knew I didn't have the time to go to the upper lookout, but I had time for the view at the lower lookout. It was gorgeous and peaceful, and I had my perch to myself. This is the Salmon River Estuary, sheltered by a sand bar where it meets the ocean.
And just past it is the wide open ocean. That strip of beach is accessible only by taking a little row boat across the mouth of the Salmon River from Cascade Head Ranch.
The sun began to set as I enjoyed my perch, and it was hard to pull myself away. I knew I had a good 1/2 hour hike back through the woods, and I definitely didn't want to do it in the dark! I loitered a little too long, and I was worried I'd blown it; it was really dark. But I made it to the road in the growing darkness and in retrospect it was worth it!
Katazome is a Japanese fiber art involving applying a resist to fabric through a stencil, and then dying the fabric. It's sort of like batik, sort of like printmaking, and sort of like stenciling. Except, because of the two step process, you end up having to think of your design as a double negative.
We worked on two projects today. First, we chose a design to use for our own stencil. Our teacher showed us a variety of options and styles, and when she picked up a little set of four squares, with the same image portrayed four different ways, she said "if you do one of these you'll really learn how to create a stencil." I thought "that's why I'm here!" and decided I would do one of these positive/negative samplers. I chose an antique printer's ornament as my image, from a book I had brought along. I spent the better part of the morning figuring out how to create a stencil from this image four different ways. Here I have just started to cut my stencil, after MANY hours of preparation!
This is what the fabric looked like when the stencil was removed. It is clamped to a frame to dry.
And just past it is the wide open ocean. That strip of beach is accessible only by taking a little row boat across the mouth of the Salmon River from Cascade Head Ranch.
The sun began to set as I enjoyed my perch, and it was hard to pull myself away. I knew I had a good 1/2 hour hike back through the woods, and I definitely didn't want to do it in the dark! I loitered a little too long, and I was worried I'd blown it; it was really dark. But I made it to the road in the growing darkness and in retrospect it was worth it!
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