Tag Archives: moonmates

To beginnings and endings

I added a new Moonmate video a few days ago yet never got this blog post finished to announce it. This is the shortest one so far! Originally I thought they would all be about 5 minute videos but up to now I have not been able to achieve that. Today’s video focuses on making some kakishibu base fabric as a starting point- check it out…

Generally, it takes me a bit to write a post and these days you would think that would be simple, given that we are all staying at home. But herein lies the problem! We are all staying at home! And staying at home with two musicians leads to some interesting days. No one is going anywhere so finding a nice block of uninterrupted time in which to write/record/teach is somewhat problematic. In the before times, each of them would regularly be gone for hours at a time but not now! We are all seeking some separate space for our various activities. Even my noise cancelling headphones can only do so much and more often just serve as a visual reminder that I am doing my own thing. My blog posts are being written in fits and spurts and not in one nice stream of thought. On the other hand, there are positives as well- Trevor and I are enjoying more gardening time together and and Phil is working on more recordings. Plus, a marimba has arrived!

There have been many points over the past couple of weeks where I said to myself: “hey me, that is something I want to include in my next blog post”, but alas-much of it fades away as time passes by as I flit like a butterfly from one thing to the next…. I really should write them down. (ps…the monarchs are laying lots of eggs and caterpillars are hatching all over the yard!)

Here are a few links to thankfulness…that I managed to remember!

Mo from her blog “It’s Crow Time” wrote a beautiful post that included some moons and a wonderful bag she made for a friend. She’s been a long time and patient moonmate…thanks Mo! Hers is a blog I recommend subscribing to by email.

And then again, my daily read and maybe yours too, is Jude’s Spirit Cloth-taking a new turn from a new place. She is doing a “work beside me” type project that many are enjoying. This post, from a few days ago, features moons and the thought of overlapping as an idea.

And John Marshall is now doing online workshops! Maybe I mentioned that in the previous post. I finally was able to secure a copy of his book “Singing the Blues” just in time for the new indigo vat.

I’m making a new natural indigo vat- finally. An organic fermentation vat. I didn’t have enough indigo for a full 40 gallon vat so started with a smaller 10 gallon one. Pasted up the indigo, measured out the other ingredients, pulled 10 gallons of rainwater I had collected for a large vat, and dug the rest of my madder so I could use it in this vat. Moved the madder to a new location.

I have wanted to try rainwater for quite some time and now finally getting the chance. I notice that it is one full point higher (9) in pH than our regular tap water (7.8). I re-calibrated my ph meter and realized that I needed a new container of calibrating solution but had enough for about 2 more times. Used up the last of my soda ash so ordered a bit of that too from a local pool supply shop. Also found that my titanium aquarium heater was no longer working so went ahead and ordered one. Seems they have gotten cheaper since the last time I ordered one-hope it’s a good one for my purposes. It’s still cool at night here (upper 50’s/low 60’s) so it needs a little help. I have it sitting in a sunny location for the time being and will dig out some insulating wrap for it today.
After retrieving the wheat bran, indigo and some additional madder from the garagio freezer, I note that a good sorting out of the freezer is in order. There are dyestuffs, cocoons and other materials in there along with walnuts (squirrels continue to visit), last seasons roasted hatch chili peppers (very spicy!), various flours and other things. Need to remove all and defrost this week.
Updates on how the vat is doing in the next post I imagine…

On a sad note, I saw a notice that Michelle Whipplinger of Earthues has passed away. I didn’t purchase often from her site but did gain invaluable information from her writings. I know many were fortunate to take workshops from her and benefit directly from her global expertise gained over a long and sustained practice.
She left a beautiful, kind and compassionate knowledge base in her wake for us to enjoy. Blessings to her memory and to her family and friends.

And in celebration of beginnings… my old silk moth eggs did not hatch but I ordered a small batch of eggs (mainly since I had gotten the neighbor kids interested and a little home schooled science might be good) and they should be hatching any day now.

To beginnings and endings…and to continuing. I think I’ll leave it here.

In the Moment

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Time slowed a bit this week, or at least that’s my perception. In the Moment.

I did a little tinkering with moonmaking and the result was a pleated moon on silk ro. I included a bit on that in the new moonmates video.

I talked a little bit about the fabrics I use. I could go on and on with that topic as it really is key to dyeing anything at all and can dictate the type of shibori process best suited for the cloth.

But back to the pleated moon. I’ve wanted to try this for some time. I really liked the process. Adjustments were made to allow the pleats to be retained (not wetting the fabric first, then letting the piece dry while clamped after rinsing out well). Then the whole thing was trimmed a bit before stabilizing on a background cloth using Jude’s glue stitch (or invisible basting stitch). I love the sculptural quality of it stitched onto the background. I don’t know where this piece is going or what it will lead to. For now, I have it pinned to the wall where I can think on it a while. What I did find was that the pleats were easily retained- even around the outside edge of the resist. The silk has a memory and unless forcefully removed, remains.

Here is a quicklink to Jude’s youtube showing her glue stitch that I referred to.
There were other interesting moons this week, they continue to fascinate me, endlessly.

TIme now to go do a drop off of supplies to Amma. For some reason this past week the facility would not allow the Kaiser hospice nurse to do her regular visit there- without explanation. After a series of calls to various people in positions to question this, nurse visits have resumed. You really do have to keep up with what is going on in these facilities.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend. Mata ne!

in the chrysalis of the corona

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We are sure to emerge from the corona in an altered state. Some things are going to change completely (some of those things will be positive for sure) and other things will drift back towards a state of complacency. One of the positive outcomes will hopefully be our increased attention to hygiene, health and communicable illnesses in the modern era. Having spent lots of time living in and visiting Japan, mask wearing there is de rigueur, or essential- a responsibility and expected, especially if you are sick with even a minor cold. We could definitely benefit from this.
We are going to go forward with holes in our lives where people who held our hearts, hands and memories used to reside.
We will go forward with uncertainty, in our work, our play, our basic well being. I don’t imagine this will ever really “be over”. It will “be different”. I think it warrants imagining and wondering what that looks like now, so as to adapt, adjust, and plan for a different kind of future. I keep thinking of the analogy of a butterfly emerging from a chrysalis. It’s like we might have the opportunity to rethink how we want to emerge from life in the corona. The time to think about that is now. Looks like we will still have a couple more months to think about all this possibility and prepare!
There have been lots of monarchs emerging in the backyard lately. They float through the air as I am weeding out the grasses that have taken over here and there after the rains. There are lots of wildflowers blooming that have reseeded from past seasons. I don’t think I’ll ever get rid of poppies back there (not that i would want to!).

These are just some of the thoughts that pass through my mind as I keep busy out in the studio and garden this past week.

One item of note, it was one year ago yesterday I tripped over the low dog fence in the backyard breaking my arm. It was an instantly regrettable moment. A not so funny April Fools Day. One year later now, there is no pain, and all has healed very well. But to ensure I don’t do any such silly thing again, Trevor has built a new fence with a wonderfully easy opening gate! Sometimes, isolation allows for chores that have been long put off, to be accomplished! Yay! Now onto the fence on the left side which has needed new posts for a long time, thanks to termites. Currently we are enjoying lettuce, beets, daikon, eggplant and herbs from the garden. Just put in some broccoli, zucchini, chilis and tomatoes and have other seedlings to plant out soon.

keeping the dogs out of the vegetable garden, and me from jumping the fence and breaking my arm!

But in the studio, I have been at a number of things, moons of course. And I’m adding a new tutorial for moonmates on the Moonmates page. One thing I realize while doing these, is that I will never run out of ideas for making moons. Each time I make some I want to try something different. It’s just how it goes. I have tried so many things over the years and it’s fun revisit some of them and to also try out new ideas. This is what I do love about shibori- the endless possibilities. There is always something new or different to try.

I’ve received some lovely emails and messages from you all upon receipt of your moonsets. Thank you. It inspires me to continue. My friend Mo in Australia who always makes love-ly and heart-felt objects put an indigo moon to work in her recent post Raggedy Blue Moon Heart. Jude was so kind as to put a link in her sidebar to the moonmaker page. If you haven’t ever visited Jude’s blog, Spirit Cloth, I would recommend it and subscribing by email. She’s been at it at least as long as I have (2006ish) so you have a lot of catching up to do over there!

In other announcements… all May and June workshops at the JANM have been cancelled and we are working on creating a schedule for July -Dec in the coming week. Stay tuned. Also, stay tuned for some new silk shibori ribbon in the shop. Haven’t got them photographed or listed yet…that’s next on “the list”.

You might be a fan of John Prine like I am and since hearing he was ill (COVID-19) I’ve been refreshing my play list with some of his music. Here’s one to get you started…I picked this version as it has a monologue about the song at the beginning.

One thing I have really enjoyed during this isolation time has been checking in with friends I don’t often communicate with. Some great catching up has been going on. A friend and I were texting re John Prine and other things (like how we’ve been friends for probably close to 20 years and she hadn’t subscribed to the blog (subscribe by email in the sidebar). She had a sweet memory of John Prine she shared (her husband has been a dealer of vintage vinyl albums forever) and she said I could share it here-

getting into the moonspirit

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For moonmates, there is a whole new page which is linked in the sidebar and I’ve uploaded the first video. I’m experimenting with keeping these moonmate videos on their own page just for the ease of your finding them in between posts on the main home page here. Like I mentioned in the last post, it’s pay as you wish there (also in the sidebar).

gathering moons…https://www.shiborigirlstudios.com/shop/indigo-moons

Next task is to update some of these pages and make a new header. It’s been a while since I did a new one. I’ve really liked this one and found some sort of comfort in seeing it whenever I loaded the blogsite. But I think it’s time…

It’s also time here to plant seeds to put out in the garden. I have quite a few already started and I feel the urge to start more. Even if I end up giving them away to neighbors I enjoy watching them sprout and grow each day. We all could use a little victory garden I think…who knows? It could become a necessity!

Trevor redid my garden fence so I don’t break my arm again!

Life in the corona…

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“A faintly colored luminous ring or halo appearing to surround a celestial body when viewed through a haze or thin cloud, especially such a ring around the moon or sun, caused by scattering or diffraction of light from suspended particulate matter in the intervening medium.“

March 16, 2020
The following post was left unpublished for the better part of a week while we attended to other things here. Other things included the canceling of all scheduled workshops for at least the next 30 days- maybe longer. Due to the fact that I have been unable to secure a supplier for the plain back silk satin I use for the shibori ribbon I had started to transition to more in person events and workshops for the time being. The current health emergency due to the corona virus has made that impossible, so I am once again regrouping to switch to other possibilities. Everyone in this household has had all work cancelled for the foreseeable future. We are adjusting to this reality along with everyone, worldwide.
I know you are too.

March 11, 2020

Sometimes you get an unexpected gift.

Such was the occasion at this past workshop which I was prepping for and mentioned in the last post. To recap, it was an evening Parents Art Night at a private school in LA. I only had 2.5 hours to give an indigo shibori workshop for 30 people.

Usually this type of workshop requires more time but careful consideration, preparation, and planning paid off- in smiles! It was a fabulous location. Formerly the rooftop, it was expanded as another floor with great views and two large enclosed studios-one for lower grades and one for the upper grades.

Each of the two large studios have one large wall of windows while the other side has two large stainless steel sink areas with counter space. Concrete floors, high ceilings, good light, lots of movable tables to work on, plenty of storage and more counter space under the bank of windows. A really great space! Outdoors, there are shade sails and more open workspace. These are very lucky kids! Two full time art teachers for 400 students. Of course all this comes at a price- tuition! They do also have scholarship/ financial aid programs.

If you recall, I chose kitchen towels as the canvas for their shibori indigo dyeing and it turns out that was a good call. Most did not have any experience in shibori indigo dyeing but there were a few exceptions. We focused on stitched shibori- staying simple and gathering and binding tightly. Most were concerned if they were “doing it right” or if their piece would “turn out ok”. I heard many comments about not remembering the last time they had a needle and thread in hand. They got to visit and talk while they stitched. I went around and helped and checked on their work. I assured them it would turn out and suggested they turn their fears or anxiety into creative curiosity. It really changes the experience!

Back to the smiles…

As for the unexpected gift…at the end one parent came up to me to say thank you and said that she was very grateful for the experience- that she loved her towels and that it had been a very long time since she had been proud of herself for something she had made.
That was very much a gift. Such a great evening.
Of course, school there is no longer in session. In LA we are hearing that it may be very unlikely that schools will resume before fall. Who knows…life in the corona is hazy.
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So now, today, March 19, 2020, I am on a different trajectory. I am working again on the online shop (no update yet-but soon) and I am going to be starting an online tutorial series called Moonmates. These will be short video posts on moonmaking. I will host them here on this blog but on a special linked page (I think). Life in the corona is unsure, a little hazy, so just moving forward as one can.
The tutorials will be open- with a pay what you wish link. This way, everyone can enjoy them as we venture into the corona. Let’s see what we can get into…
Mooncloth sets will still be available in the shop on an ongoing basis. Many of the moons in these sets will be the ones featured in the tutorials.

I was thinking how this is sort of like being in a cocoon or a chrysalis. We are keeping each other safe by our separation. We are transforming. What might we be once we emerge?