This is supposed to be a “blog from a creative workspace” centered on natural dyeing (Japanese page), but I never seem to have time to write about natural dyeing itself. I keep thinking that I should write about the work in progress and the pieces I make, but when I want to photograph a piece, I often have nowhere suitable to do it. While I am working, my hands are full, so I never seem to get the chance. But in fact, I do quite a lot of dyeing!
Lately, I have become much better at achieving the results I want. The dyeing comes out evenly, and I am now satisfied with the texture and character of the finished pieces as well.
By the way, in the photo below, the brown piece on the far left was dyed with American sweetgum, known in Japanese as momijibafu. To its right is indigo, followed by cherry. The next two pieces were dyed with tall goldenrod, followed by kakishibu, or persimmon tannin (Japanese page). The final two pieces were dyed with chestnut.
When I line them up like this, even if I do say so myself, the colors really are beautiful. The colors born from plants grown in Japan truly feel like “the colors of Japan!!” and somehow carry a sense of nostalgia.
Next comes making something with them. All right, time to keep at it a little longer!