Indigo AND Shibori!

Indigo Itajime by Vicki Jensen

The Surface Design Conference -  "Confluence" has so much to offer this year. I'm particularly excited to be assisting at a workshop being taught by Vicki Jensen of Pro-Chem and Dye. The workshop is "The Magic Of Indigo", and it's 5 days of working with Indigo, and learning multiple Shibori techniques. Pole wrap, stitching, resists...the possibilities are endless. It's those endless possibilities that I love about Shibori. You can keep thinking "but what if?" and have so many options, and sometimes, surprises.

The Indigo is a newer type - pre-reduced - so you don't have to have a place to keep a vat going non-stop. Blue and white are my absolute favorite colors! You can also use the indigo over other dyes, and mix the colors to get anything that can be mixed using blue. Vicki has some examples on her blog Vicki Jensen blogspot. Some examples start with a rust colored cloth, and then blue, as well as the traditional blue and white, and dyeing with other primaries. Vicki is an expert on dyes and will be a fabulous instructor.
Check it out and see if you can come learn, and play with us!

Get in line

"Get In Line" was created in response to an article on White Privilege. The quilt is the second piece in a series about Racism. The article is a thought provoking paper written about "White Privilege" by Peggy McIntosh. This paper is well known in the field of sociology. Read it here: http://www.nymbp.org/reference/WhitePrivilege.pdf

The author lists the multiple ways a white person doesn't have to think about their race. Easy examples such as "will the drugstore carry hair, skin and make up for my race?" To more difficult ones, such as if "I moved into a new neighborhood, would my neighbors accept me, and maybe even welcome me?" and, "when I"m part of a group conversation, do I have to parse my words for fear that a statement will be taken as representative of my race, rather than my own experience?" It's a list of thought provoking questions about the unrecognized privileges that come with being White. 

Get In Line, Jeanne Marklin c. 2010, 40" H x 50" W. I dyed the fabrics, using the shibori pole wrapped method. The shadows are black tulle.  Click on the photo to make it larger.