"Caught"

I won the surface design award of excellence at the weaving conference I attended in March. The scarf (titled "Caught") is posted on the Surface Design website.

Check out this link:
http://dev.surfacedesign.org/gallery.php?cat=SDA%20
Award%20of%20Excellence

Here's a close up photo of the scarf featuring a gingko leaf and some of the my loom controlled shibori.

I was very surprised to win the surface design award, because I don't think I do surface design! I think of surface design as a lot of things you add to the fabric--lots of sewing, embroidery, beads, sequins--you know--extra stuff. And my shibori fabric is kind of flat--and doesn't have the traditional extra stuff of surface design.

However, when I think about it, shibori does have a lot of surface design--a lot of process, but it is subtle. First you weave it--adding your gathering threads as you weave. Next, I dyed the fabric a sort of bright green. Then I stitched the traditional shibori gingko leaves, pulling them up to resist the over-dye. Next, I pulled up the loom-controlled shibori strings. And last but not least, I over-dyed the entire thing in a golden brown. So, I suppose there is a lot of surface design! Thanks judges for giving me the award. I am honored.

Next time I'll talk about the dye process with some pictures of my latest over-dyed pieces.