Maida Yuzen Studio Visit - Kanazawa 加賀友禅を接する

After telling anyone that wanted to listen that I was dying to visit Kanzawa, (dyeing to?!? hahaha) I finally made it there last week. I was especially interested since learning that Kanazawa is home to a particular style of yuzen dyeing called Kaga Yuzen. (Kaga is the historic name of the region) From what I saw in books, I felt the Kaga style had some parallels to my own work so I really wanted to go and see it in real life.
長ーい間、金沢に行ってみたいと言っていた私はやっと行ってきました！金沢には「加賀友禅」という友禅技法があると知っていた以来は本物をすごく見に行きたかったです。

I managed to visit two different studios making dyed work in the Kaga-yuzen technique. The main one was Maida Yuzen, thanks to my teachers' connections. The current head of the Maida studio is acclaimed dyer Maida Kenji, and I was shown around the atelier by his son and assistant dyer, Maida Hitoshi. (check out their nice website, lots of pictures)



 

「やまあい」訪問着、毎田友禅　Maida Yuzen's Homongi Kimono, Yama-ai Motif (a kind of plant that produces an indigo colour)



毎田染画工芸工房にて

加賀友禅工房を二つにも行けました。一つ目は先生のつながりのおかげで行けた所だけど、もう一つは偶然通った工房でした。先に金沢にある「毎田染画工芸」という加賀友禅の工房を見学させてもらいました。加賀友禅の世界では有名である毎田健治氏の工房で、息子・弟子の毎田仁嗣さんに工房の説明をもらいました。

毎田染画工芸。三人も同じ着物に色差しをしていました。　At Maida Yuzen. Here, 3 dyers were working on filling in the detailed dyed areas on the one kimono. (split into two long lengths of fabric)

In the true Japanese spirit of having regional specialties that are only slightly different to each other (to the untrained eye?), comparisons are often drawn between Kyoto style yuzen and Kaga Yuzen even though both were borne of the innovations made by former Kyoto resident and fan painter, Miyazaki Yuzensai.

「似ていますが、地方によると少し違う」という、日本人が大好きな概念の通り、京都友禅と加賀友禅がいくつかの点では異なっていると言われています。両方は京都の祇園に住んでいた宮崎友禅斎という扇子画家による作られた技法から始まっているんですが。

Example of Kaga style Yuzen at Maida Studio. The flowers are quite realistic and painterly. 毎田工房での「加賀友禅」の例。花や葉っぱが割と絵画的ですね。

Example of Kyoto style Yuzen (Kyo-yuzen) by well-known Kyoto company Chiso. You can see its very patterned and decorative.　京友禅の「千總」の振袖。模様的で鮮やかな感じですね。

Kaga Yuzen is said to be elegant and chic as opposed to the sometimes gaudy, over embellished Kyoto yuzen. Kaga style yuzen predominantly uses patterns based on realistic and painterly depictions of flowers, plants and birds etc. The painterly effects are achieved with delicate shading which traditionally goes from light at the centre of flowers to dark at the petal tips, whereas in Kyoto (how's this for too much information?) the motifs are paler towards the edges. They also like to say there are '6 colours of Kaga' : Indigo blue, deep rouge red, chrome yellow, grass green and royal purple. Anyway, it's all part of the marketing surrounding Kaga Yuzen.
加賀友禅というのは、落ち着いていて粋なスタイルで、主に写実的な花草をモチーフにしているものです。それと、丁寧なぼかしで絵画的な表現であり、いわゆる「加賀五彩」(臙脂・藍・黄土・草・古代紫の五色)で構成されていると言われています。

Another example of Kaga Yuzen, here a black formal tomesode with patterning only around the hem by Maida Kenji. 加賀友禅の黒留袖。毎田健治の作品です。

I'm not really into drawing such clear divisive lines between techniques because they are all complementary but I was impressed by the Kaga-yuzen use of colours which you don't see in Kyoto yuzen. Maybe it's because of the above "Kaga colours" but Maida studio was using quite deep blues and purples and greens alongside more familiar pale gradients. They were also mixing gofun (white chalk powder) into their dyes as well as using it on its own to achieve matte pastel colours that really sing and flat bright white sections. 

染色の中で技法は重なったりするから、技法はを堅く分けるのがあんまり好きじゃないけれども、確かに京友禅に見えない色合いは素敵でした。「加賀五彩」という概念の影響かどうかはわからないですが、毎田友禅では、馴染みがある暈した薄い色と一緒にかなり濃い青・緑・紫などを使っていました。それと、染料に胡粉を入れる又は樹脂と混ぜるだけで使って、パステルカラー、鮮やかな色やマットの白ができます。

 

detail of Furisode (long sleeved) kimono by Maida Kenji. very vivid colours! you can also see the use of white on some of the petals. 毎田健治の振袖の部分。鮮やかな色！胡粉で白くした花びらも見えますね。

Hem section of a furisode by Maida Kenji　毎田健治の振袖

Another thing that stood out (and I'm not sure if this is unique to Maida Yuzen or if it is a Kaga-yuzen trademark) was the clever use of texture to give the design depth and interest. The way I understood it from Hitoshi's explanation was that they dye one colour, then apply small dots/texture with thinned down resist paste, then when that is dry they dye over it again with a deeper colour or a slightly different tone. The result is a duotone speckled effect that can be as subtle or bold as you choose. 薄めた糊を染めたところにおいて、そのうえにまた濃いかちょっと違う色を塗ると、面白いテキスチャを作るというやり方も面白かった。これは加賀友禅の特徴か毎田さんのところに独特かどうかはわかりませんが。

you can see some of the speckled effect on the paler blue petals. This is taken while the paste is still on the fabric, once washed the speckled effect is more dramatic. 糊はまだ付いているけど、洗うとテキスチャがもっと目立ちます。

Unlike Kyoto-style yuzen that uses quite decorative patterns and pretty typical traditional motifs, the kimono (but also panels and some small things) I saw were mostly depicting flowers and birds: dyed artistically but also with botanical accuracy. The depictions of birds were of course of particular interest to me. There weren't any bird motifs being worked on when I was at Maida's studio but there are some great depictions of birds in other Kaga yuzen pieces. 京友禅の伝統的なモチーフや装飾的な感じに対して、加賀友禅では、花・草・鳥などは生き写しとは言えないが、かなり自然に近いように描かれています。私は（もちろん！）特に加賀友禅での鳥の描写に興味があります。見学のとき、鳥のモチーフは染めていなかったが、他の加賀友禅には素敵な例が見えます。





detail of a hanging piece by Teranishi Ikkou 寺西一紘の作品

Lively depiction of cranes on a hanayome noren: Bridal Curtain. 花嫁のれんの生き生きしてい鶴たちhttp://kd-rinya.com/noren/

It was a nice little trip to Kanazawa to see Kaga-yuzen up close. It makes you realise that despite the efforts to define Kaga yuzen as very different from Kyoto yuzen they are fundamentally very similar. I think using a combination of both styles, stradling the border line would really give you scope to create some amazing work. Also, seeing the way that Kaga yuzen artists value drawing from life, realistic depiction and delicate shading gives me confidence that my own approach to yuzen is legitimate and also inspires me to rely even more on drawing from observation.  That's really the only way to create something that feels lively and authentic. And on that note, I'm off to sketch for my next work!!
金沢に行って加賀友禅を目の前に見えてよかったです。京友禅と加賀友禅を別のものにする努力があるのに、実は基本的に同じ技法だということを気づきました。両方の特徴を生かして、間ぐらいで制作したら素敵なものが作れるのだと思いました。
それで、加賀友禅の作家がスケッチ、現実的な描写、丁寧なぼかしを重視することに、自分の作品にも自信を吹き込んでくれました。これから、もっと写生したいと思いました。生き生きとした作品にしたいなら、写生に頼るしかないのではないでしょうか？それでは、次の作品のスケッチをしにいきます！！

International Exhibition of Art and Design + New Work 国際交流総合展＋新作

This past 6 days, I had my latest artwork on show as part of a large group exhibition called the "International Exhibition of Art and Design". It was held in the Annex Building of the Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art. While the title (albeit vague) may perhaps conjure up images of grandeur and shiny display cases, don't let your imagination get carried away for the reality is that was a much more humble, honest display put on by a bunch of genuinely nice Artists from Japan and Abroad.
この６日間、新作が京都市美術館の別館で行われた「国際交流総合展」に展示していました。日本の作家と色んな国から来た作家による展覧会でした。

Group shows are by nature, a display by a very diverse group of people. In this case, there were many different techniques, countries and ages represented. Textiles, Sculpture, Illustration, Painting, Ink-work; Australia, Great-Britain, the US, Finland, Japan, China, Venezuela...to name a few. You can see work from the artists here. During the set-up we tried to make sure that works looked okay next to each other but whether you can make so many different artworks look good together, I'm not so sure.  There were also some works where you go, "errr, okay..?" but the majority of works were really impressive and well-done.
グループ展というのは色んな人によるもので、今回も結構幅広いジャンルや国や年齢の方が参加しました。染織、立体、イラスト、絵、墨の作品などもありました。参加した作家さんはたくさんの国から来た人で、ここで作品の例が見えます。

view of the exhibition. My work was next to a roketsu wax-resist work by Kobayashi Shoko.

It's a group show like so many others in Kyoto; run by some kind of art organisation with submissions mostly from regular members but with fresh faces each year. However, unlike others, this group encourages foreigners to participate and seeks to encourage the exchange of ideas and cultures between Japanese and International artists.
京都ではこういう大型グループ展が毎週行われています。ほとんど同じ感じの展覧会（何かのアート団体が行うもので、毎年出品している人が居るけど、毎回初めて出品する人もいるっていうような展覧会）ですが、この展覧会は特に海外の作家を呼んで、国際交流も目指しているものです。

looking towards the back of the exhibition. On the middle panel at the back is my friend Kiyomi's wax-resist work. The motif and colours are similar to the one shown here

gallery view

This year was my first year to be involved and it was a great experience. It was a good opportunity to meet artists working in totally different techniques and to hear what they had to say about my work and to form some new connections with International and Japanese artists working in and around Kyoto. 今年初めて出品しました。全然違うジャンルで作業している作家と話ができて、京都と周りの地域で作業している人と出会えていい経験でした。

gallery view

gallery view.

Without further ado, let me show you the work that I exhibited! It's called "Going, going, gone" which is an explanation of the three parrot species depicted in the artwork; from right to left they are the Swift Parrot (Conservation Status is ENDANGERED), the Orange-bellied Parrot (Status: CRITICALLY ENDANGERED) and finally the Paradise Parrot (EXTINCT).
では！展示した新作を紹介します！「Ｇｏｉｎｇ，　ｇｏｉｎｇ，　ｇｏｎe」というタイトルの意味は、「無くなっている、無くなっている、無くなった」のです。右から左へ行くと、描写してある三種類のインコは、オトメインコ（絶滅危惧)、アカハラワカバインコ（絶滅寸前）とゴクラクインコ（絶滅）。つまり、このインコはgoing, going, goneですね。

"Going, Going, Gone" 2013. 180x200cm Silk, Yuzen Resist, Chemical Dyes

Here's some of the Endangered Swift Parrots on the middle layer. You can see how it's partly see-through. 絶滅危惧種のオトメインコです。透明感のある生地を使いました。

These are Critically Endangered Orange-bellied Parrots. You can see the small sections of stylized text here which I`ll explain below. 絶滅寸前のアカハラワカバインコです。背景に文章が見えますね。下に説明します。

Here's a female and male Paradise Parrot, thought to have become extinct around the 1930's.
１９３０年代ぐらいに絶滅したゴクラクインコです。

In this piece, I used three different layers of silk fabric, beginning with a heavy silk at the back, then a lighter georgette silk, and finally a very transparent organza at the front. I wanted to create depth as well as give the impression of the birds coming in and out of focus; appearing and disappearing. Also, the flight from right to left is taken from the tendency to show the flow of time in Japanese paintings as running from right to left.　
今回初めて透明感のある絹を使ってみました。作品は３レヤーになっています。後ろにはしっかりしているちりめんと紬で、間中に半分透明のジョージェットを使って、一番前に薄くて透明なオルガンジを使いました。透明生地を使うのは、奥行きを表現したかったし、鳥が出たり隠されたりするのを見せたかったです。

"Going, going, gone" (detail) Here you can see from right to left, Swift, Orange-bellied and Paradise Parrots. 右から：オトメインコ、アカハラワカバインコ、ゴクラクインコ。

You may be able to see the texture in the work behind the birds? This is fragments of text from writings by ornithologist John Gould (1804-1881). He was an Englishman but spent several years in Australia (mostly in Tasmania) observing and writing about Australian birds. His writings are very descriptive and I love the flowery language he used. The tragic thing is when Gould wrote about these they were still common (well, the Paradise Parrot was already on his way out) but now they are in serious danger of disappearing. 

鳥の裏に文章が見えるでしょうか？それは１９世紀の鳥類学者ジョン・グルドがこの三種類のインコについて書いた文章から取った部分です。彼の英語がとても華やかで面白いです。悲しいのグルドが書いたときにオトメインコとアカハラワカバインコはまだ多かったけど今はもう消える可能性があります。

I was really glad to see that my work was moving slightly in the gallery space, as people walked by or just in the air-conditioning. ギャラリーで作品が下のようにちょっと動いていてとてもよかったです。鳥が本当に飛んでいるのを感じさせます！

my work moving in the breeze

And so it's onward to the next exhibition!! Coming up so soon it's frightening is this group exhibition I am a part of with the 5 other Textiles Master's course students, "How How". It runs November 12-19 in Kyoto and more information can be found here. On that note, time to go get back to work!!

次の展覧会ももうすぐです！京都精華の大学院染織コースの６人による「ＨｏｗＨｏｗ」というグループ展です！京都にいらっしゃる方、ぜひみに来てください！

では、制作しなきゃ～！

Dyeing Endangered Parrots 絶滅危惧種を染める

研究生であった二年間、作品に描写したのが単に「オーストラリアの鳥と植物」だった。でも、最近はそのテーマから、ちょっと知的というか、何かのメッセージを持っている作品を作りたかったのだ。「知的」という点で誤解しないでね！くだくだしいアーティストステートメントを読むときや
どっかの作家さんに無理やりに作られたコンセプトのことを聞くと、笑ってしまう人間のだ。作品より文章を過大視しるのが好きじゃないから。けれども、色んなことを研究するのが楽しいから、研究したことを何とか作品にも表現するのが面白いだと思う。

In my work made whilst a research student, my main focus was simply Australian Parrots and Australian native flora. The fact that Australia has over 50 species of parrots means there is an incredible, colourful inventory to draw upon in making work. I recently wanted to move beyond simply depicting beautiful birds of Australia to making work that has something to say or has an intellectual touch. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll be the first person to gag when reading some long-winded pretentious artist’s statement (this arty bollocks generator always makes me laugh) or listening to an artist forcing some vague theories around their mediocre artworks. However, I do enjoy researching and it’s interesting to intertwine this and my artwork.

前に横浜絵、花鳥画や花鳥茶屋などを少しだけ研究したことがある。
Previously, this research included things like Yokohama Woodblock Prints,  Kacho-Ga Bird and Flower Paintings and Bird Tea Houses...

でも、今回興味を引いたのがオーストラリアの絶滅危惧種のだ。オーストラリア人は日常生活に色々なインコやオウムを普通に見るから、その中に絶滅の危険にさらされている種類が居るなんて知らないと思います。

This time, I've been interested to read about the endangered Parrot species of Australia. We have so many beautiful parrots as a natural part of our daily lives that we probably don’t even think much about some of them being endangered.

Just a small selection of threatened Australian Parrots. From Left to Right: Extinct Paradise Parrot, Critically Endangered Orange-Bellied Parrot, Critically Endangered Western Ground Parrot, Endangered Carnaby's Cockatoo and the Endangered Swift Parrot.
左から右：絶滅したゴクラクインコ, 絶滅寸前のアカハラワカバインコ、絶滅寸前のニシキジインコ、絶滅危惧のニシオジロクロオウム と絶滅危惧のオトメインコ

国際自然保護連合による作成されたレッドリストは絶滅のおそれのある種類を８つぐらいのカテゴリーに区分する。主にそのカテゴリーは「絶滅ＥＸ」、「野生絶滅ＥＷ」、「絶滅寸前ＣＲ」、「絶滅危惧ＥＮ」、「危急ＶＵ」、「準絶滅危惧ＮＴ」と「軽度懸念ＬＣ」だ。合わせたら２０種類ぐらいのオーストラリア原産インコやオウムがレッドリストに載せている。

The IUCN Red List  (International Union for Conservation of Nature) is a global database of threatened species which classifies species into various degrees of conservation. In order of seriousness these are Extinct, Extinct in the Wild, Critically Endangered, Endangered, Vulnerable, Near Threatened and Least Concern (and then those with insufficient data). According to this list and to the Australian Government, Australia has 3 Extinct Parrot species (including the Paradise Parrot), 2 Critically Endangered species (Orange-Bellied Parrot, Night Parrot), 8 Endangered Parrots/Cockatoos and 6 Vulnerable Parrots/Cockatoos.

Extinct since the mid 1900's Paradise Parrot 1930年ごろ以来 絶滅したゴクラクインコ

1930年代に絶滅したゴクラクインコから初め、色々な種類の存在を脅かしているなんて悲しいことなんだ。オーストラリアは沢山の美しいの鳥の生息地けど、だんだん減っている。自分の作品では、この悲しさじゃなくて、鳥の綺麗さや特徴を貢物か保存として描写したいと思っている。前に出来た帯もその気持ちで作ったものだ。

The fact that we already managed to wipe out the Paradise Parrot, only as recently as the 1930’s and are still pushing other species to extinction is tragic to me. We have some of the most beautiful birds in the world and perhaps don’t realize this until we go overseas. I’m happy to know that there is a lot being done in terms of conservation and protection programs for these birds but still feel a sense of helplessness that they may not be saved. Rather than lamenting or making a cry for activism in my work I am simply interested in depicting these rare species before they disappear; as a kind of tribute or acknowledgement. It was in this spirit that I also made the Swift Parrot Obi that I showed you previously. 

今回の作品は上に前述した絶滅寸前のアカハラワカバインコをモチーフにした。帯に使ったオトメインコのように、珍しい渡りインコだ。夏を涼しいタスマニアで繁殖してから、バス海峡にある小さな島々を経て、南オーストラリア本土で冬を過ごすというサイクルだ。残念のは、春にタスマニアへ戻る鳥数は減っていて、野生の人口は現在30匹ぐらいのだ。

This latest work focused on the Critically Endangered Orange-Bellied Parrot (Neophema chrysogaster). Interestingly, (like the Swift Parrot in my obi design) these parrots are also migratory. The spend summer in the cool of Tasmania and then fly north across the islands of Bass Strait to arrive in Southern Australia for the warmer winter. Unfortunately, less parrots are returning to Tasmania for the breeding each year, so that the population in the wild is now around 30 birds.

At this point the work was unfinished, but this gives you an idea of what 5 metres long looks like!
この写真では作品がまだ製作中だったが、5メートルの長さが分かる写真。

このインコの特別な渡る習慣を表現するため、絵巻物のような横長い作品を染めることにした。出来た作品は長5.5メートルｘ縦38センチ。この11月に、京都精華大学の染織専攻大学院生6人で展覧会を開くとき、この作品を円形に展示したいと今思っている。そうすると、見る人が作品の外側を歩きながら、ストーリーが段々見えてくる。またその展覧会の詳しいことを知らせます！
In this piece I wanted to depict this cycle of migration and the passing of time. I chose to dye a long narrow piece (5.5 metres long and 38cm wide) that is reminiscent of Japanese hand scrolls, which are ‘read’ from right to left. I will be exhibiting this piece in November in an old elementary school in Kyoto (keep your eyes peeled for updates!) and intend to hang the work as a circular loop, whereby the viewer walks around the piece and sees the story slowly unfolding.

the first 'scene' of breeding in Tasmanian Eucalypts in the summer. the story progresses to the left from here.
左先：タスマニアのユーカリで繁殖している様子。ここから、ストーリーが左へ。

feeding on button grass in Tasmania
タスマニアにButton Grassが大事な食物になります。

close up. the bird was dyed in yuzen technique and the mountains behind using katazome.
鳥を友禅で染めた。背景にある山を型染めで染めた。

Flying north across Bass Strait for the winter. I really enjoyed doing this more abstract section. Its a combination of yuzen, katazome and free hand resist paste techniques.
バス海峡を渡る。こういうちょっと抽象的な部分を染めるのがとても楽しかった。

I included some topographical outlines
タスマニアの周りの地形図の線も含みました。

the birds finally flying back to Tasmania. It's thought that they travel at night time.
やっと春にタスマニアへ戻っているインコ。夜中に飛んでいくと思われている。

At this point the imagery matches back up to the start of the piece. I included a quote here that reads, "Mostly it is loss that teaches us about the worth of things"
最後の部分は最初のところと合わせるので、永遠なループになっている。ここで文章を入れてみました。訳してみると、「何かの大切さを考えさせるのが喪失のだ」というような文章です。

今回は作品の下図をなかなか長い時間取り組んだ。出来上がった作品は満足しているが、この延びた時間のせいで、モチーフを入れすぎたし、あんまりシンプルな作品にならなかった。毎回制作すると、シンプルなちょっと抽象的な作品を作ろうと思うのだけど、なかなか性格的にはそれが難しいのだ。次の作品を抽象的なものも入れたいです。今は試しをしているから、また写真をアップします。
I spent a very long time working on the design for this piece and in the end, whilst I am happy with it as a whole, I can see that I tried to put too much into one work. I’m always aiming for simplicity and some degree of abstraction but it’s a battle against myself and a slow learning process to move away from very tight, small designs. It’s this that I’ll be focusing on in my next work which I am currently doing some experimentation and samples for. Will keep you more updated this time, I promise!

to give colour ~色を付ける~

I promised progress photos of my kimono dyeing and after several weeks of 12-hour long (or more!) days spent dy(e)ing, so here they come!
着物の色差しの写真をアップすると約束したのでここに載せます！数週間の間、一日に12時間以上作業する日が多かったけど、辛くても模様が生きてくるのが愉しみだった。

This step is called iro-sashi (色差し) which means putting on colour. In the case of yuzen technique, this means working withing the fine resist lines with various brushed and filling in the shapes with dyes. It's not unlike the silk painting that we are familiar with in Australia. In the case of yuzen, the dyes are mixed with a little thickener (sodium alginate: smells like a scummy rockpool but it does the trick), to prevent them from bleeding under the resist.
今回の写真は「色差し」の段階に撮りました。友禅の場合、色差しというのが、糊で置いた細い線の中に染料を筆や刷毛で差すのことです。にじまないように、メイプロガムという糊で染料にとろみを付けます。（腐った潮だまりの匂いがするけど、効果的です）

There are many dyeing techniques for yuzen, to achieve gradations, depth of colour and various effects.This video is classic 1990's Japan but it really gives a great idea of how a professional yuzen dyer goes about his work. You can see he uses both flat and round brushes, sometimes works wet on wet and is only working on a small section of the kimono fabric which is stretched taut on shinshi bamboo stretchers. My dyeing skills are nowhere near as skilled as his but anyway, here's some pictures of what I managed!
友禅には色んな染め方があります。このビデオがちょっと古い感じですが、色差しの説明としてとてもいいと思います。見えるように、この職人さんが色彩筆も刷毛も使っているし、塗れている染料にまた濃い色を加えているし、着物生地の部分だけを染めるために伸子で張ってありますね。それでは、職人さんのレベルに比べられないけど、自分で染めたのはこんなものです！

mixing dyes 色を準備して置く

dyeing flowers 花びらを色差し

職人さんがよく刷り込み刷毛も使いますが、私は筆の方が染めやすいと思います。Yuzen professionals often use flat tipped brushes but I prefer these round brushes.

ユーカリの実と葉っぱ。dyeing eucalyptus leaves and buds

testing colours on the actual silk fabric of the kimono. 着物に使う生地に色の試し

and then! hanging the almost complete lengths up together. So satisfying to join up all the pieces!!!  This is the centre back and part of the back right sleeve. それで、大体染めた四枚を棒で吊って、柄合わせして見る。これは背中と右袖の裏です。

a detail from one of the sleeves 袖の部分

まだ出来てないが、適当に吊って、どういう感じかを見るだけ。裾にある白い部分が水側。それはまだ染めていない部分です。Its not really a kimono yet, just four lengths of fabric. I hung them up and pinned the pieces in place to get an idea of the final result. Yipee!! the white section on the hem is a water motif, yet to be dyed in this image.

 The next step (there always seems to be another one!!) is to take the fabric to a company in Kyoto to have a final steaming and the rubber resist paste removed. They will also do what's called ゆのし yunoshi  where the fabric is held taut over steam to make it nice and straight again. Then I will have a unique hand dyed bolt of fabric that gets handed on to a seamstress (who knows what they are doing), to sew it all into a kimono for display! What an epic process this has been! (still is!!)
次の段階は（いつももう一つの段階があると感じる!)染色整理会社に渡して、最後の蒸しをして、ゴム糊を取って、湯のしまでやって貰います。その後は綺麗な（かな！？）友禅染の一反を誰か上手な人に展示用の着物に縫ってもらいます。たしかに長編冒険談のように、このプロセスが終わらない！！

The plan is to have the kimono all ready to go for my solo exhibition coming up at the start of April in Kyoto.  Lots to get done before then!! I'll be putting up details of the exhibition here before long.
一応四月上旬の個展で出来上がった着物を展示する予定です。古典まで色々頑張らないといけないです！また個展の詳しい情報をここに載せます！

End of Semester Assesment 前期の「ミニ合評」

English Below

これから、日本語にも書こうかなと思っていますので、間違いがいっぱいかもしれないけど、よろしくお願いします！
月曜日に先生たちに前期に終わった作品を見せました。今は研究生なので、各年生の合評に入れなかったので、個人的な「ミニ合評」を行ってもらいました。下はミニ合評の風景です。

ミニ合評の風景です。My works up on display for my "mini Assesment" on Monday.

糸目糊（友禅染）で和紙を染めて、団扇に作りました。I dyed some washi (Japanese paper) using hand-drawn line resist (yuzen) and turned them into these summer fans.



これは型染めで染めた和紙で作った団扇。今回、古い団扇の紙を外して、新しく張りました。I dyed these fans using katazome on washi  and stuck the paper onto two old fans frames which I had dissected.

先生たちは皆、「いいね」「すごいな」「あ！きれいね！」といってくれたばかりなので、今からどこの点にもっと磨きをかけたほうがいいかどうかは分かりませんが、ほっとしました。＾＾
「着物を作ってみて」という声が多かったので、後期からの作品は着物です。夏休みの間に色々な着物の本や昔の着物の例を調べて、自分の着物をデザインするのを楽しみにしています！

I've decided I will try posting in Japanese and English from now on, so apologies that these become a bit longer and possibly hard to read! I had my assesment for the end of 1st semester on Monday this week. It ended up being me with about 6 teachers but they were all very positive, to the point where I didn't really recieve any constructive criticism to go off of, but I suppose this is a good thing!

You can see above how I had my works set up in the room, including the Major Mitchell's piece I recently finished, as well as a selection of Japanese fans I dyed, mainly for fun. Also, I hung up the two scrolls that I got made out of two of my textiles. They cost me a few limbs but I'm really happy with how they turned out. Here are a few details.

The correct way to store the scroll in its special box. I had to take a photo so I could remeber how! 紐の巻き方を覚えるように、初めて掛ける前に写真を撮りました！

Rainbow Lorikeets piece becomes a scroll! It's giant! Almost 2.5 metres tall... インコの作品は掛軸になりました！でっかい！２．５メートルに近い。

You can see there is a small border of gold silk in between my work and the edging silk. 作品と周りの間に金色の絹を少しだけ見える。

Red-rumped parrot piece as a scroll. The scroll-maker said he usually works with turning Calligraphic artworks into scrolls so he's used to black and white works that match with many colours. My colourful artworks were a new challenge for him! 表具屋さんはだいたい書道を掛軸にしているので、こんな鮮やかな作品に合わせる生地を選ぶのが新しいチャレンジと言いました！

After all that, I'm off on my summer holidays! Will catch you up with the kimono design progress in a month or so.