In Brody Neuenschwander’s workshop on Fabulous Fabrics and Calligraphic Kimonos, we’re decorating fabric and sewing wearable and décor items.

There are material studies and experiments happening in the studio. Several blue acrylic and fabric media mixtures were not successful as lettering fluid, and I didn’t want to dump them into the environment. Sooo…used a pre-made stencil on an old cotton sheet and surprisingly came up with an attractive ‘waste sheet’!

After learning that supplies would not arrive in time to design a duvet cover, I resorted to working on a smaller item—a tunic—with the same two goals in mind as for the duvet:

1. work on dark fabric and
2. create an item to withstand laundering.

I also wanted to create layers of text/image, but the experiments on dark fabrics did not produce an appealing result. Sigh.

I settled for black on hot pink.

While having to slow down following cataract surgery, I’ve had time to see and think about things differently.

“There are times when life sharpens, things come into focus and gradually you become aware that you are standing before a threshold. There is no way back to where you were before, and there is no way out but through.” John O’Donohue

“In the stillness, things become clear.” Lily Yee-Sloan

These are the texts that made their way onto the fabric which was then sewn into a tunic.

Fabric paint using a flat brush and Handwritmic (Brody) pen on 100% cotton.