Kyoto Backstreets: My Adventures in Ancient Craftsmanship in Japan
I just got back from the back alleys of Kyoto where I met wonderful people and got a chance to take an inside look on some of the best and most ancient craftsmanship the world has to offer.
- A family-run dye workshop that does all the hand dying for Issey Miyake. They use natural root vegetables, charcoal, coffee, and various indigenous plants, layering color on pre-worn and original fabrics to varied effect. He also employs ancient fabric cutting techniques mixing new technology with the ancient craft used for centuries. We sweat and fanned ourselves in a Kyoto workshop tucked away in one of the many back roads of Kyoto among rows of wood and clay houses. His daughter presided over boiling blue dye and his son’s voice could be heard from the back room. He told us his wife was also an artist. The reed thin, passionate, and kindly man took treated us as though we were the most important people in the world. We sipped iced coffee and poured over his portfolio books of sketches, fabric samples, ink drawings as the fan whirred offering us moments of cool air before oscillating around the room again. (In America, this would never happen. The person would be so protective of his work fearing imitation.)
- A young cobbler trained in ancient techniques with a store and workshop in a leafy residential neighborhood. He hand stitches an updated version of the Geta shoe (the thong slippers Geisha wear with socks, usually made of wood with blocks at the heel and toe to raise the height). His are a layering of visible structural materials on leather. I bought a pair he had in the workshop already. He makes only 30 pair a month because of the time it takes to cut the leather, to dye it with vegetable dyes, and to hand stitch the shoe.
- Tale of the Genji scrolls by Yamaguchi (a story originally written by a woman, Murasaki Shikibu 1000 A.D.)
I love Japan. I can’t stop thinking about it. It’s like a love affair you can’t forget and you are sure you will be right back. Well, maybe I won’t be right back – instead I’m headed to the Normandy coast and then probably London waiting for my next project to start. But I’ll be back. More on Japan later.
0 Comments
Solo Traveler: Reflections On Life in a Non-Traditional Asian Family
Growing up in a non-traditional Asian family, I have always loved travel. My mother lived in Hamburg, Germany for 13 years. During that time she backpacked all over Europe, most of the time solo. When she got married, she and my father often went camping together, packing tents sometimes in sub zero weather.
I like traveling alone. That is not to say I haven’t encountered the weird, the strange, and the hilarious. When I went to New York for the first time, my friends couldn’t understand why I would go alone. Their fears ranged from boredom to personal safety.
When I travel alone, I’m able to think clearly. Going to New York alone for the first time, I was able to feel Central Park, take time with paintings at the MET, watch people passing by me more clearly.
Sometimes, when you are with friends, you are so engaged in conversation that them that new sights become a blur, a memory before you even go home. You don’t take the time to look or really see. Because I had three days left and I had already poured over the whole city, I decided to take the Chinatown bus to Boston and Washington D.C. Upon coming back, my mind was filled with anxiety. It was after midnight when I arrived and I guess I thought, coming from a small town, that the streets would be empty with shady people lurking around corners. Myth! When the bus stopped, the passengers unloaded. I was relieved to see the streets bustling. As I begun to walk to the nearest subway, I thought like a child of all the possibilities of things that could go very wrong. Then a voice whispered, “excussseee meeee?” My heart jumped into my throat and I panicked, and okay, I ran. And then I turned around. It was a lost and confused tourist. I shook off my embarrassment and walked back and helped her.
In Japan, I spent some days traveling by myself. In a super market, this lady offered food samples. Tiny crackers inside a cup- that’s Japan for you. Unassumingly, I took the whole tiny cup. She then shook her head furiously, gave me a disapproving frown, and gestured “one only”. Embarrassed, I gave back the tiny cup and took one tiny cracker from the cup. But if you saw the tiny cracker, you would have done the same. In America, the whole cup IS the sample.
My hope is to travel around the world, alone. I would bring two essentials- a journal and a camera. I reevaluate my goals and dreams when I travel and realize what I really care about back home.
-by Rebekka Lien former Girl on the street “GOTS girl”
This feminist says: I’m not voting for Hillary Clinton just because she’s a woman
we are not asking permission from some great Uncle Sam like authority to be who we are or to have power.
2 CommentsTenisha Anderson, Qlix Founder Talks Obama
I’ve been back from my studies in London for about 6 months now (returned to the good ole U S of A in November 2007) and I’m torn between whether I miss London or not and whether I am happy to be back in Chicago or not. Thus my life story…indecisive as hell. Living in London for the past in year and a half was interesting to say the least. Coming back to “The Chi” was once welcomed with open arms, but has now (after 6 months) as posed a challenge…I get bored very easily.t
However, right now in the American economy…I have done what very few immediate university graduates are able to accomplish and that is not only snag a job, but a job in the industry in which I received my degree. What a feat and something that I am extremely proud of and excited about.
Nevertheless, my excitement at the present time does not continuously lie within the joy of my jobs, as interesting as they may be (i.e. working in the advertising department for mags Maxim and Blender and freelancing as international editor for Papierdoll magazine), but my overt exuberance is towards the constant battle between Clinton and Obama for the Democrat nomination (pure entertainment) and the US Presidential election in November. For the first time in my 31 years of existence, I can honestly say that I feel like there is a candidate who is for all of us and not just pulling interest from those in my parents and grandparents generations. That I’m not choosing a candidate just because he/she is a democrat, but because I believe in this individual’s mantra to bring change and unity to this country.
History is being made, and to think at one time one would have thought hell would have to freeze over before seeing a woman or a person of color running for the highest office in the free land.
1 Comment
Alabama Chanin Answers: Who Is Your Hero?
Chauncey was diligent in asking me to post. She just didn’t give up. I almost dreaded when her next email would come as I really did not know what I wanted to say with my “personal” voice. It seems that my “Alabama Chanin” voice has become my personal voice or, perhaps, that my personal voice has become one with my Alabama Chanin voice. For this reason, it was difficult to find a place and time to speak my own mind.
I was asked the other day by a journalist, “Who is your hero?” And my answer was, “If I have to choose one, Alice Waters.”
The person asking the question replied, “Who is Alice Waters?” And I did not know where to begin. So, my answer was rather bland, “Why don’t you Google her?”
So, I Googled Alice Waters myself and became inspired again after all these years.
If I could have “Dinner for Twelve before I Die” – a game that I play often with an ever changing cast of characters, Alice Waters would forever be both Chef and Honored Guest.
The Edible School Yard is one of the most important projects started in years as it takes the mission of the 4-H Club and the best of Montessori training into our contemporary society and straight to the classroom where it prepares a legion of children to appreciate, cultivate and propagate their own food and tastes.
I have tried to model my life after The Edible School Yard. My own backyard is a place to plant, grow and reap the rewards of a good days work. I want to use fabric, fashion, textiles and my voice to feed the hungry, myself and my family while learning (and loving) the taste of it…
That is why Alice Waters is my hero.
0 CommentsAmerican dreams – thoughts from a Thai girl one year after landing in America’s most over the top culture – LA LA Land
What am I doing here? Why did I come here? Do I like America?
These are the questions I’ve been asked over and over the past year since my arrival. My plan to head to America started when I was very young. In Thailand, it’s what brings ‘value’. Parents prefer to send their kids to London or America to study. In Thailand’s materialistic society, people prefer someone who has graduated from an unknown college in London or America than from the most prestigious Bangkok university.
My dad graduated from the University of Miami so he believes in the American education system. He also thought coming to America would help me grow up. He said I was irresponsible. I never had to do anything for myself when I was in Bangkok. Most (well-off) Thai families have maids, gardeners, and drivers, and ours were no different. I guess that’s one of the good things about life in Thailand. You don’t have to be a millionaire to access that lifestyle. He wanted me to go to graduate school but I fought to study fashion so now my ‘fake answer’ to why I came here is, “I came here to study fashion because fashion schools in Bangkok are a joke” but it’s so much more than that and some of the reasons seem lame, almost corny.
My first impression of America has not been so bright. I guess because I landed in L.A. It’s so different from Bangkok. I love a city vibe. I love people. I love seeing the city streets by night – but L.A doesn’t bring me any such joys. The public transportation here is annoying to the max. Where are the taxis? Where are the skytrains? Where is the underground? Why is it is so dirty? The questions never end. However, one thing I like about America is that you can be whatever you are and people will not judge you or put you down.
In Thailand, it’s more close-minded when it comes to self-expression. You can’t be that much different from everybody else; otherwise people will be more than ready to criticize you. Whatever’s ‘in’ is what everybody follows (and i mean EVERYBODY).
But it scares me sometimes when I think about whether I made the right decision. I really don’t know if I did. I do know I didn’t want to look back and say “What If I went to America? What If I took a chance?” At least I did what I wanted to do and followed my heart. I know I will not regret that.
A lot of my friends have asked if I would go back after I graduate. I said YES with no hesitation. I said, I do not like it here. I can’t wait to go back. I can’t wait to party, get drunk, be irresponsible, and be lazy, is what I thought. But now, after one year in this sunny city, there is something that tells me I am going to miss L.A when I go back. And MAY BE someday I will realize L.A is not so bad after all.
Pattern People: A Surface Design Duo share their passion
Hello! Claudia Brown and I make up the Portland-based surface design studio Pattern People. We opened up shop fairly recently after many wonderful years working in-house for clients. We’re paying a visit to What Women Make (formerly Girl on the street) to share a list of a few of our favorite influential women in the arts –– from painting, film, nature and textile design.
Here goes…
The artist, Vanessa Bell, is considered to be one of the major contributo
rs to British portrait drawing and landscape art in the 2Oth Century. She was a member of the Bloomsbury Group, along with her sister, Virginia Woolf, and also a part of the Omega Workshops established by Roger Fry in 1913. The Omega Workshops produced painted accessories for the home, such as lamps and furniture, in addition to decorating walls and textiles. Her home, the Charleston Farmhouse in Sussex, is an inspirational example of her work and the other members of the workshop. A short trip from London, the Farmhouse is worth a visit to experience the art in its original environment.
If you haven’t seen the work of Lotte Reiniger, add it to your list immediately. Originally from Germany, Lotte is a silhouette animator who gained recognition in the 1920s for her expressive and imaginative moving cutouts set against color backdrops. Her film, The Adventures of Prince Achmed, is claimed to be the oldest surviving animation of all times. Her delicate craft has inspired many and appears to have influenced the work of modern day artist, Kara Walker.
Nature is a constant source of inspiration. One of our favorite gardens is Lotusland in Montecito, California, which includes a variety of exceptional plants. Opera singer, Madame Ganna
Walska, who owned the property from 1941 until her death in 1984, created the 37-acre botanic garden. Madame Walska had a colorful history that included marrying six times. She bought the estate while married to her last husband. After divorcing him, she christened her estate, Lotusland, named after the lotus growing in one of the ponds on the property. She spent the next 40 years transforming her grounds into a fantasy world of botanical wonders.
A British fashion superstar, Zandra Rhodes, has been creating amazing hand drawn textile patterns since she graduated from the Royal College of Art back in the 60s. Each season she selects an interesting theme as her inspiration. A few collections have been based on her travels to the Grand Canyon, Mexico, Japan and Australia – each incorporating elements specific to the region. Still a practicing designer, Zandra has recently launched a handbags line in addition to her eponymous clothing label.
Demonstrating ingenuity and strength in their fields, each of these women continues to inspire – a true testament to their originality and creative genius.
Thanks Chauncey for letting us guest blog! To read more about influential designers, visit here.
-Jessie Whipple Vickery
1 CommentCategories
- Art
- Blog
- Cities
- Competitions
- Conferences
- Design Thinking
- Entrepreneurs
- Essays
- Exhibits
- Film
- Friday Diary
- ICFF
- Interviews
- London Design Festival
- Maison Objet
- Milan Design Week
- Motivation Monday
- Publishing
- Retail
- Schools
- Science
- Sunday Discovery
- Sustainable
- Technology Tuesday
- Thinkers
- Topical Thursday
- Videos
- Writers
Friends & Partners
Women's Views on News
Recent Features by Category
// more
// more
// more
// more