Clothing & Cloth in Kyoto

I am writing this quick entry in the last hour of my stay in Kyoto...
....or so I thought...
Blog entries take careful thought & crafting.
No hour-long job, at least, not for me.

This first piece is by a technique called katazome. It's very like batik, except the resist is not wax but a rice paste. It is applied to the cloth by stencil and a stiff brush with the paste on it. This was then indigo dip dyed several times with drying in between dippings..

I was so happy to come to Japan because of textiles.
I have worked in indigo & know some of the Japanese traditions. 
Some of these were invented by other cultures. How marvelous is that? I do marvel at it.

So photos of the cloth & clothing I saw here.

So let's start with doorways... many restaurants have these cloths... & some businesses...

...then there are clothes... oh my!!...

...I'll take ANY or all of those scarves at Narita Airport!...

...the shop people are so unhappy seeing me take these photos!

Near the Bamboo Forest, at the station was a Kimono Forest...

 This next section is from textile art students...

Then the Kyoto Shibori Museum... bringing tie-dyeing to a high art.... over the top beautiful!! First, their poster...

...below...from the student show... micro view... this is a salt technique... one grain of salt will push away the dye... 

The many suspended panels... so lovely!!

And below, a silk screen left over from a print job.

...That's it for now...

Asia Hong Kong & Singapore

I am in shock a bit.

14 hours on a plane to Hong Kong.
[Arriving with a very sore behind. Dang, those seats were uncomfortable.]
Fortunately we arrived at 8pm just in time to go to be & have a really good night's rest.
Result: no, no, NO jet lag.  WHEW!!

First impressions: no graffiti, no street trash, and a different & lively sense of style.

First crop of photos.... the incredible vast roof of the Hong Kong airport.

 

 Most of my HK experience was very close to the airport. (Lucy this airline is for you!)

Singapore was much of a pouring! George said it wasn't full on monsoon strength (but trending in that direction). My favorite image at the get-go was this man squeegie-ing the sidewalk off.... 

Then onto the rooftop for our supper. Great view and a lot of it of architecture by Moshe Safdie. 

A big complex-- Science & Art Museum a la lotus flower, convention center, & three pillars with a boat on top!
And George, very excited to be here after 1947!

But the really important date for him in Singapore was December 8, 1941 when the Japanese bombed Singapore & George & his family suddenly became refugees. He was 7 and a half.

Finally some other views from where we are.

Singapore is a thriving city-state, continually building.

The harbor is full of tankers, making Vancouver's harbor look empty!

Cityscapes galore!

That's it for now.