Last month I traveled to Japan to deepen my relationship with indigo & I am now forever changed. After an incredible week long trip with Thread Caravan in Tokushima exploring the epicenter of Japanese Indigo cultivation & processing including farms, museums, ceramic vat pottery makers, off-grid countryside artisan studios and indigo dye houses I was taken aback at the beauty of the country & the graciousness of the people from whom I learned. I am happy as well to have extended my trip for an additional 4 days to travel north just outside Tokyo & take part in an intensive study with the beautiful creative partnership that is Takayuki & Tomoe Ishii of Awonoyoh.

As an infrequent blog post writer, I find it fitting that the last time I wrote a blog entry was after an unforgettable week vising another natural dye legend and indigo dye master- John Marshall- at his wonderful home dye studio in Northern California. Like Taka & Tomoe’s lush surroundings, John’s home & studio are also in a rural setting with green all around as a kind invitation to seek out the color blue. My visit to John’s studio was nearly 6 years ago, wow how time truly does fly! There are so many commonalities between my experiences learning with Awonoyoh & John Marshall, that it’s quite perfect that I find myself documenting my time with each back to back on my blog. Both artists’ studios contain objects of beauty with a focus on hand craft. Their spaces have been curated with a priority of natural materials & are situated in historic buildings built for utility. Takayuki & Tomoe’s home is a 200 year old sericulture (silkworm rearing) farmhouse in Kanagawa prefecture & John Marshall’s home studio was originally constructed as a flour mill 100 plus years ago in Round Valley, Mendocino County California. Both well accomplished dyers have amassed a wealth of knowledge on natural dyes with a spotlight on indigo, and I found that both also share their knowledge freely and extremely generously. They’re both natural born teachers and considerate carriers of the plant color coaxing torch.

If you are seeking out expert knowledge on indigo processing- I highly recommend taking online courses with both of these living treasures of indigo knowledge. John Marshall & Taka and Tomoe of Awonoyoh extended nothing but patience, kindness & generosity - that has forever changed my lens of natural dye education.

(left) the exterior of Awonoyoh studio housed in a 200 year old sericulture farmhouse (center left)the overwhelming calm of greenery that floods into Taka & Tomoe’s home studio from the lush vegetation outdoors (center right) beautiful and useful old things are around every corner in Awonoyoh’s studio- antique kimono cedar wood drying / starching boards (right) katazome indigo dyed noren by Awonoyoh in their home.

(above left) antique sericulture- silk worm rearing- equipment in the Awonoyoh studio - Taka & Tomoe used this sericulture equipment to raise their own silk worms (above center left) indigo farming & gardening tools plus a vat stirring stick with a lovely purple toned patina of indigo vat use (above center right) the pottery maker’s mark on the flat rimmed cermaic vats in the Awonoyoh studio (above right) locally foraged bamboo baskets used to dye fabric in Awonoyoh sukumo vats- the baskets are custom made by hand by Taka and Tomoe’s 80 plus year old neighbor (below left) sukumo (composted indigo leaves) sitting in woven bags waiting to eventually be added to a vessel for vat making. hanging above- indigo and pine soot dyed aprons in a natural black (below center left) delicious home cooked meals by Tomoe Ishii (below center right) a private view from a local onsen (hot spring fed hinoki wood bath) (right) one last onigiri for the road- lovingly made and packed in indigo dyed tenugui by Tomoe for my plane ride home.

LEARN TO MAKE YOUR OWN SUKUMO

Awonoyoh has a NEW Indigo Online Workshop- SEEDS TO DYE- completely in english, where you can learn about cultivation, harvest, leaf processing, sukumo making (leaf compost) & sukumo indigo vat making. This unparalleled online course is the first of it’s kind- offering an open window- sharing every last detail of the year long cycle of growing your own indigo for sukumo vat making. If you missed the opportunity to purchase Awonoyoh’s Book “The Way of Indigo” (also the first of it’s kind publication in english outlining the multi season process of small scale sukumo making at home), you can still gain the expert sukumo making skills that Takayuki and Tomoe have to share in this NEW online workshop. The Way of Indigo book is now out of print, but the keys to success in making your own sukumo can now be accessed from anywhere through this new online workshop.

(above) learn the entire process of successfully growing, harvesting, composting and creating sukumo indigo vats at home from the NEW - Seeds to Dye Online Workshop by Awonoyoh.

NEW KATAZOME BOOK

After arriving at Taka & Tomoe’s serene home, I learned exciting news that they were soon to publish another practical how-to natural dye book- this time tackling the complex and very versatile process of KATAZOME.

After having just toured Tokushima & experiencing various traditional dye processes in intensive hands on workshops (shibori, tsutsugaki, batik & more) - It quickly became apparent that KATAZOME is the singular, exceptional method in creating designs for the natural dyer - allowing for a satisfying precision & elegance in creating custom surface design patterns & motifs. It is the most versatile form of resist dyeing available to the natural dyer.

Awonoyoh’s brand new book on KATAZOME is newly available for purchase! Now the whole world can access their skilled expertise in this most adaptable of Japanese textile surface design techniques.

KATAZOME BOOK

The natural dye community has needed this book for decades. There is very little published information in english, (in print or online) about the practical steps of the traditional process of Katazome. But now the void is filled with their extraordinary new book. Taka & Tomoe have devoted years of practice to this very special technique including the preservation & refinement of Katazome from start to finish- holistically cataloging & elucidating it's complex series of processes.

Im sure it will become a classic reference source for all textile art instruction collections. The clarity, detail and generosity of knowledge sharing in this book is available nowhere else- AND it is packaged so artfully and eloquently! A piece of well considered & finely crafted art in and of itself. It features a letterpress printed cover & exterior spine with a protective casing which when opened reveals an exposed binding showcasing beautifully sewn raised cord. This book is equal parts art object and accurate informational guide- typeset and thoughtfully designed with an elevated aesthetic.

The information within the new KATAZOME BOOK is thorough & clearly organized including hand drawn illustrations & typeset design by Tomoe Ishii. Self-published by Awonoyoh- shipped direct from Japan with FREE SHIPPING! The photographs throughout document the whole process from A to Z leaving no mystery & instilling confidence for any individual seeking to learn Katazome. This book will open up an exciting new world for you!

There are ONLY 1200 books available- DO NOT HESITATE to get your copy

I hope you treasure your future copy as I do mine!

KATAZOME & SUKUMO VAT DYEING

Below I am sharing a visual diary of my experience learning Katazome, Kakishibu Dyeing (fermented persimmon dyeing) & Shibori from Awonoyoh. To learn these processes yourself- see his NEW Katazome Book, Shibori Subscription & Seeds to Dye Online Class.

(left) the very beginning of the Katazome process includes drawing surface design ideas. Naturally I wanted to create something that would forever remind me of Japan and my own origins in connection to nature. My favorite flower, reminiscent of my earliest childhood days in the Carolinas and my natural dye namesake- the flowering dogwood -or- hanamizuki (ハナミズキ in Japanese) was my immediate choice for a design. (center left) cutting my dogwood flower design into the katagami specialist paper for making a reusable and washable stencil (center right) my first stencil layer complete for my 4 color katazome design. (right) after attaching mesh to the katagami and deciding how to place my stencils for design composition on the sublime handwoven hemp and ramie fabrics Taka supplied.

(left & center left) Taka showed me his preferred way of creating rice paste- the complete recipe and indications are included in his NEW KATAZOME BOOK (center right) learning about & practicing the supremely satisfying process of pushing rice paste through your own custom designed and hand cut stencil. (right) Taka shared some clever tips and tricks for laying down rice paste with stencils where repeat pattern registration is challenging because of tight margins and overlapping design elements (all shared as well in his new book!).

(above) using shinshi- a simple and most effective multi-use tool, to efficiently dye and aid in drying dyed fabric

(above) At Awonoyoh studio there are currently 9 Sukumo Indigo Vats!! Taka dutifully stirs his vats regularly. Some of his vats sit beneath the floor and some sit in magnificnet ceramic vats with flat top rims suited perfectly for the indigo dyer to stand comfortably in the stirring and dyeing process. If you are hoping to some day make your own sukumo (composted leaves)- I highly recommend the Seeds to Dye Class with Awonoyoh. Once you have dyed in a sukumo indigo vat (traditional fermentation vat), you will find it hard to go back to any natural quick reduction vat- sukumo vats create blues of immense depth and concentration- as well as color that will not fade.

(above) dyeing my rice paste stencil printed fabrics multiple times with various layers of paste, stencil application and dips in the indigo vats for multiple colors of blue that will become visible once they’re all rinsed.

(above) after the final indigo vat dips- the exciting reveal of the final 4 color design comes when I finally get to rinse my fabric to remove the layers of rice paste. All together my fabric was dipped 12 times! The finished handwoven ramie fabric is stitched together to become a noren to eventually be hung in my home studio entryway. Tomoe ishii stitched the panels together by hand.

(left) my katazome indigo and kakishibu (see more below) dyed fabrics hanging to dry in Awonoyoh’s studio (center left) a beautiful black butterfly visitor perched on top of the sukumo vat (center right) the intentionally set corners of Awonoyoh studio including vintage and well used tools of the dye trade (right) as happy as can be in the Awonoyoh indigo dye studio

SHIBORI

You can learn expert stitched shibori with detailed instructional videos in the AWONOYOH SHIBORI SUBSCRIPTION. I have thoroughly enjoyed taking part in the Shibori subscription myself and can attest to the care, accuracy and top quality guidance in the monthly videos and demonstrations included in each shibori lesson.

SHIBORI SUBSCRIPTION

(above) stitching linen following a ‘hinode’ shibori pattern developed by Taka. the locally harvested bamboo woven baskets used in Taka’s sukumo vats were hand made by his 80 year old neighbor- beyond beautiful! (below) dyeing the shibori stitched fabric- dipping in the vat multiple times building blue color, then removing the fabric from the stitched binding, rinsing and revealing a unique one of a kind, never to be duplicated indigo dyed cloth!

KAKISHIBU

An extra special treat that Taka shared with me in the Awonoyoh studio- painting and dyeing with his home made aged & fermented kakishibu. Kakishibu dye requires years of fermentation of unripe persimmon fruit tannins. The colors resulting can be warm and comforting shades of pink, orange and brown. Kakishibu can be layered on fabric many times- with each application adding to the resistence of water, mold, UV light and overall durability of the fabric. Unlike all other natural dyes- the dye color of Kakishibu only deepens with exposure to sunlight.