Saori Chime, Design Workshops, Lau Niu Weaving

And what exactly do the chime, workshops and lau niu weaving have in common?  San-gatsu - the month of March.

It all started with the completion of Maddy's Saori Wind Chime - a second window - also inspired by the elements of nature and unique to Maddy's connections to those elements.  Each piece was created in the likeness and reflection of my first Saori Wind Chime, but with colours, thoughts and additional inspirations that resonated with Maddy. Thanks to Maddy for this wonderful opportunity and to Stu for taking such great photos.

In the footsteps of the commission, followed the weaving of 4 meters of cloth for Marie's design classes.  I first met Marie on Salt Spring Island last year.  I fell in love with the garments and designs she presented to the Weaver's guild as part of the "Designing Women" series.  And so with great excitement, I left for Marie's classes at Knotty by Nature in Victoria. 

  

The Saori-kai and design classes were most inspiring and energizing as we all shared our weavings, ideas, and inspirations.  On that weekend, I forgot my camera at home, however Terri has some great photos on her blog of both the Saori-kai and the Saori Design Classes.

 I find the Saori design process to follow hand in hand with Saori weaving.  In all of its creativity, the cloth speaks for itself, and as it gets folded, cut, tucked and sewn, further beauty reveals ... coming together ever so nicely.  My 4 meters of cloth has become a tunic with asymmetrical lines on one side and fringes at the back.  It's nearly finished ... I'll post more pictures soon. Thanks to Terri for this photo.

And from Saori to lau nui weaving, the month ended in Hawaii where I saw this beautiful basket made with a small section of a single coconut leaf. It was a nice traditional ending to a busy weaving month of March!

Eastside Culture Crawl Commission

In November, my Saori Wind Chime travelled to the Eastside Culture Crawl, and this month - by means of this wonderful event - I have the pleasure of weaving a commissioned piece rich in colours.

Thank you Stu for displaying my window above your wood work and for sharing this photo of our combined creations.

A Saori Wind Chime

My Saori wind chime came together before traveling to the Oregon Coast ... and only recently was it installed outside near by our kitchen window.  In creating this visual display of colors, my desire was to weave several Saori pieces that would dance in the wind.  What I did not expect is the glowing of these colors in the morning sun.

The weaving part of my project was inspired by the Tibetan prayer flags fluttering in the wind, and so I chose to weave with the five colors representing the five elements of nature: blue symbolizing sky/space, followed by white for air/wind, then red for the fire element, green for water, and finally yellow symbolizing earth.


I very much enjoyed creating this piece and really like that it is now part of nature.  The weaving is very colorful when basking in the sun and dancing in the wind ... it is also a gentle reminder for more kindness, compassion and peace for ourselves, others and the earth.

Coming Together ...