Some favorite sites I’ve visited over the weekend…

It’s been a great weekend for textile eye-candy! I’ve discovered some wonderful blogs, artists, and websites; hope you enjoy them too!

http://srithreads.com/ - From their site: Sri is a by-appointment textile gallery specializing in antique Japanese folk textiles, highlighting the indigo-dyed cotton utilitarian fabrics and boro--or patched and mended--textiles of old Japan.

They also have a wonderful blog with even MORE links to textile goodness. I love the current appreciation of Japanese boro fabrics.

I reached Sri from another wonderful blog, Art Found Out. From their site: his blog is committed to artists who are informed by the world around them or driven by a highly personal artistic vision. Many respond to and reinterpret traditional culture. Others create works from an internal world. These are artists who do not look to New York or other art capitals for inspiration and direction. At times, this blog will also examine lesser-known non-western art forms, both contemporary and historic that will enhance the understanding of the artists presented.

I got THERE from Hand Eye Magazine’s article on the Nui Project, an embroidery workshop for the mentally disabled. Do click on the slideshow to see some of this awesome work. I tried to imagine the thought processes of each artist as they worked on each piece.

I also followed their link to the blog Yoshiko Iwamoto Wada, where I was able to purchase the companion book to the 2003 Oakland, CA exhibit of these textiles (Hint, there’s only 10 copies left). I also tried to purchase their DVD “Arimatsu Narumi Shibori”, but the PayPal link was bad. Will have to email them next week about that one. They included a link to Wada-san's short video with Andrew Galli on Boro fabrics, which I really enjoyed (see below).

Wada on Boro: Japanese Rag Textiles Go from Shabby to Chic from Andrew Galli on Vimeo.

Have a great day!