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A collection of cabinets and wonderful objects.
All hardwoods are old or reclaimed.
These are just a sample of the things that have arrived.

Handmade wooden boxes. Inbox? Outbox? You decide. $39.95 - $69.95.

Small coffee table made from an old door. Aprox 2.5 x 3.5 feet.
An old piece with deep wood tones and just a little intrigue. $799.

Armoured door. A very solid door with frame and hardware,
detailed with metal and carving. Aprox 6.5' x 3'. $2000.

Armoured window. The match of the previous door.
Aprox 4' high by 1.5' wide. $600.

A cabinet with a hint of deco about it. Clean lines and solid wood.
Inside there are a number of wide shelves and a drawer. Aprox 4' high by 3' wide by 1.25' deep. $699.

A very sweet cabinet with one shelf and two glass windows set in a single door.
A gentle patina shows the wood through blue paint.
Aprox 2.5' hight 1.5 feet wide and 1 foot deep. $399.

Antique irons from India. These would sit on a hotplate or stove and then,
with a quick set of motions the Dhobi wallah would remove all the wrinkles from any garment.
They are very heavy and made of cast iron with wooden handles. $59.95.


Maiwa East
1310 Odlum Drive
Vancouver, Canada

Open Thursday - Saturday 10am - 5pm
Open Sunday 11am - 5pm



Friday, July 26, 2013 No comments

      The Shortlist - Part 2
      Spaces are available in these featured workshops
        Workshops run September, October,  and November 2013



DIARY PAINTINGS ON CLOTH
Susan Shie

Students were so astounded last time Susan Shie was here that we worked very hard to get her back.

In this four-day class students will begin with a “page” of white cotton fabric, then, through a variety of techniques, create diary paintings. Each day the class will start by choosing an optional theme together. The theme may then be worked up in a sketchbook to come up with ideas for the day’s work.

Students will draw freehand on cotton with black permanent fine-tip markers, then brush-paint in the colours, and finally use the markers again, as well as airpen (optional), to write freehand on the surface, creating a typographic texture over the images in the story.

As Susan describes it: “You’ll be drawing like you did as a child, in relaxed wonder over your abilities, and writing off the top of your head, just like when you write a letter. No planning ahead. This spontaneity is what makes naïve art and children’s art so appealing to the viewer and so inspiring for the artist.”

Susan will demonstrate each process and spend time with each student, making sure the work progresses smoothly. Special emphasis and instruction will be given with the airpen with ample time for students to discover whether it might be for them.

In addition students will learn how to make a self-bordered quilt sandwich and then do “crazy grid” quilting.

Susan is an encouraging instructor whose goal is to bring out the student’s freer inner self and to get the creativity really flowing.


Full Details Here



THE ART OF THE HEADRESS
Jessica de Haas (Vancouver)



This workshop is the perfect opportunity to make a highly fashionable headdress for a costume party or special event.

In this fun, creative, three-day workshop, participants will learn construction and millinery techniques to make a comfortable and durable mixed-media headdress. Different types of bases and attachments will be covered, and students will learn the process of fulling sheets of merino pre-felt to shape, sculpt, manipulate, twist, and braid for adornment. The class will explore many embellishing techniques such as needle felting, making three-dimensional flowers, embroidery, and appliqué. A variety of materials such as raw wool, felted wool, buckram, fabrics, feathers, lace, and beads will be used.

Jessica will encourage a well thought-out and meticulously crafted sculptural headdress.

Full Details Here



KATAZOME WITH NATUAL DYES
Akemi Nakano Cohn (Chicago, USA)

Katazome is a traditional Japanese resist-dyeing technique which makes use of hand-cut stencils. The beautiful designs achieved through this procedure are most often found on kimonos.

In this workshop students will learn to make the katazome rice paste resist with historic recipes and to master the use of traditional tools to cut the katagami (mulberry) paper stencils. In addition, students will develop design ideas by observing objects in nature such as leaves, flowers, and branches to get a sense of the Japanese aesthetic.

The katazome technique will be combined with the use of natural dyes and mordants to create compelling works.

Full Details Here



We also have one or two spaces available in the following workshops - click on the title for full details:

BLOCKPRINTING 
Anne Babchuk (Vancouver)

PAINTING WITH MACHINE EMBROIDERY
Carol Shinn (Fort Colins, USA)

THE PHOTO EMULSION SCREENPRINT 
Anne Babchuk (Vancouver)


SCULPTURAL KNITTING
Adrienne Sloane (Boston, USA)


VISUAL MUSIC - COMPOSING A SURFACE
Jason Pollen (Kansas City, USA)


BREAKING THE RULES - BEYOND THE MARK
Jason Pollen 
(Kansas City, USA)


JAPANESE INDIGO
Bryan Whitehead (Japan)


TAPESTRY WEAVING
Elaine Duncan (Errington, BC)


CREATIVE FABRICATION
Rachel Meginnes (Penland School of Crafts, USA)


THE LIVING LANDSCAPE
Lorraine Roy (Dundas, Ontario)


NATURAL DYES - PRINT AND PATTERN
Anne Babchuk and Danielle Bush (Vancouver)





Monday, July 22, 2013 2 comments


We have two booths. One with an amazing collection of summer things from the Maiwa store. A second booth has a great selection of items from Maiwa Supply. Our staff will be there for the festival and will be running hands-on demos. This is the place to get a quick introduction to blockprinting, indigo, and other natural dyes.

Come down and visit us!

The Vancouver Folk Music Festival runs July 19, 20, 21.
Friday, July 19, 2013 No comments
The Maiwa Guide to Natural Dyes
What they are and how to use them




SAFFLOWER- carthamus tinctorious, is an annual thistle. This plant is most known for the oil that can be derived from it’s seeds, however, the petals are a most magical dyestuff. Yellows, surprisingly sharp pinks, orange-reds, and corals can be extracted from safflower. Soaking petals in water at room temperature gives a yellow which can be collected and used to dye any modanted natural fibre. Repeated soaking will exhaust the yellow at which point pinks may be obtained by “turning the bath” (drastically changing the pH to alkaline and then back to slightly acidic).

Mordanting: use alum mordant at 15% WOF for protein fibres. Mordant with tannin at 8% WOF and then alum at 15% for cellulose fibres.

Dyeing yellow: Use 100-200% WOF – Put the safflower in cold water for a minimum of one hour. Use a pillow slip or make a bag of closely woven cloth that can fit the inside a large pot. Strain the safflower through this bag and gently squeeze. Set the liquid aside for dying. Repeat the procedure twice more, each time starting with fresh water and saving the yellow water.

Combine the water from the first three soakings in a dye kettle. Add mordanted fibre (protein or cellulose) and simmer with the extracted yellow dye for 45 minutes. Note: this is the only time heat is applied.

Dyeing pink: (cellulose only): Start as above with 100-200% WOF – Repeat the soaking of safflower until the water has very little yellow. This may take an additional four or five soakings. Each time start with fresh water. You may discard the waste water after soaking.

After the final soaking, thoroughly squeeze the bag containing the safflower to eliminate as much water as possible. Drape this bag in a large pot and add 4 to 5 litres of water which you have turned to pH 11 through the addition of soda ash. (Use a pH meter or pH papers). Be careful as a pH above 11 will ruin the dye. After a minimum of one hour remove the bag and gently squeeze. Keep this now reddish water and turn it slightly acidic (pH 6) by adding an acid such as white vinegar. Now add your cellulose fibres (these do not need to be mordanted) to the bright red liquid and leave overnight. Note: There is no heating in the procedure to get pink.

Silk fibres may absorb a second yellow dye that has been extracted into the acidic solution, giving an orange or coral. Wool will not dye.

In part 2 we will look at some aspects of light fastness.

Purchase Safflower online here.






The Maiwa Guide to Natural Dyes
Table of Contents

- PREV NEXT -  


Tuesday, July 16, 2013 1 comments

      The Shortlist
      Spaces are available in these featured workshops
        Workshops run September, October,  and November 2013




DIARY PAINTINGS ON CLOTH
Susan Shie

Students were so astounded last time Susan Shie was here that we worked very hard to get her back.

In this four-day class students will begin with a “page” of white cotton fabric, then, through a variety of techniques, create diary paintings. Each day the class will start by choosing an optional theme together. The theme may then be worked up in a sketchbook to come up with ideas for the day’s work.

Students will draw freehand on cotton with black permanent fine-tip markers, then brush-paint in the colours, and finally use the markers again, as well as airpen (optional), to write freehand on the surface, creating a typographic texture over the images in the story.

As Susan describes it: “You’ll be drawing like you did as a child, in relaxed wonder over your abilities, and writing off the top of your head, just like when you write a letter. No planning ahead. This spontaneity is what makes naïve art and children’s art so appealing to the viewer and so inspiring for the artist.”

Susan will demonstrate each process and spend time with each student, making sure the work progresses smoothly. Special emphasis and instruction will be given with the airpen with ample time for students to discover whether it might be for them.

In addition students will learn how to make a self-bordered quilt sandwich and then do “crazy grid” quilting.

Susan is an encouraging instructor whose goal is to bring out the student’s freer inner self and to get the creativity really flowing.


Full Details Here



NOZOME
Hiroshi Saito (Japan)


**UPDATE** This workshop will now be taught with natural dyes.

Hiroshi Saito is famous for two things: his art, and his ability to orchestrate acts of community-building around a long sheet of white cloth.

Known as “Nozome,” these fantastic events are staged outside with groups of up to 100 people. Using brushes and natural dyes, Hiroshi supervises the collective colouring of 20-meter lengths of cloth. Nozome are about individuals coming together in wonderful acts of group creativity.

In 2012, his Nozome projects in the Tohoku district of Japan brought a moment of peace, productivity, and enjoyment into the lives of earthquake and tsunami victims who are still living in temporary shelters.

The first half of the workshop will be an opportunity for participants to learn about Nozome and Hiroshi’s art activism. Hiroshi will explain what makes a successful event and detail the many ways Nozome have been staged in the past. During the second half of the workshop, students will participate in an actual Nozome event conducted outside, right on Granville Island.

2, one-day workshops available

Full Details Here
October 11, 2013
October 12, 2013





THE ART OF THE HEADRESS
Jessica de Haas (Vancouver)



This workshop is the perfect opportunity to make a highly fashionable headdress for a costume party or special event.

In this fun, creative, three-day workshop, participants will learn construction and millinery techniques to make a comfortable and durable mixed-media headdress. Different types of bases and attachments will be covered, and students will learn the process of fulling sheets of merino pre-felt to shape, sculpt, manipulate, twist, and braid for adornment. The class will explore many embellishing techniques such as needle felting, making three-dimensional flowers, embroidery, and appliqué. A variety of materials such as raw wool, felted wool, buckram, fabrics, feathers, lace, and beads will be used.

Jessica will encourage a well thought-out and meticulously crafted sculptural headdress.

Full Details Here



VISUAL MUSIC - COMPOSING A SURFACE
Jason Pollen (Kansa City, USA)

A playful and innovative approach to communicative mark-making and collage. Students will work with fabric and paper to create an emphasis on rhythm, harmony, and dissonance. The workshop will focus on drawing, painting, and adhering as well as both hand and machine stitching.

Students will experiment and explore with pigments, cloth, and thread to create dynamic, communicative artwork. Students will work with the aim of expanding their visual vocabulary. The pieces will be considered finished when they have a voice of their own and they start to sing.

Full Details Here



BEYOND BLUE - TAKING INDIGO FURTHER
Bryan Whitehead (Japan)


This workshop will explore the rich tones that can be created by using indigo in combination with other dyes.

There are no natural dyes that will give a green. Yet it can be achieved through underdyeing yellow and overdyeing with indigo.

Indigo is unique in the world of natural dyes. Moreover, the nature of the indigo vat means that techniques for over-dyeing and under-dyeing must be properly sequenced to obtain the desired colour.

In this two-day workshop students will work with a variety of dyes (including gardenia pods, onion skins, madder, lac, and cochineal) in combination with indigo to obtain a range of purples and greens.

Full Details Here




THE PHOTO EMULSION SCREENPRINT
Anne Babchuk (Vancouver)



Screenprinting is an invaluable process for textile artists. It is also the perfect technique for doing multiples on cloth. The photo emulsion allows the artist to “expose” a screen just like a photographic negative, giving great versatility in the types of images that can be used.

This two-day class takes the mystery out of the photo emulsion process. It provides a solid foundation for those considering a screenprinting business or for those using the screenprint as a design element in textile projects.

Each student will understand the steps necessary to prepare an image, adhere it to a high quality screen, and use that screen to print on fabric.

All printing will be done on 100% natural fibres using Setacolor fabric paint. Participants will learn to print materials such as T-shirts and yardage on a variety of textile weights (cotton, silk, linen). Using a variety of single-pull techniques, students will explore solid one-colour printing, repeating patterns, rainbow printing, and registration. Participants will also learn how to reclaim screens for a change of imagery.

Anne will explain the different approaches needed to use screen printing for natural dyes and synthetic dyes.

Full Details Here






KATAZOME WITH NATUAL DYES
Akemi Nakano Cohn (Chicago, USA)



Katazome is a traditional Japanese resist-dyeing technique which makes use of hand-cut stencils. The beautiful designs achieved through this procedure are most often found on kimonos.

In this workshop students will learn to make the katazome rice paste resist with historic recipes and to master the use of traditional tools to cut the katagami (mulberry) paper stencils. In addition, students will develop design ideas by observing objects in nature such as leaves, flowers, and branches to get a sense of the Japanese aesthetic.

The katazome technique will be combined with the use of natural dyes and mordants to create compelling works.

Full Details Here





Sunday, July 14, 2013 No comments
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