2014 Maiwa Textile Symposium

Event What I Felt - Rutsuko Sakata Exhibition

Rutsuko Sakata 

October 29 6-8 pm

Silk Weaving Studio

Rutsuko Sakata creates textile artworks that are a synergy of felted wool, silk, and the profound iconography of the forest. Sakata’s work is thematically bold with a strength of character that demands to be seen. Join us for an exhibition of her unique works at the 

Silk Weaving Studio.

Exhibition runs October 29–November 15

[2014 Symposium registration opens June 23 at 10am.]

2014 Maiwa Textile Symposium

Event The Orissa File

Charllotte Kwon

$15 October 25, 7:45 pm

Net Loft: Granville Is. Vancouver BC

Over a decade has passed since Maiwa’s last major research trip to Orissa. During that time many things have changed and a new generation of weavers and artisans have taken over the work of creating Orissa’s cultural future.

Join us as we take you through some of the most beautiful villages in India. You will see streets with stretched warps, bolts of brilliant fabric freshly cut from the looms, wild silks, tribal potters, and even a prince in his family palace.

During the THREADS EVENT it is customary to sell everything in the Maiwa store at 20% off. All proceeds from this evening go directly to the Maiwa Foundation.

Charllotte Kwon is the owner of Maiwa Handprints Ltd. and the director of the Maiwa Foundation. Through Maiwa, Charllotte also runs a textile archive and research library located on Granville Island. Under her direction Maiwa has produced four documentary films and a number of print publications. She also guides Maiwa’s substantial web presence.

Charllotte travels extensively each year to research handcraft and to supplement her natural-dye research. Always looking to extend natural dye use, she also teaches dyeing workshops with artisans around the world and has planned a series of natural dye master classes to bring exceptional practising artisans together.

[2014 Symposium registration opens June 23 at 10am.]

2014 Maiwa Textile Symposium

Event - Sound of Nature - Kyoko Ueda and Noriko Narahira 

October 17 6-8pm.

Silk Weaving Studio

Please RSVP to Maiwa (604) 669-3939

or Silk Weaving Studio (604) 687-7455

Kyoko Ueda works through layering silk gauze. Her expressions, created through multiple layers of thin fabrics, create a profoundness that causes one to fixate on the fabric. It can be said that these are the traces of her days—layered over each other. 

Noriko Narahira sensitively constructs fabrics that have an ethereal, otherworldly presence. The emotional impact of these works connects directly with viewers, many of whom have a profound reaction in the presence of the work. 

Join us for a joint exhibition of these two remarkable artists at the Silk Weaving Studio.

Exhibition runs October 17–26

2014 Maiwa Textile Symposium

Event - Threads:

The Art and Life of Surayia Rahman

with Director Cathy Stevulak

$15  September 25, 7:45pm

Net Loft: Granville Is. Vancouver BC

She transformed the nakshi kantha quiltwork of Bangladesh into an elaborate form of tapestry that could rival any in the world. 

She began to train and employ destitute women to help her stitch these kantha tapestry masterworks. She drew stories from history, poetry, and daily life, and a company of highly skilled women brought her visions to perfection. She worked constantly, tirelessly. She worked until she could no longer draw and even then she made plans to provide a future for the hundreds of artisans who stitched these magnificent works.

This is Surayia Rahman’s story: a complex tale of how she came to be an artist, of how she lost control of her designs, and of how ultimately fate decided that the work needed to come back to her.

It is also the story of how one woman’s art can empower hundreds—and transform their lives.

Cathy Stevulak first experienced Surayia’s art when she lived and worked in Bangladesh. Threads is the result of over four years of research, filming, and still photography in locations around the world. 

Cathy will provide a behind-the-scenes talk after the film and answer questions. She will also have some of Surayia’s work on hand for the audience to examine. 

Surayia Rahman’s work has been gifted to world leaders including Queen Elizabeth II to Kim Il-Sung and is held in museums and private collections around the world.

Cathy Stevulak, international project manager and filmmaker, is co-founder of Kantha Productions LLC.  In cooperation with filmmakers in Bangladesh, Canada, and the United States, Cathy is leading the Threads project to document the life, textile stories, and social contributions of artist Surayia Rahman of Bangladesh.

Cathy grew up in Alberta, Canada, and had multiple craft projects on the go throughout her early life. She has had a lifelong interest in beauty made by hand.  With Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, Cathy co-organized the exhibition and lecture “Traditional Textiles of Bangladesh” (2005).  She advised the Textile Museum of Canada in its early development of corporate partnerships. Cathy was Senior Governance Adviser with United Nations Development Programme in Bangladesh and has lived and worked internationally for over 20 years. 

www.kanthathreads.com

Event Water Carries Colour, Water Waves Air 

Reiko Sudo

September 5 6-8pm
at the Silk Weaving Studio

No Charge. 

Please RSVP to Maiwa (604) 669-3939

or Silk Weaving Studio (604) 687-7455

Masayoshi Ohashi studied under the direct lineage of Japan’s first Living National Treasure, Keisuke Serizawa, and has since gone on to research and transmit traditional Japanese dyeing techniques to new generations. His recent works based on his intimate knowledge of water processes have secured him a place of honour in the world of Japanese dyeing.

Reiko Sudo works with endangered weaving traditions throughout Japan, actively seeking to preserve and further engage artisan skills toward contemporary designs. 

Presented here is a selection of fascinating textiles created by these two educators, both known for their intense interest in craft, their in-depth research, and their dedication to education.

Exhibition runs September 5–26, 2014

[2014 Symposium registration opens June 23 at 10am.]

2014 Maiwa Textile Symposium

Workshop Between the Colours - Creative Resist

Natalie Grambow

$295 includes 75 lab fee

November 28, 29, 30,  - Class Limit 14

Maiwa East: 1310 Odlum Drive, Vancouver BC

This very popular workshop has returned. This course is an ideal introduction to resist as a vital element of surface design. Here students will obtain a comprehensive understanding of resists: what advantage each might have, what effects can be obtained, and what the proper techniques are for manipulating fabric, colour, and resist. 

The class will work with fibre-reactive dyes, fabric paints, discharge agents, and water-based paste resists including flour paste, potato starch, corn dextrin, and devore. Students will also study a variety of pre-made resists such as wax emulsion, Presist, Sabra-silk, gutta, glue gels, and puff pigments (to create puckered effects).

Finally, students will study hot wax resist and a range of shibori resists including pole-wrapping clamped resist and stitch-bound resist. Students will leave the workshop with many samples showing a variety of techniques and effects. A final project will also be completed.

Instructor Bio

Natalie Grambow has an extensive background in design, teaching, and textile arts. An accredited Interior Designer, she spent many years in Ottawa working within the architectural design field and teaching Design Theory. Natalie’s first deep exploration of textiles began during her Visual Arts/Photography studies at the University of Ottawa when she experimented with non-silver techniques of transferring photographic imagery onto cloth. She subsequently studied at the École d’Impression Textile à Montréal and later travelled to Asia and Latin America where she spent six months learning to weave with local Mayan weavers in Guatemala. Shortly after completing the Textile Arts program at Capilano College in 2001, she was awarded the BC Craft Association’s Award of Excellence. 

Natalie has exhibited her textile art installations in the Lower Mainland, Vancouver, Vancouver Island, and the Sunshine Coast. She  has also developed a line of naturally dyed and printed fabrics and has been commissioned by such clients as the city of North Vancouver. Currently living in Roberts Creek, BC, she continues her art practice and studies from her studio. 

[2014 Symposium registration opens June 23 at 10am.]

2014 Maiwa Textile Symposium

Workshop The Creative Studio - Second Offering

Natalie Grambow

$295 includes 65 lab fee

November 21, 22, 23 - Class Limit 14

Maiwa Loft: Above the Net Loft, Granville Is. Vancouver BC

Due to intense demand the Creative Studio has been expanded to a three-day workshop.

This workshop is one of our most inspiring and creative, so much so that we have students who have taken it more than once. Students come to answer the question: How can creativity be tapped, mined, or made to flow when we need it most? In this original workshop, students will travel on an exploratory adventure, discovering techniques and letting go of assumptions that may hold them back.

The class will provide a wealth of images, sounds, and sensory inspirations. These will be combined with a variety of studies exploring the elements and principles of creative design. Such ideas as balance, symmetry, harmony, contrast, and unity will provide a toolbox that may be opened to understand both what we like about an artwork and what we want to work toward in our own work.

Using collage, image deconstruction, mono-printing, writing, and drawing, students will learn to narrate their stories incorporating personal references and applying design principles. Students will leave the workshop with a creative journal, the beginning of their ongoing artistic journey, as well as a series of small textile art pieces.

Instructor Bio

Natalie Grambow has an extensive background in design, teaching, and textile arts. An accredited Interior Designer, she spent many years in Ottawa working within the architectural design field and teaching Design Theory. Natalie’s first deep exploration of textiles began during her Visual Arts/Photography studies at the University of Ottawa when she experimented with non-silver techniques of transferring photographic imagery onto cloth. She subsequently studied at the École d’Impression Textile à Montréal and later travelled to Asia and Latin America where she spent six months learning to weave with local Mayan weavers in Guatemala. Shortly after completing the Textile Arts program at Capilano College in 2001, she was awarded the BC Craft Association’s Award of Excellence. 

Natalie has exhibited her textile art installations in the Lower Mainland, Vancouver, Vancouver Island, and the Sunshine Coast. She  has also developed a line of naturally dyed and printed fabrics and has been commissioned by such clients as the city of North Vancouver. Currently living in Roberts Creek, BC, she continues her art practice and studies from her studio. 

2014 Maiwa Textile Symposium

Workshop Advanced Rug Hooking

Michelle Sirois-Silver

$295 includes 75 lab fee

November 7, 8, 9,  - Class Limit 12

Maiwa Loft: Above the Net Loft, Granville Is. Vancouver BC

In this workshop hand-hooking artists will expand their repertoire of materials and techniques.

Embracing a bold and expressive approach, participants will explore two- and three-dimensional forms. Students will work with alterative materials to incorporate qualities such as texture, depth, tone, and colour into their hooking. The course will cover the different methods needed to fully integrate these materials.  

Advanced rug hooking will focus on exploration and experimentation. Students will assemble a sample book that includes materials, resources, and methods. Each day students will design and make small art pieces (6x6 inches).  These art pieces will combine the hand-hooked surface with techniques such as hand stitch, needle felt, and the fixing of metal grommets and wire. Hand hooking will be done with a range of materials from traditional wool fabrics, synthetics, and cottons to leather.

Michelle has packed the three days as fully as possible. This is an intensive workshop designed to challenge the artist. Rug hooking experience is necessary. 

2014 Maiwa Textile Symposium

Workshop Down the Silk Road

Carol Soderlund

$595 includes 150 lab fee

November 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 - Class Limit 16

Maiwa East: 1310 Odlum Drive, Vancouver BC

This is an opportunity to journey with precision dyer Carol Soderlund Down the Silk Road. In her own words:

“Let’s adventure together down the Silk Road, learning all about silk, that lovely seductive cloth which intrigues us with its lustre and sensuous drape. On our journey we will use Procion MX dyes as a reactive dye and as an acid dye, increasing the creative opportunities and expanding the possible colour range.”

In this workshop students will sample multiple possibilities/solutions as they compare cold batch methods and steaming methods.

In addition to focused colour studies, students will explore patterning of the silk with a variety of application processes, including low water immersion, pole-wrapped, stitched, and clamped shibori, as well as free-form knotting, crinkling, and shaping. 

Discussions will include studio safety, fabric preparation and selection, and simple ways to work from a home studio. Students will use a variety of silk fabrics and scarves to develop a full appreciation of this incredible fibre.

Instructor Bio

Carol Soderlund’s works have been exhibited nationally and internationally since 1985 in such venues as Visions and American Quilting Society shows and have received numerous awards, including Best of Show at the 1989 International Quilt Festival and Best Use of Color at the Pennsylvania National Quilt Exhibition 2000. She has taught colour, fabric dyeing, colour-mixing techniques, and quilting throughout North America and is currently working on a book on these subjects. 

“My work is primarily driven by a passion for colour interactions, the illusions they create, the luminosity they can bring to a surface. I love creating my own palette of fabric through painting, dyeing, and other surface design processes including discharge, shibori, stamping, screening, and foiling. My goal in design is to have a piece that intrigues the viewer at first glance and then continues to reveal surprises upon every inspection.”  www.carolsoderlund.com

2014 Maiwa Textile Symposium

Workshop Shaped Resist

Joan Morris

$495 includes 80 lab fee

October 31 - November 4, - Class Limit 16

Maiwa East: 1310 Odlum Drive, Vancouver BC

This workshop will introduce students to shaped resist dyeing with acid dyes and discharge dyeing. With this technique it is possible to float defined areas of shaped-resist patterns on solid-coloured grounds using vibrant colour schemes. 

Shaped resist dyeing (also referred to as shibori, a Japanese word meaning to compress or to squeeze) is one of the oldest ways of patterning cloth. By pinching, pleating, stitching, wrapping, and folding silk and wool and then securing those shaped bundles before dyeing, students will create textiles that are subtle, evocative visual and textural memories of the shaping process. 

This process readily lends itself to infinite variation and invention. Economical, simple-to-use wash-fast acid dyes give saturated, transparent, vibrant hues to silk and wool, and they work perfectly with the shaped resist processes. 

This class, open to beginners and beyond, will explore shaped resist dyeing using wash-fast acid dyes and the discharge (colour removal) process. Discharging is a colour-removing process allowing for complex colour combinations otherwise impossible to achieve through conventional over-dyeing. We’ll concentrate on making samples of hand-stitched resist (though other ways of making shaped resist will be discussed and demonstrated). 

Feel free to bring your sewing machine. (It isn’t a replacement for hand-sewing, but you can get some wonderful effects with a machine.)

Joan Morris joins us from USA.

[2014 Symposium registration opens June 23 at 10am.]

2014 Maiwa Textile Symposium

Workshop Bookbinding - The Artists Book

Gaye Hansen

$295 includes 70 lab fee

Oct 30, 31, Nov 1 - Class Limit 12

Maiwa Loft: Above the Net Loft, Granville Is. Vancouver BC

One of our most popular classes—the demand for professional bookbinding instruction has been overwhelming. As more people have seen the exquisite books created in these classes, interest has grown considerably.

Both of Gaye’s bookbinding courses include fundamental binding techniques such as Japanese stab binding, corner treatments, the pamphlet stitch, the use of book cloth, and signature procedures.

As the workshop progresses, students will be taken through the steps of making a 6” x 7” hardcover book using more advanced techniques: cloth covers, sewn signatures, interleaf pages, hinges, linen tapes, and headbands. The books become personalized through add-in techniques such as sewn-in envelopes, specialty papers, blockprinting, insertions, and pockets. A wide variety of handmade and commercial papers will be used for the final project.

Instructor Bio

Gaye Hansen is the maker of books of exceptional beauty that contain intriguing wonders. She has an extensive background in bookbinding and the textile arts and has taught our popular bookbinding courses for the last eight years. She is also a master weaver who has taught weaving workshops for over 30 years. In 2002 she was chair of the Convergence Conference of the Hand Weavers Guilds of America. She has also been active with the Vancouver Weavers and Spinners Guild and is author of five best-selling Canadian cookbooks.

[2014 Symposium registration opens June 23 at 10am.]

2014 Maiwa Textile Symposium

Workshop Bookbinding - Ancient to Modern

Gaye Hansen

$295 includes 70 lab fee

October 27, 28, 29 - Class Limit 12

Maiwa Loft: Above the Net Loft, Granville Is. Vancouver BC

This new class is an overview of bookbinding techniques and basic procedures. Students are introduced to the book arts in a casual and practical three-day format.

Both of Gaye’s bookbinding courses include fundamental binding techniques such as Japanese stab binding, corner treatments, the pamphlet stitch, the use of book cloth, and signature procedures.

Students will learn how to make an accordion book and simple effective origami books. They will progress to full instruction on a simple hard-covered journal including sewn signatures and the application of end papers and spine cloth.

The main focus of the third day is the  technique of Coptic or open-spine bookbinding, the oldest known book format. Students will learn about traditional techniques: hard covers, linen threads, cloth covers, end papers, and variations.

Throughout the three days students are exposed to a wide range of materials, equipment, and techniques including the use of decorative papers, mounting film, text pages, book cloth, etc. Time is set aside for learning through visual examples, demonstrations, personal instruction, text books, and web resources to maximize exposure to the ancient but reviving creative field of hand bookbinding.

Instructor Bio

Gaye Hansen is the maker of books of exceptional beauty that contain intriguing wonders. She has an extensive background in bookbinding and the textile arts and has taught our popular bookbinding courses for the last eight years. She is also a master weaver who has taught weaving workshops for over 30 years. In 2002 she was chair of the Convergence Conference of the Hand Weavers Guilds of America. She has also been active with the Vancouver Weavers and Spinners Guild and is author of five best-selling Canadian cookbooks.

[2014 Symposium registration opens June 23 at 10am.]

2014 Maiwa Textile Symposium

Workshop Felted Art Coat

Rutsuko Sakata 

$450 includes 75 lab fee

October 27, 28, 29, 30,  - Class Limit 14

Maiwa East: 1310 Odlum Drive, Vancouver BC

Rutsuko Sakata has spent the past twenty years working with silk and wool developing felting techniques. She has travelled around the world, exhibiting and teaching workshops. Sakata has taken the art to new heights both in terms of her exceptional designs and her mastery of technique.

Rutsuko Sakata lives across cultures, dividing her time between her Kyoto workshop in Japan and Finland, where she is a member of the Artisans, Designers and Artists of Fiskars Cooperative.

In this workshop students will work alongside Sakata to make a unique jacket that combines individuality, design, and comfort.

The jacket will be made of merino wool and a suitable thin fabric (silk organza, chiffon, or cotton organza). The garment will be felted and constructed entirely without seams. 

The finished coat will be wearable on both sides. It is cleverly designed to be warm in winter and cool in summer.

Sakata Rutsuko joins us from Japan.

[2014 Symposium registration opens June 23 at 10am.]

2014 Maiwa Textile Symposium

Workshop The Colour Workshop

Natalie Grambow

$295 includes 75 lab fee

October 24, 25, 26,  - Class Limit 14

Maiwa Loft: Above the Net Loft, Granville Is. Vancouver BC

Few things can influence us in the way colour does. Working with our conscious desires or subtly playing off our deeper natures, colour can move our emotions and influence our thoughts.

This workshop will give students a theoretical and creative grounding in working with colour. Classical theories of colour put forth by Newton, Goethe, and Itten will be introduced. The language of colour will be covered, giving a grounding in harmony, value, saturation, and hue.

Students will be led through various exercises to help them observe the effects that colours have on each other, their relativity to the human eye, and the way they respond to different surfaces such as paper and cloth.Students will use various materials such as fabric paints, watercolours, colour crayons, pre-dyed fabric and fleece, and paint chips.  

This workshop will provide the tools for students to investigate and analyze the effects of colour, create their own colourways and palettes using inspiration from different directed sources, and develop their senses to better appreciate and work with the chromatic world.

Instructor Bio

Natalie Grambow has an extensive background in design, teaching, and textile arts. An accredited Interior Designer, she spent many years in Ottawa working within the architectural design field and teaching Design Theory. Natalie’s first deep exploration of textiles began during her Visual Arts/Photography studies at the University of Ottawa when she experimented with non-silver techniques of transferring photographic imagery onto cloth. She subsequently studied at the École d’Impression Textile à Montréal and later travelled to Asia and Latin America where she spent six months learning to weave with local Mayan weavers in Guatemala. Shortly after completing the Textile Arts program at Capilano College in 2001, she was awarded the BC Craft Association’s Award of Excellence. 

Natalie has exhibited her textile art installations in the Lower Mainland, Vancouver, Vancouver Island, and the Sunshine Coast. She  has also developed a line of naturally dyed and printed fabrics and has been commissioned by such clients as the city of North Vancouver. Currently living in Roberts Creek, BC, she continues her art practice and studies from her studio. 

[2014 Symposium registration opens June 23 at 10am.]

2014 Maiwa Textile Symposium

Workshop African Indigo and Batik

Gasali Adeyemo

$250 includes 65 lab fee

October 25, 26 - Class Limit 14

Maiwa East: 1310 Odlum Drive, Vancouver BC

In this class Gasali Adeyemo will take students through the steps of making the famous adire eleko (starch resist) cloth.

Adire eleko is the process of creating designs using cassava paste, a small broom, and a chicken feather. Imagery can be added either freehand or through the use of a stencil. Gasali will show the students how to prepare the paste, how to draw designs, how to dye the resisted cloth in indigo and finally, how to remove the cassava from the finished work.

Gasali will teach the meanings of traditional symbols and patterns as well as some of the fascinating traditional indigo lore.

Gasali joins us from the USA.

[2014 Symposium registration opens June 23 at 10am.]

2014 Maiwa Textile Symposium

Workshop Adire Tie and Dye

Gasali Adeyemo

$350 includes 75 lab fee

October 22, 23, 24 - Class Limit 14

Maiwa East: 1310 Odlum Drive, Vancouver BC

Join Gasali Adeyemo as he teaches the traditional Yoruba techniques of adire oniko (tied resist). In this class he will focus on folding, patterning, and the techniques used to create a tied resist with raffia. The resisted piece will be dyed with indigo using traditional methods. 

There are a few different raffia tie-dye techniques. One is a stitch resist where the design is made using a needle to stitch the raffia into the fabric. Another is tied by hand using raffia to create designs. Gasali will teach the students both tie-dye techniques as well as how to dye the fabric and remove the raffia.

Gasali will also explain the importance of indigo and tie-dye to both himself and his culture. Learn the meanings behind the designs of this distinctive African cloth.

[2014 Symposium registration opens June 23 at 10am.]

2014 Maiwa Textile Symposium

Workshop Weaving through India

Jane Stafford

$$450 includes 80 lab fee

October 20, 21, 22, 23 - Class Limit 12

Maiwa Loft: Above the Net Loft, Granville Is. Vancouver BC

In January of 2011 Jane Stafford travelled to India with the Maiwa Foundation and had the great privilege of observing some of India’s finest weavers. She visited again with Maiwa in early 2014. This workshop has been created based on the extraordinary pieces that Jane observed and brought back.

Jane writes: “India’s tradition of clothing itself with uncut cloth has created a weaver’s paradise. Everywhere I looked I saw magnificent coloured and textured cloths.  Often the simplicity of the handloom techniques led to the most sensual and ingenious of fabrics.”

Join master weaver Jane Stafford as she shares her weaver’s insights into Indian technique. Students will learn about supplementary warps used to create patterned borders over a plain weave structure, stripes, and double weaves. In addition there will be unusual embellishment techniques such as the use of sequined yarns.

Jane will set the stage by contrasting India’s handloom techniques with the craft-loom approach taken in the west. She will also present a slide show: a weaver’s perspective on an incredible tradition.

Instructor Bio   

Jane Stafford spent seven years at the Banff School of Fine Arts both studying and teaching textiles. In 1988 she moved to Salt Spring island and opened her own business, Jane Stafford Textiles.

For many years Jane was a production weaver creating limited lines of mohair blankets and silk damask scarves and a line of chenille products. Jane loves to teach, and it has been her main focus for the last seven years. She regularly teaches and lectures throughout North America, sharing the knowledge she has gained over the past 32 years working as both a weaver and an educator. Her love of colour and her energetic enthusiasm shine through in all her classes and demonstrations. Passing on knowledge is her greatest joy.  

Jane is also a consultant to Louet North America and with them co-designed the Jane Table Loom. JST also markets a large inventory of quality yarns, looms, books, and accessories for weavers and spinners. www.janestaffordtextiles.com

[2014 Symposium registration opens June 23 at 10am.]

2014 Maiwa Textile Symposium

Workshop Collage, Motif, and Material

Shannon Wardroper

$350 includes 75 lab fee

October 19, 20, 21,  - Class Limit 14

Maiwa East: 1310 Odlum Drive, Vancouver BC

In this workshop students will be introduced to a fascinating and multi-layered technique. Centuries-old Japanese kimono wax-resist dyeing (roketsuzome) will be combined with contemporary screenprinting and embellishing techniques. The results can yield a stunning mixture of image and tone.

Here, layers of dye are applied in a painterly way, alternately with wax to lock in the desired effects and create a piece that has a unique air of mystery and intrigue.  Strip-piecing and embellishment serve to semi-abstract the composition and as a meditative design exercise. 

Using combinations of technique and imagery, participants will create a range of fabric reference pieces as a future resource. Students will be well on their way to a finished piece by day three. 

This class is a rare opportunity to work beside Shannon Wardroper, who travels from Salt Spring Island. Shannon is a master craftsperson who is also the force behind a successful artisan business.

Instructor Bio  

Shannon Wardroper of Geernaerts Textile Arts is an artisan for whom the blending of both motif and material gathered is a natural way to record a journey through multiple cultures. She has a background in textile design and art history from Alberta College of Art, Calgary, and Emily Carr College of Art, Vancouver. She has both studied and taught the last 10 years in Japan and Thailand with sojourns throughout Southeast Asia for study and research. In 2013 she completed her Masters degree in Arts Education, at SFU.

Living and working for seven years in Kyoto, Japan, where she studied traditional kimono surface design techniques and kimono dressing, she was immersed in a completely different aesthetic. She continued her study in Asia, moving to Thailand and focusing on ikat, supplementary weaving, and natural dyeing with Patricia Cheesman Naenna at Studio Naenna and Chiang Mai University.

2014 Maiwa Textile Symposium

Workshop Air Shawl

Kyoko Ueda

$250 includes 65 lab fee

October 18, 19,  - Class Limit 14

Maiwa Loft: Above the Net Loft, Granville Is. Vancouver BC

Both Kyoko Ueda workshops teach the same technique of machine-stitching gauze materials. In this workshop students will work with silk gauze to learn techniques that can be used to structure a unique and ethereal “air shawl.”

Silk gauze is more transparent than silk organza, and when layered it provides a textile memory. It retains its shape when scrunched or expanded. The diaphanous nature of the gauze permits stitching and embellishment to hang on the air. This gives the creative personality unlimited potential to write or draw in space. Additional fabrics and other elements can also be placed between layers. When the silk gauze is coloured, the work can be pushed in new chromatic directions.

Students will learn to plain stitch on single and double cloths, experiment with serging, folding, tucking, patchwork, and embroidery. On the second day students will progress toward a completed shawl.

Kyoko joins us from Japan.

[2014 Symposium registration opens June 23 at 10am.]

2014 Maiwa Textile Symposium

Workshop Sculpted Air

Kyoko Ueda

$250 includes 65 lab fee

October 16, 17,  - Class Limit 14

Maiwa Loft: Above the Net Loft, Granville Is. Vancouver BC

Both Kyoko Ueda workshops teach the same technique of machine-stitching gauze materials. In this workshop students will work with nylon tulle to learn techniques that can be used for wall hangings, mobiles, standing sculptures, or other forms.

Through an unusual technique of layering hexagonal mesh tulle, students will discover a new world of sculptural possibility. 

Sculptural forms are augmented through choice of mesh colours and the embellishment of the surface with stitch work or small pieces of fabric. Students will appreciate the skill of pre-visualizing three-dimensional effects. Volume, colour, movement, and surface are all elements that the textile artist can use to dictate a new language of expression.

Students will progress through a series of geometric and human forms as they learn techniques and experiment with embellishments. On the second day students will progress toward a final original piece.

Kyoko joins us from Japan.

[2014 Symposium registration opens June 23 at 10am.]

2014 Maiwa Textile Symposium

Workshop Creativity, Serenity, Sensibility

Noriko Narahira 

$495 includes 75 lab fee

October 15, 16, 17, 18,  - Class Limit 14

Maiwa East: 1310 Odlum Drive, Vancouver BC

Noriko Narahira has spent most of her life thinking about textiles. A working artist with over twenty years experience, she often goes to a place where an idea, thought, or emotion can begin to grow into a profound artwork. 

This meditative state is also a process. It can be taught and practiced to build awareness and develop a deeper sensibility toward the aspects of the textile world that fascinate, excite, and inspire us.

In this workshop Noriko will take students through a series of exercises and techniques that build their expressive potential. In her own words: “The stitches themselves create texture and transparency; in fact they can bond to create the cloth itself, but they can also be used as a way of drawing, of adding colour and tone, or of creating shadow. As the resulting work develops and takes form, it takes on the qualities of an object, with everything this implies in contemporary art language.”

Students will work with a sewing machine using a free-style embroidery foot and will try out basic hand-stitching techniques. They will actively work on translating ideas into textiles. The results will be gathered into a sketchbook to form an invaluable guide and wellspring for future work.

Noriko joins us from Japan.

[2014 Symposium registration opens June 23 at 10am.]

2014 Maiwa Textile Symposium

Workshop Knitted Möbius

Sivia Harding

$250. includes 50 lab fee

October 14,15  - Class Limit 15

Maiwa Loft: Above the Net Loft, Granville Is. Vancouver BC

After many enthusiastic requests, Sivia has combined her two short classes into a single course. Here she describes it in her own words:

Möbius knitting has had a special place in my heart ever since I learned the basic technique from Cat Bordhi several years ago. Now (with her blessing), I teach Cat’s cast-on along with my particular enhancements of this simple yet endlessly fascinating form.

On day one of this class, we start by casting on for my Harmonia’s Rings Cowl. As I guide you through the twists and turns of the cowl, you experience firsthand how the mysterious and fascinating shape evolves. My cowl design goes a little further as we create shaping within the Möbius form to create a beautiful garment that is modifiable for a wide range of body types. A tunic and a sweater based on the cowl pattern are also shown.

On day two, we begin to explore what really makes the knitted Möbius tick. I share all of my tricks of designing for this half-twisted, one-edged shape that truly has no inside or outside. We learn what stitches best interact with the structure, in which, amazingly, patterns are displayed in both mirror-imaged and upside down fashion on either side of the cast-on. Which stitches will produce symmetry? There are some guidelines but also ways to bend the rules and produce stitch patterns, not all symmetrical, that are interesting and beautiful. As we work a sampler in worsted weight yarn, I guarantee that students will have many “aha” moments as we see stitch patterns develop in amazing and sometimes unpredictable ways. Many Möbius garments are shown as inspiration. 

Students need to know how to knit and purl and perform basic increases and decreases and will have successfully worked a knitting project in the round.

Instructor Bio

Sivia Harding says knitted lace is her first and enduring love. As a teacher, Sivia appeals to the creative spirit, and few can remain untouched by her verve and passion for her subjects. In her classes, technique, though important, is a means to an end, which is always the delight of following the joyful knitting muse wherever it may lead.

Sivia’s classes and workshops are often built around making a particular project, but only as a jumping off place for discussions on all sorts of related knitterly things. Students will often find themselves inspired to experiment outside the realm of the original project, sometimes coming up with highly original designs of their own as a result.