Kimono Tales

Last year at my college reunion in Ireland, my classmate Joyce gave me a precious bundle of silken beauty: antique kimono pieces that her grandmother had given her. Joyce explained that these pieces were remnants from kimonos that were made as well as kimonos that were taken apart for cleaning because of the hand-painting and fragility of the fabric (the old method for cleaning kimonos was to take them apart, wash, iron, and stitch them back together again). Joyce thought I might be able to use them in my textile art.



I thought about ways to incorporate pieces into artwork and there was some delicious silk of the palest of pinks that I used everywhere. No ideas came until I decided to make a piece for Joyce as a thank you and as a souvenir of her Grandmother's kimonos. As I went through this luscious fabric, I realized the pieces were the artwork. I just had to frame them.

This is the piece I made for Joyce, which will be winging its way across the water shortly.

This one is available in my Etsy shop.

And these are my dancing shoes. Flamenco is at 7 o'clock, so I must get off the computer now.