Dance of Life-Kyoukechi, Japanese Clamp Resist

Welcome to my studio as I go through the steps of dyeing yardage using an ancient technique called kyoukechi-a complex version of clamp resist.
If you'd like to find out more about the programs I offer, please visit my website at www.johnmarshal... and perhaps consider signing up for my newsletter.

[@BlueDoveSong]

Wonderful!

[@maganw42]

Where did you find that giant pot? It's fantastic. That bag of onions going into the pot was hilarious.
Do you think that the tannins in the wood strongly influenced the final colour? That's a very brown colour for a onion + indigo mixture

[@debraruffindesign8720]

I love this! Did you carve the boards? How? What sort of (readily available( wood would you recommend that would hold up to this process? would mdf work if it was properly sealed first? plywood? only hardwood? How beautiful!

[@johnmarshall7194]

Hi Debra- I do teach Zoom-based classes in this, check out the links above. But to answer your question directly…yes, I carved the boards using a plunge router and I used redwood since it expands evenly in all directions when wet (and also happened to be laying around my studio), however any board that doesn't warp easily and is free of knots should work. I steer clear of mdf. The Japanese characters are 夾纈 in case you want to cut and paste to do a Google search. I hope this helps. -J

[@debraruffindesign8720]

@@johnmarshall7194 Thank you! I've been wanting to try this for years, but other things got in the way. The only solid wood available here is what is in Home Depot, of course pine (which I would guess is no good, too soft) and maybe oak, maple or poplar on a good day and then the expensive local woods teak and Koa... dion't know what to pick.
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