NYC CLASSES with Shabd
Shabd is a New York fashion label initiated by artist Shabd Simon-Alexander in 2009. She has been featured in The New York Times, New York Magazine, Time Out, Daily Candy, Nylon, Blackbook, Dossier, Bust Magazine, and on innumerable blogs. Having earned a reputation as one of this generation’s leading dye-artists, she recently had the honor teaching Martha Stewart how to tie-dye. Shabd has worked with a variety of artists including Anne Chu, Andrea Crews, Antoine Catala, The Brooklyn Children’s Museum, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Jasmine Shokrian, Joshua Safdie, Lion Brand Yarn, Mary Adams, Thakoon, and the art collective Saviour Scraps.
www.shabdismyname.com

Our friends in Australia and New Zealand have been busy (stay tuned for the newsletter items in an upcoming post)! Here’s one great thing to mark on your calendars:
BARBARA SCHEY‘s solo show, “The Eternal Now,” opens May 5 at th FAIRFIELD CITY MUSEUM & GALLERY and will be up for just over one month. Be sure to catch it while you can. Opening reception on May 5 will feature the wonderful Joan James (Secretary General, WSN-Aus/NZ) as guest speaker.
New to shibori and want to dive in? Barbara will also be offering a 1-day workshop on May 21 (Monday).
May 5 - June 9 2012
Fairfield City Museum & Gallery
Smithfield NSW
livingmuseum.com.au
*Opening Reception 5 May @ 2:00p
with Guest Speaker, Joan James (Sec. General, WSN-Aus/NZ)
WORKSHOP
Use several shibori techniques to produce a unique piece of textile suitable for 2 wraps or 1 top.
May 21 (Monday)
9:30-4p
Fee $40, Concession $35, includes cost of tuition and dyes (fabric not included)
LongRidge Farm, Westmoreland, NH
10 pole-wrapped resist techniques, taught over the course of 3 days, using indigo and woad. A 3-day workshop focusing on the use of indigo with pole-binding (think arashi shibori) producing a set of results to feed a lifetime of creative pursuit. This class will focus on 3 preparations of indigo vats (including woad), that will give the student an array of pole binding techniques to use as compositional tools in their studio work. Among the 10 demonstrations of pole wrapping, we’ll look into compound shaped-resist processes that put together sewing and pole wrapping for a unique and beautiful outcome. Students will be led through the construction of all 3 indigo vats—from the large (30 gallon) reduction vat used at room temperature, to the small individual indigo and fructose vats that each pair of students will share.
Visit www.longridgefarm.com/events for details. Pre-registration required.
If you’ve ever picked up a copy of “Memory on Cloth: shibori now” then you’ve seen the beauty of JOAN MORRIS’ work (featured on the book’s cover). This June, the textile artist and master dyer will be teaching two workshops (Washington state and upstate NY) on natural dye and shaped-resist techniques. Whether you’re on the west coast or the east coast, luck is on your side. Mark your calendars and make your plans; classes will likely sell out.
June 11-15 — “Shaped-Resist Dyeing with Natural Extracts” (Copeland, WA)
June 22-26 — “Shaped-Resist Dyeing with Indigo and Woad” (Canandaigua, NY)
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COPELAND, WA – Pacific Northwest Art School
June 11-15, 2012 (5-day class)
For more details, visit www.pacificnorthwestartschool.org or call toll-free 866.678.3396
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CANANDAIGUA, NY
June 22-26, 2012 (5-day class)
For details, contact Sara Burnett sjburnett@frontiernet.net
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“Shaped-Resist Dyeing with Natural Extracts”
5-day Workshop with Joan Morris
Explore shaped-resist dyeing using natural dyes, including indigo, woad (subject to availability), a variety of natural dye extracts, madder root, cochineal bugs, and walnut galls. *New topic to be covered: woad dyebath, a process at once similar to and different from indigo dyeing. More natural dye extracts may be added to class materials if available (e.g. coreopsis extract). Color shifting (with ammonia, vinegar and iron) presents additional color possibilities for each of the dyestuffs. Appropriate for students of all levels, from beginner to those with prior experience and a desire to expand their vocabulary, experiment, sharpen skills, and gain greater control of materials.
Please note this is a forum for making samples, experimenting; it will not be possible to dye large yardages. Beginners can expect to learn at least 10 forms of shaped-resist (shibori) while they gain knowledge of mordanting with alum and dyeing with natural dyestuffs. Experienced dyers may bring images or actual pieces of their work if interested in a dialogue about possible directions to take.
ABOUT JOAN. A textile artist who has been a practitioner of shibori since 1983, Joan has exhibited all across the world including notable commissions by Broadway’s “The Lion King” and by the US Army Corps of Engineers. Her shaped-resist textile works are in the permanent collections of Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum (Smithsonian Institution), New York; Museum of Art, RISD; Takeda Kahei Shoten, Arimatsu, Japan; and Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT. www.joanmorrisartist.com
Looking to learn more about shibori? Live in the NYC area? You’re in luck. 
Starting next week (Feb 27, Monday evenings), Katrin Reifeiss will be teaching “Kimono – Japanese Shibori with Indigo” at the Brooklyn Textile Arts Center.
From the website: “In this 4 week class, students will learn the basics of Shibori using one of the most important dyes in Japan (and in the world), Indigo, while making and dyeing their very own cotton kimono. Students will be making the Yukata kimono, which is often blue and white, and will be required to use the sewing machine to assemble the kimono pattern.”
Click here for more info
Katrina is a designer living and working in NYC. She founded the Silk lab Scarf Project, a social responsibility project, and creates all her pieces in Brooklyn and Manhattan. www.katrinreifeiss.com