"SAKANA" means "fish" in Japanese. This is an original design and one of a kind. It contains over a dozen different Shibori techniques, including "oke zome", thousands of stitches and miles of threads. The fabric is a lovely heavy silk crepe. There are approximately fifteen different natural dyes, hand mixed and created from raw materials in the traditional Japanese method. For those unfamiliar, this means that the dyes were obtained by a lengthy extraction process and not from "jars" or "extracts". This gives the dyes a rich color, complex depth and wonderful brilliance. It took numerous weeks to create this one piece. It was stitched, bound, wrapped, resisted, dyed and hand washed and all these processes were repeated over and over again till the desired effect was achieved. This is how Shibori has been done for centuries. Some of the dye plants used in "SAKANA" are seasonal and only available once a year - a very exciting aspect of Shibori. Taking all the aforementioned into consideration explains how this piece can not be reproduced. The many variables and numerous processes exclude the possibility. On the other hand, I feel, it makes it all the more enjoyable.

The above image is lacking in my opinion. Shibori is extremely difficult to photograph as much of the subtle and delicate nuances are quite lost as are the sharp, clean lines of design and color. This image was obtained by scanning the actual artwork in sections and piecing back together - difficult at best and image color is a bit too harsh.

If you are interested in "SAKANA" please e-mail any questions. For serious inquiries detailed photos and a color swatch of the background are available. Thank you!

DETAIL
Above is a scan of "SAKANA" but this image is much darker than the actual piece. The true color is a rich copper/cinnamon. The beautiful undulating lines of the weave/twist of the silk crepe can be seen here. This image shows sharper detail and edges than the first image but is still not nearly as crisp as the actual artwork. Please e-mail for more information or if I may answer any questions. Domo arigato!