I started January 2019 with an extraordinary trip; my first stop destination was Milan.
Milan is an excellent place to get inspired by fashion, fabrics, colors. No doubt, when an artist needs ideas, Milan is an incredible source of inspiration.
From the cold winter Milanes, I flew to Bangkok. It was a long trip to end up in one of the busiest city in the world. Describing Bangkok in a sentence is impossible. It has been nearly 20 years the last time I was in there, and I noticed huge changes.
Each day in Bangkok I took an excursion. One day I visited the Sunday Market (Chatuchak Weekend Market); another day to the Railroad Market, and Floating Market. I traveled to Ayutthaya, the amazing temples and historic ruins. Also, I visited all of the most iconic temples in Bangkok. I went to Kanchanaburi to volunteer with the elephants, and of course walk around the city, navigate the Chao Phraya river, and get lost in their Siam super trendy fashion mall.
My day started around 5 am. and was a nonstop rediscovering Thailand every single day. What a treat!!!.
But I wanted to share with you the well-known secret about Thai fabrics: silks, batiks, cotton, etc..
In the Sunday Market, I found "shibori." It was not cheap, but I brought some with me.
If you do not know this word, I tell you....."Shibori is a Japanese manual resist dyeing technique, which produces patterns on fabrics." Artisan in Thailand use these ancient technics to dye their fabrics.
"In Japan, the earliest known example of cloth dyed with a shibori technique dates from the 8th century; it is among the goods donated by the Emperor Shōmu to the Tōdai-ji in Nara".
Let me show you the accent pillows that I've made with the indigo shibori that I brought from Thailand. You could appreciate the beautiful indigo dye used, the texture and the patterns... a real work of art!
It's a textile with an exquisite and elaborated design, the technique used is "Nui shibori, a simple running stitch is used on the cloth then pulled tight to gather the cloth. The thread must be pulled very tight to work, and a wooden dowel must often be used to pull it tight enough. Each thread is secured by knotting before being dyed. This technique allows for greater control of the pattern and greater variety of pattern, but it is much more time-consuming."
I hope you like and appreciate these gorgeous accent pillows made with exquisite and unique textiles brought from my trips especially for you! Truly one of a kind pieces of art that will make a statement in any home decor.
These are textiles from Thailand with a long story behind and extreme beauty.
Enjoy!
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