Saori Banners Part 2

Banner by Ang of Weird weave. Inspired by the beautiful Cyclades Islands of Greece. Using a mixture of commercial spun Dhetland and handspun Hampshire Sown wool I have tried to recreate the effect of the popular white and blue painted buildings of this region set against the dark blue of the Agean Sea.

www.facebook.com/Weird-Weave

Colours by Sue Wright.

By Janine Kok - This is a piece I made at Saori no Mori, Japan, with Kenzo and Misao did part of the fringes.

Banner by Cherrie Stevens of Weaverbyrd Hand weaving studio

www.facebook.com/WeaverbyrdHandWeavingandTextileArtStudio

By Sue B - reds with 'wandering dragon' inlay.

 

Jayne Stansfield - Fluffy bits of wool can be transformed with colour and by spinning and weaving into something amazing. This is my thick and thin handspun ready for weaving a rainbow, I’m hoping there will be be enough fabric for a garment. A brilliant idea to think of weavings, suspended up high with others like part of a trapeze artist troop, before becoming something wearable. I’m doing this as part of celebrating life and dedicating my effort to a special anniversary 20 years in December - to my beloved brother

Matthew Shenstone 1965 - 1996
Magpie and Me shop, Framlingham.

jayne@jaynestansfeld.co.uk

www.magpieandme.com

Banner by children at WSD exhibtion in Norwich Cathedral.

Banner by Barrington Farm artists.

Jewel add ins by Wendy M.

 
Banner by visitors to Woolfest fibre festival, Cumbria with The Saori Shed.

Saori banners Part 1

For all of you who are a bit too far away to be able to visit the Forum in the next month to see the banners, heres a little virtual tour :) Lots of close ups to see the textures :)
In no particular order, with no prior plan, we hung the banners very intuitively. Our only constraints were height in some places - we couldn't block the security cameras etc!
So, starting at the front of the Forum -

Neutral striped wools - banner is going to become a cushion by Jane B.

Shawl as a banner by Sue of SWH (Sue Wright Handknits) - Hand knitter, weaver and spinner, designing her own work on the Isle of Wight, where inspiration for many designs are taken from the sea and Island life. 

Sue uses combinations of colour and yarn types to produce unique waistcoats along with knitted and woven bags, hats, scarves, warmers and socks. She also enjoys creating pieces of work on her loom such as, cushions, table runners, throws and small rugs. castonandcastoff.blogspot.com/ 

https://folksy.com/shops/suewrighthandknits

www.etsy.com/uk/shop/WoollenTree

Wandering warps by Kim @ The Saori Shed.

  Calm weaves in wools by Rachael C.

 

Weaves by Barrington Farm Artists. In 2013 Barrington Farm received funding to purchase a Saori loom. This gave our artists an exciting new potential to create cloth and experience traditional Japanese weaving. Barrington Farm encourages people to find their own way of expressing themselves through their art. The philosophy behind Saori weaving that everyone is an individual fits perfectly with our group. Staff teach the basic principles then the artists take the weaving in their own direction. There is a lot of variation in the banners that Vincent, Hazel, Michael, Max, Val and Saffron have made for this exhibition. Michael’s weaving gathers in tight in places, whereas Max has been playing with the technique called clasp weft. Some of the pieces are communal, meaning that several artists have sat at the loom and added to the finished banner.“I enjoy it. It’s only taken me 3 days to weave 2.3 metres! It’s calming.” Max, artist. The Barrington Farm Art Barn is a unique, independent art studio supporting adults with learning difficulties in North Norfolk.

 

 Banner by children at the WSD exhibtion, Norwich Cathedral, with The Saori Shed.

Calm, wool banner by Rachael C.

  Banner by visitors to Fibre East, fibre festival, Bedford with The Saori Shed.

  Clasped weft and sari silk by Patricia Lindsay -Frequential threads/chaotic noise banner.

 Greens by Rachael C.

 

Saori Installation!

Call out to Saori weavers!

We have been invited to make a Saori installation at The Forum, Norwich for the month of February 2016.

As part of Makers Month we will be decking the Forum with Freestyle, Saori woven banners. The aim is to create a vibrant, colourful display of banners that can be seen by visitors throughout the month.

Since starting the Saori Shed three years ago, I have had the greatest pleasure in meeting many lovely weavers, seeing your wonderful works and being honoured by getting people started in the joyful art of Saori.

We would love to take this opportunity to display your weaves and bring together Saori weavers from all over the UK.

All weavings will be joyfully dislayed, whether it be banners, hangings or yardage that you have woven to later make into clothing. There are no restrictions!

The Forum Trust is kindly providing funds so that all your weaves can be returned to you by post - UK weavers. For worldwide weavers please contact.

The installation will be up for a month and during this time your work can be publicised by local media and online – if this is your business there will be great coverage :)

If you would like to be involved please email me at-

info@thesaorished.co.uk

and I will send you more details.

As part of Makers Month we will be taking looms along for visitors to experience the joyful art of Saori weaving, to make some community banners and to bring people together. You are all invited to come for a weave - more details will follow!

The Forum, in Norwich, is a public Millennium building - everyone is welcome seven days a week all year round to enjoy free exhibitions, events and activities. There is also a café, a restaurant and one of the best public libraries in the UK. Around 5000 people visit The Forum every day.

Makers Month is a new event aimed at bringing a wide variety of local makers under one roof to create a vibrant, collaborative month of interactive learning and motivational experiences for all age and ability groups.

Each week in February will be themed-

Week one - ‘Yarn’,

week two - ‘Fabric’,

week three - ‘Pencil and Paint’

week four - ‘Paper and Ink’

I look forward to hearing from you.

With thanks

Kim

Autumn Saori Kai

Last week saw the second Saori Kai at the studio. 
Kai in Japanese means sharing or a gathering. A Saori Kai is an opportunity to meet other Saori weavers and share your weavings and experiences.
Local Saori weavers came and brought their recent weaves, shared ideas, solved some problems and ate some lovely cake.
Here are some of their beautiful weaves, sorry I didn't take so many photos - there was far too many lovely weavings to distract me from photographing :)

Stunning felted handspun looong scarf, wrap, to keep you warm this winter

Beautiful hanging inspired by a Design Seeds image that may be lashed/stretched to hang - look forward to seeing how it evolves.

Next few pieces are inspired by rust, great textures on these - I esecially loved all the hardware that is woven in that gives the pieces a nice weight and sound :)

Screws!!

Lovely idea for christmas presents, these are his and hers scarves - woven on the same warp but with different coloured wefts for his and her.

Handspun wefts from the Isles of Orkney - these skeins are colours from the Island, I think I may need to visit :)

Autmnal weaves with luscious, dyed wensleydale locks.
Thanks all for coming and sharing your weaves and your stories, look forward to seeing more :)

Woolly Workshop August

At the end of summer Yarn artist Kally Davidson and I hosted another Woolly workshop at the studio in Diss.
We were exploring different techniques to encourage everyone to be more experimental with yarn :)
A day of freestyle fibre fun!
We made some chunky yarns by plying together lots of other yarns.

 

We used rope making techniques to make new yarns from fleece, bring careful not to go too far down the stairs!

 We played on the Saori looms and incorporated some of our new yarns into weaves.

 We experimented with some VERY extreme crochet....

 .....some giant body knitting ....

 .....and for the first time ever, in Diss, some giant, interactive french knitting! We created a whole tubular piece on our arms around Kally (she did get out again :)

Lots of new techniques to play with and a good giggle had by all :)

If you would like a Woolly Workshop to come to a place near you, get in touch -
info@thesaorished.co.uk or woollenwood@kallyart.co.uk