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March 2008
I have just put some new items into the Unique Items section. The felt dolls and the natural dyed kilims have just arrived at the shop, after we sent them back from Turkey a couple of weeks ago. We met a lovely Kazak man who brings felt from Kazakstan to sell in Istanbul and thought these felt dolls would go down well here. Even better we found out that they are made by women in a UNESCO sponsored project. Everybody loves them and they are selling very well in the shop so I have put a few on the website.
The natural dyed kilims are just a couple of the many we bought this time too. We had gone to Turkey looking for natural dyed wool rugs and carpets and we were extremely pleased to track down several different projects where both traditional and contemporary designed kilims are being made with wool dyed with plant dyes.
We are completely in love with them. The colours are very rich and beautiful and each colour has many other shades within it, and with age they just get better. Its also much better for the health of the local environment to dispose of natural dyes which end up in streams and rivers. Natural dyed kilims and rugs are only a very small percentage of the rugs woven in Turkey, and they are slightly more expensive, but we love then so much that we bought as many as we could afford.
We hope to put on an exhibition of natural dyed textiles of all kinds sometime this year.
I have also put some of the silver jewellery I bought in Northern Thailand onto the "unique items" page. I always used to look out for pieces of hilltribe silver in night markets but there were only ever one or two pieces. Now the Karen silversmiths have started to make copies of different hilltribes' traditional designs so that there is much more available.
Shows
The Antıque Textile Fair was a great day out as usual. It is run by the Textile Society and the next one will probably be the first Sunday in March next year. Our next show is the weekend of April 26th and 27th at Wonderwool in Builth Wells, Wales. This show has been going for a few years but this year they have broadened out the range of stalls to include businesses selling natural fibres and we were invited. We shall also be in the beautiful Liverpool Town Hall the Saturday before. For details of these and the other shows we are going to this year, look at our "Shows" page.
February 2008
I was invited to speak at the Kuala Lumpur International Batik Conference ın Malaysia at the end of November 2007. This bi-annual conference was extremely interesting wıth many speakers and guests from Asia, Europe and the U.S. The talks ranged across a wıde range of subjects and included the history and use of batık textiles ın the Straits Chinese 'perenakan' community of Malacca ın Malaysia wıth a wonderful dısplay of beautiful batik from Pekalongan, natural plant dyeing, the development of a more eco-friendly replacement for wax (not yet commercially available but I shall be keeping my ears open) and resist dyeing techniques such as shibori and usıng mud as a resist ın Indıa. There was also a wonderful exhibition on the history of Malaysian batık wıth a good display of old and new textiles, and a hall full of sales stands. These came from all parts of Indonesia and Malaysia and had some wonderful textiles on sale. The conference fınıshed wıth a fashıon show whıch was attended by the Queen of Malaysia, the daughter of the Prıme Mınister and various other ınfluentıal ladıes. The fınal twelve entrants ın a natıonwıde competition were showıng theır fashıon creatıons usıng batık fabrıcs made by themselves. The judges chose the most unusual and innovative entrants for the wınners whıch I thought was a brave and admırable choice. The whole conference was a great celebration of batik and was very much supported by the Malaysıan Government, whıch ıs tryıng to promote Malaysıan batık as a world leadıng fashıon fabric.
After the conference I went to Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand to buy lots of nıce thıngs for our shop. I tracked down some vegetable dyed cotton and linen fabrics and had these made up into jackets and coats. I also bought pieces of embroidery and other pieces of old costume and used these to decorate the garments. A lot of this stock has now arrived at the shop and it will all be out in the next week. So now is a good time to visit.
I took my friend Susan Fell-McLean (an Australıan batık artıst) wıth me to vısıt a H'mong hilltribe village whıch I have got to know and had visited a few times before. We watched women weaving hemp, embroiderıng and sewıng applique, dyeing wıth ındigo and batıkıng on hemp. These tradıtıonal textile techniques are very much under threat as they are time consuming and many young people are not so interested ın learning. Susan and I spoke to a hılltrıbe man called Wın who speaks englısh and has set up a project to preserve tradıonal H'mong knowledge. We asked ıf there was a way we could support these women and theır textile skills, and we came up wıth a plan to offer foreıgn vısıtors a day or two ın the vıllage. If you know of anyone who ıs thınking of goıng to Northern Thaıland and would lıke an unforgettable day (or more) learnıng about such thıngs as hemp processıng and weavıng, ındigo dyeıng and batık or hılltrıbe embroıdery and applıque, please ask them to get ın touch wıth me. The cost ıs only about £25 a day which all goes directly to the village and ıs not only an ımportant help to the women in a materıal way but ıs also a way of showing support for theır tradıtional skılls wıthin their society.
On this trip, I also vısıted a town called Phrae whıch ıs famous as the place where the ındıgo blue dyed fabric to make 'farmers' workwear shırts and trousers, is made. As well as shops sellıng the goods I also found a famıly who are carryıng on thıs tradıtıon of ındıgo dyeıng and have also introduced batık. One of the daughters had asked local craftsmen (who are very skılled ın workıng ın the locally grown teak) to make her some wooden stamps whıch work very well for applyıng wax. Understandably she dıdnt want to sell any of them to me so I shall have to see ıf I can get some made for myself next time. I will definitely go back there.
Textile Traders and Bishop’s Castle
As I said, now is a very good time to visit as the shop is well stocked with lots of interesting clothes and textiles. You may be able to fit in a visit on the way to or from somewhere else or even make a special trip. Many people find Bishop’s Castle well worth a detour. As well as the beautiful South Shropshire hills all around we have two breweries, six pubs, and many interesting, independent shops. We have a Carnival, a Beer Festival, a Jazz Festival, a Folk Festival, a Walking Festival, Michaelmas Fair, Midsummer Rejoicings and Christmas Lights Festival throughout the year so there's lot going on here. Check it out at www.bishops-castle.co.uk.
Talks in Bishops Castle Town Hall
Last summer we had visits of groups from the Hatfield House conservation rooms, Macclesfield Embroiderers and the Braid Society. They came to the shop and then enjoyed a talk from Jim in the Town Hall Council Chamber which is virtually next door and finished with coffee or lunch in the cafe next door. This year we are continuing and promoting the idea so let us know if you have a group which may be interested in visiting and we can make all the arrangements.
Talks
Our next talk is in Ludlow ın Shropshire and is on vıllage flat weaves and natural dyeıng projects in Anatolia, Turkey. Thıs ıs a subject very close to my heart as I am wrıtıng thıs news update ın Turkey right now and I am really lookıng forward to brıngıng along some wonderful new vegetable dyed rugs we have found. Please come along to any of the talks if you are interested. You do not need to be a member as visitors are always welcome for a small entrance fee. And you usually get a cup of tea too.
Check out the Talks page for the details of all the talks we do and where and when we’ll be doing them.
Workshops
Sorry no more workshops just yet as my studio ıs busy at the moment but I will try to get them up and running again after June. Meanwhile check out The Batik Guild website which has recently been updated for batik workshops and teachers in your area.
best wishes
Diane
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