Gyotaku

I love our local library.  It's small, and nothing fancy... but a couple of times a year they have great book sales, where I buy lots of kids books for SUPER cheap. They also have great programs, like the summer reading program where we go in each week to claim our prize for reading books!  And they also do the occasional workshop.  Today they had a great workshop on Gyotaku.  

What is Gyotaku?  Gyo (fish) Taku (rubbing)

"Gyotaku is a time honored, traditional Japanese art, that is captured on a piece of shoji paper for the keepsake of the family, and friends, and fishers to come. Once the print is complete, the non-toxic paint is washed off, and the fish is cleaned to be cooked. It is quite simple and pure, as it has been for over 200 years. We fish to eat, and print what we fish to remember and share the experience.  That is what Gyotaku is all about."- Naoki Hayashi
(The non-toxic ink is called Sumi Ink)

Check out these BEAUTIFUL Gyotaku prints by Naoki

I had never seen (or heard of) Gyotaku before living in Hawaii, but I fell in love the first time I saw them.  I love how they capture the movement and life of the fish.  A few years ago, Josh gave me this Uhu (or Parrotfish) print by Shane Hamamoto. Isn't it beautiful? 

Today's workshop was taught by Dane Kai Kondo.  He explained the whole process, and then we got to try it out! It was so much fun!!  Here are my attempts at Gyotaku:

I tried (rather poorly) to recreate what the fish really looked like.

My 6yr old, on the other hand, had a great time making all sorts of different fish!

I think she did a great job!
Want to see how it's done? 
Check out this video!  

Tie-Dye Gone Wrong

This is what happens when you don't read the instructions on the bottle:

It starts out like this- my first solo attempt at tie-dye:

Despite what it might look like, no animals were harmed in the dyeing of these sheets...

Scarlet might not have been the best choice color. It looks like a prop for CSI.

But it still might have looked cute, in a patriotic-4th-of-July-kind-of-a-way if I hadn't just run them through the dryer "to set the color", and then washed them.

Guess what Denim blue and Scarlet Red make in my washing machine...washed-out Purple!

The bottles of Rit Dye that I bought don't have instructions for using the dye for tie-dying, so I will have to check out this tutorial and this one before I try again.

Any wise words of wisdom before I embark on take 2?

I meant to post about this last week, but I got caught up in getting ready to go camping with a group of girls from church. It was short, sweet, and fun. One of the highlights was watching two turtles make their way out of the water for a little sunbathing on the beach.

Have I mentioned how much I love living in Hawaii???

So I've added something else to my list of things to look forward to this summer...

Check out this new line of fabric from Sarah Jane. I love it! My favorite print is her Family Tree. Isn't it gorgeous? It's a panel that you can embroider the names of your family onto.

(photo source)

I can't wait for it to show up at my local fabric store! Check out her shop for a printed version of that same family tree. She also sells embroidery patterns- including one for (my other favorite) the "Make it Do" pillow in the picture. Happy Browsing!

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see?

I see cute bean bags looking at me.

Bean bags Bean Bags, what do you see?

I see a bright blanket looking at me.

Blanket, blanket what do you see?

I see this great Eric Carle fabric looking at me!