It was an ordinary day. Of all things...I'm reading a magazine titled "WHAT WOMEN CREATE/Inspiration For Your Imagination. Now...this isn't just any woman's magazine...it is a magazine that has no advertisements! Just about every page in the magazine is in color or partial color and it has some of the best photography in it that you will ever see. Now...the price of the 160 page magazine is $17.99! Would you pay that much for a magazine that is totally stories and photographs and has no advertisements. Well...someone did. My oldest son recently dropped it off at my home with a few other magazines in the same ritzy category. He works for a printing company nearby that prints quality work. One of the articles in the latest issue of "WHAT WOMEN CREATE" featured work by Jenni Barry. Jenni is a kimekomi artist who lives in the mountains of Northern Idaho. Kimekomi is a technique that combines the painterly quality of impressionism with the warmth of complex quilting. She has worked hard to resurrect, reinvent and educate people about kimekomi and her version of this unique art. In case you are not familiar with the art form...I will share with you what she shared with her readers in the magazine.
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| Jenni Barry |
Kimekomi was created in the middle of the 18th century (1736-1741). The resident artist of the Kamigamo Shrine in Kyoto (which was the capital city of Japan at the time), Tadashige Takahashi, is said to have made dolls from willow bark and wheat paste. Then he cut grooves into them, were he tucked fabric pieces recycled from the priests' kimono robes. Originally, they were called Kamo dolls for the Kamigamo Shrine. Traditionally, kimekomi used no glue. Pieces of fabric were simply tucked into the grooves cut into the fibrous modeling material called paulownia. Paulownia is made of sawdust and wheat-starch paste and was used to create both dolls and, later, spherical ornaments. Modern kinekomi is applied to Styrofoam balls (often with glue) to create ornaments with a unique appearance.
Jenni Barry writes...I began teaching several times a month to artists in the communities of Northern Idaho, Spokane and San Francisco. While teaching a workshop in San Francisco, I was surprised to find that although some people had heard of kimekomi, they had never seen or experienced this medium the way I do it. I start by drawing a simple sketch on the foam-coat. I cut along the lines into the foam, creating grooves. Then I tuck the edges of each piece of fabric into the grooves. I add highlights and shadows by tucking thin strips of fabric into some of the grooves after the main pieces of fabric are already in place. Although I do create some landscapes, I really enjoy making images of animals, birds and fish. Fur, feathers and scales are a lot of fun and utilize busy fabric well. Jenni prefers to use printed patterned material rather than single colors. She can spend between 20 and 30 hours on each piece. She loves to do custom pieces for her customers. Art made with sentimental pieces means so much more to customers than common patterns. Jenni says that she is honored to get to know the people she creates for. She feels as sentimental about the art as the family does when they receive their custom work of kimekomi art.
The following designs that were done by Jenni were from the magazine that I was viewing. To see them in this blog story certainly does not do justice to the work. Even the photos in the magazine certainly do not do justice to the pieces Jenni has done, but at least I have had the chance to see her work, just as you are now viewing her work. If you can, enlarge the images to view them better. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - her work follows.....
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