The magic and beauty of Shibori

The program on "Shibori. Making marks with shaped resist dyeing," presented by fiber artist, Veronica Hofman-Ortega, held attendees captivated at the July Riverbend Fiber Arts Guild meeting. Ms. Hofman-Ortega's multimedia presentation and trunk show provided numerous examples of pattern, texture and the visual exuberance that can only be achieved with the shaped resist dye techniques of shibori.

Fiber artist, Veronica Hofman-Ortega, shows her arashi shibori sample
and talks about other examples of shibori patterns and techniques
during her presentation and trunk show.

"Shibori is a timeless and very versatile art form with limitless possibilities," said Veronica. "All aspects of the fabrics, technique, dye sequence as well as the serendipity of the dye bath work in concert to achieve the resulting patterns."

Along with her multimedia presentation, Veronica showed pieces from her wearable art collection, including a shibori wool vest she created based on Rachel Clark's "Picture This" vest pattern, and the mokume shibori jacket and silk dupioni "Power of Panthera Leo" vest that was published with her article, "Compliments of the Dye Pot," in Belle Armoire magazine in 2011.

Veronica displays her shibori wool vest using the "Picture This" vest
pattern by indie designer, Rachel Clark.
Veronica's collection of shibori artwear is shown at left.

Left: "Power of Panthera Leo" vest, Best of Show at the 2010 Guild Challenge.
Right: Two shibori techniques with appliqué Angelina fibers on a raw silk vest.

Never disappointed with the results of the shibori process, Ms. Hofman-Ortega encourages her audience to "Embrace the serendipity!" and enjoy the magic and organic beauty of shibori.

Mokume stitch resist technique on a raw silk jacket.

More of Veronica's fiber art adventures can be found on her web site, FiberAnticsbyVeronica.com. Veronica offered her recommendations on shibori resources here:


Also visit the World Shibori Network.

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Show and Tell

Guild members shared their fiber art creations during Show and Tell.

Mary's crochet shawl.

Martha's version of the crochet shawl.

Left: A striped knit shawl. Right: Hannah's crochet necklace.

Knit shawl detail.

Tia shows the loom made by her husband.

Crocheted baby tutu.

Pick your Pocket

Pockets in Knitwear was the program at the February Riverbend Fiber Arts Guild meeting. Dora Sowell, an accomplished knitter, knitting instructor, and a long-time member of the Chattanooga area TogetherKnits knitting guild, presented various pocket treatments for knitted garments. Guild members were taught the steps for an inset pocket and created a knitted pocket sample using the technique.

In keeping with the topic of "pockets," guest speaker, Diana Ferguson, provided information about the 2010 Tennessee Does Textiles show and event. To be held November 13, 2010, the event will feature contemporary folk artist, Rachel Clark, along with a wearable art runway show, an artists' showcase, lunch and a mercantile of fiber art vendors. Wearables from previous years' shows were on hand at the meeting to illustrate the variety of one-of-a-kind artwear pieces that will be seen at the show.

In conjunction with the theme of Tennessee Presents Textiles, "The Power of the Pocket," the Riverbend Fiber Arts Guild has issued a Guild Challenge to its members. The entries from the guild Challenge are scheduled to be unveiled in September.

How do your pockets empower you? Stay tuned ...






A woven shawl (below), made from Japanese paper, is one of the unique textile pieces from Tennessee Presents Textiles that was on display.