ROKETSUZOME: Traditional Japanese wax resist dying

Finished pieces hanging to dry.

This amazing woman with 50 plus years of experience showed me  the basics of how to handle the materials. She was so sweet and watched me work the whole time. From time to time she would  offer pointers on where to thicken the wax. Our language barrier didn’t seem to matter at all.

Signing my initials. I was in quite the creative trance!

Vats used for Indigo dying. The floor and buckets are stained blue from decades of use.

Various examples (noren curtains, shirts etc..) lined the walls of the workspace. The rollers are used to dye kimonos.

Here she is :)  What an experience!!