New York Metro SPIN Chapter Kimono Project
Introduction
At our NY Metro SPIN Chapter remote meeting in June of 2020, we decided that, in addition to a chapter banner for the 2021 SPIN Festival, we would like to present a group kimono project. We felt that this would help us all to keep in touch, and encourage us all to silk paint during a the pandemic when we all felt isolated.
We knew we wanted to display our kimono in the art gallery with the ability to view it from all sides and we wanted to enter it into the fashion show.
Fortunately, our Chapter has a talented silk artist and seamstress, Susan Grant. She offered to create a pattern which could accommodate a panel for each of 10-15 artists depending on how many chose to participate in this project. As the Chapter recording secretary, Ronda Lanzi took the lead on coordinating the project and we were off and running!
Challenges During a Pandemic
We ended up with 10 intrepid members of our chapter agreeing to participate in the project. The artists are Lydia Bang, Denise Cahill, Calice Montesano, Susan Grant, Gloria Lanza-Bajo, Ronda Lanzi, Linda Parker, Suzanne Punch, Sissi Siska and Johanna Tiemann who range in experience from beginning silk painter to Master Silk Painter.
The question was how to coordinate this project completely remotely to maintain the health and safety of everyone involved? The tools we ended up using were email, Zoom, snail mail and, occasionally a text or phone call.
Finding 10 people a bit hard to coordinate for the design team, we narrowed that down to seven people and broke the project into parts that were headed up by one or two people.
Design Team
We decided on several key design areas and broke down the efforts in the following way. Calice Montesano would choose a color palette which would incorporate jewel tones and possibly a purple background. Denise Cahill, Suzanne Punch and Ronda Lanzi would create some sketches for possible design themes. Susan Grant would create a mockup of the garment in muslin. Gloria Lanza-Bajo would evaluate types of silk fabric and order samples.
We created a timeline for each component of the project and when decisions needed to be made and followed that at each of our remote meetings.
Choosing a Theme
After reviewing several great design ideas, we choose the theme of gingko leaves falling down to land and float on water. Then to make it even more challenging, we decided to make the background an ombre going from pink to purple to dark blue and black at the very bottom. Little did we realize how hard it would be to coordinate this gradation! Each person then chose which section of the kimono they would like to paint.
Color Palette
Our colorist expert, Calice, created several possible color
palettes and noted the names and manufacturer of each color. After we narrowed down the pallet, she painted each color on silk then cut it up into swatches with the name on each piece and mailed it out to each artist.
Since different artists used different dye manufacturers, matching the colors exactly proved to be a challenge. It would have been much easier if we could have mixed our colors and distributed them at a meeting but, during the pandemic this wasn’t possible. We ended up helping each other out with this process
Garment Design
Looking at the mockup in muslin on a form helped us to visualize how our design would be seen and what it would look like on a model. We discussed the idea of having a train, the length and shape of flowing sleeves, whether the kimono should be closed or not, lining fabric and color plus the overall dimensions. In the end, we reduced the volume of the garment so the design wouldn’t be folded and thus, easier to see. We also adjusted the dimensions of each piece so they would line up making the ombre more uniform and easier to achieve.
Fabric Choices
The choices seemed endless! Did we want the same fabric throughout? Weight? Finish? Patterned or not?
What about the lining? Should we buy it already dyed or dye it ourselves?
Finally, we chose a medium weight habotai silk with a lovely wave pattern and pre-dyed dark blue silk for the lining. Gloria ordered the fabric which was delivered to Susan to cut out each piece for mailing to the appropriate artist for that section.
Many Trial Attempts
Using various silk remnants, our artists did sample attempts at leaves and backgrounds. While not wanting to cramp anyone’s style, we did discover that we needed more uniformity in the size variation in the leaves as well as the shape and coloring. So we created several leaf shape templates to be used, a minimum and maximum size, with more green incorporated in the leaves at the top and more gold, brown and background color into the leaves as they floated downward and finally oriented to be touching and floating on the water which was to be indicated by the blue color and some swirls. In addition, we chose a medium brown colored gutta or background painting with clear gutta to have consistency in the gutta coloring.
Achieving Cohesiveness
In order to have each section flow into the next, Ronda and Suzanne created a template which showed who was painting each section, how the pattern of the leaves should flow and the dimensions for each color from top to bottom. This helped each artist know where to transition the ombre colors and how to place and orient their leaves.
Stitching it All Together
Once everyone had their piece painted, steamed and rinsed, they were mailed back to Susan for assembly. Even though the ombre wasn’t exact, the overall feel of the piece, the vibrant colors and the lovely flow of the gingko leaves delighted everyone. We did feel however that the leaves felt a bit disjointed and decided to let Suzanne, Sissi and Gloria add some metallic embellishment of branches and highlights on the leaves to further connect the elements of the design.
Embellishment
Sissi made a custom stamp to use to create a scattering of gold leaves and brushes were used to paint on branches in brown and create gold highlights on leaves and branches.
Kudos for an Honorable Mention from SPIN
The New York Metro SPIN Chapter is just delighted to be awarded an honorable mention for our kimono. We hope to be able to show it at the Festival in 2022!
Perhaps some other SPIN chapters will be encouraged to embark on a group project of their own?
Wilton, Connecticut Library Exhibition
During the month of September, 2019, 12 members of the NY Metro Chapter exhibited more than 60 pieces of original silk artwork at the Wilton, Connecticut public library.
The library provided a beautiful space for the exhibition with lots of natural light. The beautifully hung exhibition received many positive compliments for its great variety of styles and unusual techniques during the opening reception and the month-long showing.
Many thanks for member Ronda Lanzi, who arranged for the exhibit, and the library staff who managed it. Below are some pictures.
