The class started with an introduction to Kenichi, who didn't speak much English but was very kind and eager to teach us his techniques. We then moved on to our first test, which was creating a flat bamboo weave with a star pattern. He held up his example, and it looked very simple. Little did I know, I would be struggling with this "basic weave" for an hour and a half! Our directions were written in Japanese, so we had to focus on the images of each step to understand what to do next. Kenichi (bless his soul) walked circles around the room to make sure each student was following the steps properly. As I mentioned before, his English was limited, so if we were doing something wrong (as I was each time he came to me), he would just say "change" and point to what we needed to fix. The simplicity of his criticism was nice and almost humorous at times. This weave was more complicated than it seemed, but after awhile, I got in a groove and was able to finish my design out strongly.
After lunch, Kenichi showed us some of his actual work. When I heard he was a bamboo weaver, I assumed this meant that he weaved baskets. He actually weaves bags, wallets, bowls and other fashion/home items. When I saw his handwoven bags, I was blown away! The intricacy of his weaving patterns was incredible to look at and try to figure out. My favorite part of his work was the dyeing involved in his process. Some of his bags were different colors like blue and green, and he needed to go through a specific dyeing process to achieve his colors. After gawking over his pieces for about a half hour, we moved back into our workroom for our next project.
As soon as he said that this next project would be harder than the first one, I knew I had to step up my weaving game. This project was very exciting because we learned how to create a flower charm out of a reed similar to bamboo, which is something I didn't even know could happen. Creating the charm was very tedious- we had to take strips of reed, soak them in water to give them flexibility and weave them together by hand. It felt like a magic trick to me because we had to create something so intricate and beautiful out of what felt like thin air. After struggling for two hours, we finally finished our charms, and they looked beautiful! I'm so happy I took the time to learn a new skill and open my eyes to a new form of art. It doesn't hurt that I now have two new pieces of art hanging in my room!
Flat Bamboo Weave
Woven Flower Charm
This sounds like an excellent seminar! When I lived in Japan for five months I was taught Shodo (Japanese calligraphy) by a local professional. His english was very limited as well, and he was as hard on me as the Japanese students. Mouri seems very fair in his critique, unlike my teacher. My sensei would often smile, say " No, no, no" and simply throw my work into the trash. In the beginning my inability to keep up with the class and trashed attempts irked me, but much like you I was able to get into a groove and just crank out the work. It's no wonder Mouri's personal work is extraordinary; In my experience I observed that Japanese people take very great care and love in their crafts, which are often nothing short of amazing. Your final woven items look great! It sounds like a great experience in maneuvering language barriers and putting in hard work!
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