Saturday was the much-anticipated visit of the Japanese weaver Fukuko Katsuura to my studio!
This was a huge honor. Ms. Katsuura is 88 years old and came along with her son Hidefumi and his wife Frances, as well as my friend Liza and her husband Michael. And weaving pal Tien was able to come as well, and bring her work along for show, which was wonderful!! And though Carlos had a band rehearsal later, he was able to spend an hour or so with us.
I had been very worried that my Japanese would be too rusty, and it really was; however Liza and Hidefumi were tireless interpreters.
We all had tea or coffee, and then show and tell. Tien showed her amazing textiles first, including the legendary Kodachrome Jacket and Matching Tam, and several of her bright and beautiful shawls, and even a couple of swatches and photographs of her wedding dress, for which she herself had woven the elegant silk fabric. I showed the Box of Beauty, all the habutai from generous Bryan Whitehead in Japan that I got last year and spent months and months dyeing.
After that we all piled downstairs to the studio. Ms. Katsuura even wove five or six shots on the current warp, the Ocean-Born Mary scarf warp.
After that we all went to lunch in the Castro and Mamaji. Wonderful!!
After that we all went to lunch in the Castro and Mamaji. Wonderful!!
The first two photos are the samples after wet-finishing. The teal weft and the violet weft came out the best, though the real gold from John Marshall also looks spectacular!
The second two photos are of the samples still on the loom. 
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