Drawing out Beauty from Colors of Nature
Fukumi Shimura is designated Important Intangible Cultural Asset holder recognized for her high skills for ”tsumugi”, famous for Ohshima and Yonezawa tsumugi. Tsumugi originally refers to weaving thread that is thick and is gnarled, inferior in class to weaving kimonos. Compared to high class silk, the thread is not uniform and creates uneven roughness in the weaved textile, giving a unique texture. It was originally used to make work-clothes for farming, but soon it became popular for its simple look and people started to wear them for normal wear.
Timing is Just Before the New Moon
Shimura is also an artist for dyeing. Her unique technique for natural dyeing is highly appraised for having reached an artistic realm. She weaves the thread that she dyes herself. All of Shimura’s works uses abundant color, essences bestowed from natural plants, creating them into tsumugi, with a refreshing expression. She is now over 80, born in 1924, but still is working energetically with her apprentices and craftsmen. Shimura explains how plant dyeing has diverse colors depending on the season. Here we witness how she works in harmony with nature.
