Excerpts from
The Intimate Stitch: Blueleaf Shibori
Jane Callender

Recorded at the 2007 Maiwa Textile Symposium on October 14, 2007

“Shibori is a test of faith - one invests hours of stitching, blind as it were, before the ‘thought’ is revealed at the end of the process. I enjoy cloth, for with shibori one is so utterly and completely involved in the activity of managing and organizing it. I also enjoy sewing, for there is a challenge in that seemingly endless and prohibitive sea of fabric to conquer. I find completeness in symmetry – no matter how intricate, how complex – it conveys an order, a calm, which greatly appeals.” - Jane Callender

Join master shibori artist Jane Callender as she describes her development and artistic influences: from her grandfather’s Egyptian garments to William Morris and tutor Susan Bosence. Now steeped in her own successful artistic practice, she reflects on the roads that have brought her to the present day. These are interesting roads indeed, ever varied and strange. Here is an evening full of visual delights, tiny details, and sudden insights – not to be missed.

Jane Callender

Jane Callender was born in Penang, Malaya, to a mother from Kashmir and a father from Egypt. Early childhood was spent following her father as he managed rubber plantations on the Malay Peninsula. From these diverse origins, the family returned to England where Jane specialized in indigo and shibori stitch resist while at the West Surrey College of Art and Design, Farnham. She also studied block and screen printing, complementing these skills with silversmithing, pattern cutting, dressmaking, and tailoring.

In 1996 she won the London Arts Board award for Individual Craftsperson. Her new shibori textiles were exhibited at the Barbican. “Indigo Squared” was exhibited in the Art of the Stitch. In 1999, she was invited to exhibit two pieces at the Shibori Symposium, Harrogate – “Trellis” and “Sea Moss.” In 2004 she gave a presentation of her work entitled “Surfacing with Shibori” at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Jane’s work was also included in the exhibition Indigo at the Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, England, from January to April 2007.

In 2003 Jane branched out again and founded her own company, Callishibori. The company produces a series of ingenious kits which capture the essence of Jane’s technique in a collection of small, easily managed projects. To view her work visit www.callishibori.co.uk.