Tuesday, June 26, 2012

In Which I Discover Oshibana

No, Oshibana is not an obscure fiber technique. Nothing to do with knitting, spinning, or any other fibery fun. Actually it's an art form that uses flowers and leaves, rather than wool -- defined in the dictionary as "the ancient Japanese art of making pictures with pressed plants." Sometimes it looks like this –


I picked the above example, because the shapes are so very obvious. Many Oshibana pictures are indeed that simple. Others, like the one below, are far more complex, and it's quite difficult to see enough detail to figure out where and how the various bits and pieces are used.


I stumbled upon this delightful art at one of our local arts and crafts fairs, tried desperately to resist, but could not. I bought this picture –


I was charmed by the almost Victorian look of the picture. And the lady waving at a ship reminded me of the years I lived on Catalina Island, where life is all about making it to the boat on time or picking someone up at the boat. The artist is Larissa Thaney of San Diego. She doesn't have much available right now, having sold so much at two different shows, but there will probably be more soon.

Of course this leads me to wonder if anyone has ever used yarn or fiber to make pictures. I know we incorporate pictorial motifs into knitting, crocheting, weaving, etc. But could one use actual fiber, arranged and glued down in some fashion, to create a picture? Could it be done? Or is this one of those things that should not be attempted?

4 comments:

Delighted Hands said...

Very pretty art going on here-glad you purchased one for the sheer joy of it. I would think that felting the fiber would give the detail and shape you are talking about-there is some amazing work going on in that field-give it a Google to view it.

Politics, Painting, Poetry and Ponderings said...

Oshibana is charm itself itn't it. And the one you purchased is wonderfully Victorian-esk. I bet you smile with every viewing.

I'd love to see if you get a response about yarn-art. I know there is a technique termed "batiquing" (sp?) that uses fabric and can be stuffed then glued and is a soft-sculptured hanging on a burlap background. But have never seen yarn-art.

Sharon said...

I like a middle ground, where I could actually still discern the plants presence.

Knitting Linguist said...

Ooh! What a lovely piece - I can see why you got it. I'd never heard of that particular art form before, but I love the examples you show here. As for yarn, I'm thinking that needle-felting would/could work this way?