When I first glanced this poorly dyed (lots of bleeding and smudging) linen batik in Muxiyuan, the large wholesale fabric area in the south side of Beijing, I saw beasts. I didn't see shapes that could be made into beasts, I saw beasts. My vision or imagination was so strong and clear that I actually thought it was screened with Jude-like (of Spirit Cloth) wild, soulful, imaginative beasts.
Maybe I just have beasts on the brain these days. I've been dreaming in beasts since beginning Jude's Sprit Cloth Contemporary Boro 2 online course, and it was about this time last year that I was creating a Chinese folklore inspired tigercat project for an enrichment program for migrant workers' children (see more in this post TigerCats at Human Capital Unleashed). Here's an example:
So, with beasts on my mind, I was delighted that this was a "remnant" of four or so meters, and thus I could purchase the coarsely woven, dyed cloth. Cloth in the market is usually sold only by the entire roll or bolt--typically 100 to 6000 meters--but remnants, sometimes beginnings or ends of rolls that have flaws, are often available. I washed and dryed the cloth and put it aside. Last night I picked it up and put a 12" square on my hoop.
This is my first creature (or creatures--is it a three-headed beast, or three beasts, connected?) from this cloth. More are sure to follow!
