“Branches Formed of Clay…” Inspiration for Hand-hewn Hues
Ocelot is dyed by hand and constructed in the Ocelot workshop in San Francisco, using the shibori technique 'itajime'
Angelina DeAntonis, the talented designer and textile artisan behind Ocelot Clothing, and one of our amazing Green Gala 2011 Designers, shares with us some of her botanically based inspiration for her Garden created pieces.
The designer among the madrones
According to Angelina, her concept is to create garments that "incorporate modern, useful, rugged qualities with a feeling of being hand-hewn, and are illuminated by dye techniques involving natural dyes on plant fibers."
As she says, " Imagine the allure of clothing that forms to the body through use, work and activity, something of John Muir in Japan in the 21st century.”
Angelina creates deep hued colored textiles with her modern revival of the ancient shibori practice of itajame (fold and clamp resist dyeing).
She is drawn to the allure of the madrone and manzanita color pallete ”particularly the shades of rust-red, luminous green, bronzy-orange to chocolate brown-reds to be found.”
A madrone in the UC Botanical Garden's Collection
As Angelina shared with us so simply and elegantly regarding her deep awe for the madrone as a muse, "The branches seem to be formed of clay, malleable, bronzed.”
