kay sekimachi/

Yesterday I mentioned Kay Sekimachi's wasp nest in her living room. But look what she can do with the paper from a wasp's nest. I love this picture because it one of Kay's wasp paper bowl's with one of her late husband, Bob Stocksdale's hand turned wood bowls. I think of it as kind of a portrait of both of them. And I added another image of more of Kay's work just for fun...

kay sekimachi/fiber artist

All over Kay's home are beautiful little groupings of found objects from nature and artwork by friends. This first image is what happened to one of her perfect little arrangements when I walked by too quick....whoops!

See how it was originally arranged below.

kay sekimachi/fiber artist

Last Thursday and Friday I began my new project on American craftspeople. There is such a resurgence of craft right now, but I feel like much of it is really trendy with no knowledge of the incredible tradition it comes from. Kay Sekimachi is a master fiber artist. She is in her 70's I would guess and still works everyday at the loom or on other projects in her home studio. I am continuing the work I started with Handcrafted Modern, documenting houses, so I shot the entire house. But today I thought I would give you all a little taster of Kay's work. These are all hanging in the upstairs loft studio. I have included a detail of this long hanging piece. It is made entirely of fish line. The result is incredibly beautiful. It almost feels like some amorphous creature from the sea....

kay sekimachi/

Pic of the day. One more from Kay Sekimachi's home in Berkeley, CA. What is it about this photo that I love so much...I keep coming back to it.

The woven piece on the wall is from Japan.

kay sekimachi/

I have been thinking quite a bit about craft lately. It seems to be very of the moment, but also harkens to the past in so many ways. In particular, I have been thinking about pottery and fiber arts. Why you might ask? Well, the answer is easy. Tonight I went to an open house at Greenwich House Pottery and a couple of weeks ago I met with Kay Sekimachi at her home in Berkeley and saw many of her incredible pieces that she has made on her loom and through other knotting techniques (I hope that is the right way to phrase that...). Thought I would share an image from my quick scouting photos of Kay Sekimachi's home. I will be returning to do a proper shoot in the coming weeks and really cannot wait. These necklaces are from a series Kay is working on where she incorporates pieces she has collected on a beach in Hawaii (wish I could remember which beach!) over the last 40 years.