Bark Cloth and Joe

I went down to west L.A today to see a couple of exhibits before they leave town.  The first stop was the Craft In America Study Center http://www.craftinamerica.org/studycenter/story_498.php where I saw a small exhibit of Joe Cunningham quilts. This center has been in L.A for 3 years and this is the first I've heard of it.

 It's small, so there were only a few quilts on display, but having seen Joe The Quilter's http://www.joethequilter.com/ work from afar, I wanted a closer look.  I had never been able to figure out how he got those nice, clean circles. Bias Tape. Who Knew?  I was a little disappointed at how simple this was.

His stitching is wonderful, and from afar, I really like them, but the bias tape thing really threw me.

I made up for my disappointment by buying this little container.  Next we went to the Fowler Museum at UCLA to see this exhibit http://www.fowler.ucla.edu/exhibitions/current , I was interested in the Second Skins exhibit of bark cloth from New Guinea and Central Africa.

No photos were allowed, so I got these off the internet.

Aren't these amazing. There was a short video showing how time consuming this is to make. For the black ink, they have to chew a leaf and they use the spit to make the color. Makes me thankful for my mx dyes and paints.