The world of textiles has been Toni’s lifelong passion and inspiration. Toni instinctively knew that textiles, clothing, texture and color had an enormous impact on her and would be her medium of choice. Taught to sew at a young age by her grandmother, a professional seamstress, Toni began producing her own “one of a kind” clothing in an effort to express her individuality.
Studying various cultures textile techniques led Toni to the ancient art of Japanese Shibori. Shibori is the artful manipulation of cloth and then repeated hand painting with textile dyes and removal and re-application of dyes. Toni prefers to work on silk due to the lustrous quality of the fiber and how the dye colors interact with the silk.
Toni utilizes Arashi, Itajime and Te-Suji Shibori techniques for her work. Within each of these techniques there are unlimited variations of folding and compressing the silk that create distinct designs, each unique from the other.
Toni sells her wearable art under her company name of Slo Silkworks. Her work has been displayed at the SLO Museum of Art, and the Mingei International Museum in San Diego.
See Toni's magnificent silk work in our front window for the month of December.
