Benton County Historical Society is honored to host Karen Illman Miller: The Art of Katazome, a dramatic exhibition of unique fiber arts. The exhibition will be open May 1 through June 13, 2009. Please join us for an opening reception Friday May 1 from 5-7pm.

Since beginning the study of katazome, (Japanese stencil dyeing) in 1995, with the American master John Marshall, Karen Illman Miller has become an expert in this traditional Japanese dyeing technique. Miller produces art quilts, silk garment yardage, interior linens and indigo dyed cotton fabrics.

See Karen Miller on
OPB Oregon Art Beat

The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10:00-4:30.

Admission is always free!

Dragonflies
2008
An Oregon Field Guide episode on native dragonflies piqued my curiosity. When I got to looking at dragonflies closely I found that no matter what the body shape or color, the structure of their wings took only two forms. That greatly simplified the number of stencils I had to cut!

Red Clover
2009
Sunsets are colorful by themselves, but when the foreground is a field of red clover, Wow! This quilt is inspired by a photograph by Mark Ylen, and used with his permission. I saw it on the cover of the GT and posted it on my studio wall for four years, before I finally decided I just had to do it.

November Sunset Noren
2009

Having produced the stencils for the trees I think I have really become a student of the sky. The trees may not change, but the sky varies endlessly. The watercolors I use make the subtle gradations of color possible because I can really more the color around and fade it out to nothing if I want to. If you look south in winter you can sometimes see the moon rising just as the sun finishes setting. It took three noren (traditional door curtains) to span this sky.