Gloria Barbre Media:  Fiber (Shibori, silk painter) Studio:  210 (click for map location) Phone:  703-548-2210
Intarsia Raincoat	Shibori Wrap	Tiffany Raincoat

Gloria Barbre works in both silk and microfiber. Her microfiber coats are raincoats with inserts of multicolor microfiber in various patterns that are breathable and water repellant. Barbre also paints silks using various techniques. One of her specialties is "resist dying". "Resist dying" is the layering of dyes on silk so that colors sparkle from the very light to dark. Colors are resisted by various means in the dying process. Her experience with batik, using the wax resist technique, while in Paris (where she learned batik) gave impetus to her love of layering color upon color.

In the 1980's, Barbre began working with another resist technique. Instead of wax resist as in batik, it's a handpleated traditional Shibori Japanese resist technique. Shibori is the Japanese word for a variety of ways for embellishing textiles by shaping cloth and securing it before dying. Shibori gives cloth a three-dimensional form by folding, stitching, twisting, and binding. The special characteristic of Shibori resist is a soft blurry edge. It is the beauty of colors hidden between the pleats when slightly open that makes this technique a constant joy and surprise. Dye can be applied before, during, and after pleating.

Barbre's work can also be seen in Studio 14 in the Torpedo Factory Art Center, where she also shows jewelry and handpainted silk scarves.