Benhizir Bhutto, us , waterlillies

30 December, 2007
I cried yesterday- Bhezir Bhutto shot dead!

What a world- everyone one is entitled to their own opinion and a safe chance to speak out.
How locked in, frustrated some must be that they think hurting themselves is the only way to make themselves heard. There lies great sadness on both sides of that act.

Until everyone on our Earth feels it is safe to speak out and they will be heard, perhaps also it is safe to listen to other people’s ideas as well we collectively have a long way to go.

I know I did not do it, you did not do it… most people we know would not do it, but those that did are somewhere along the line part of our family, we all have the same address= Earth. We need to look at our gestures, our thinking , what we turn a blind eye to as the first small steps to helping heal the Earth and all her people.

How philosophical… really that incident pulled me out of my small world of website building…and organizing details of my business so I can hand them on to others
[ delegate- interesting concept when you are used to being a one woman band!]
and I can have a bit of time to think of my studio…. I leave in a few days for a very busy 4 months … hopefully when I get back studio time.

I have really enjoyed this period of intense building [ I know the idea is good -hands on tours- but you must support any good idea with the hard work of organizing all the details]
You can’t just whack things together- you have to realise all the links between things, look at how to connect them up in as simple a way as possible – gosh it is just like life.
Keep it simple, but to do that you must be aware of what is involved!

Any suggestions from your experience about marketing would be greatfully appreciated, I am learning this side of things as I go.
Just like being an artist if you don’t show anyone your work how will you be discovered?
My photographer friend Ant Lynch just sent me through some images for the website[ he is teaching on a few tours for us- I can't wait to assist Parveen and I will act as host on that tour we will learn so much from him! and he is a great laugh as well!]- I love these, they just sum up Vietnam for me.

thanks

Gosh, thank you for the encouraging comments I have been receiving…

All has been going well- excellent in fact, just I have been running around like a chook without a head!

Creative juices have gone into producing a large body of work but not really of an artitic nature- although I do feel I am creating something unique.

Last night I was watching a doco on SBS TV – it was a great and inspiring story of the difficulties involved in putting a nativity play on in South London. Wonderful story of courage and hope as these young people extended themselves.

For me the views along the Thames reminded me of what is extraordinary about London. The river, its banks and some of the institutions along its banks are certainly what makes London special for me.
The mighty trees, Tate modern, The Tate, OXO Towers, a sense a space and the way the water rushes along….
Everywhere has a special ness, sometimes I find it hard to see what it is and can be a bit ho-hum about places. London is not, for me, a place that grabs me easily- no feeling of a hug or being embraced by the place at all- but then the English aren’t really that type of nation.
It is full of a richness, a wealth of experience and something…. A place to appreciate… and understand what it is you are appreciating, ..if I am lazy I can find it easy to become a bit cool, just apply a smattering of enthusiasm and things change though!

Here is a quote from someone in the documentary about the enormous undertaking they had taken on.
“First it seemed like mission possible,
Then reality started to dawn and it seemed like mission impossible
Then it actually happened!”

It was mission POSSIBLE after all- just needed perseverance and hope.

Have a great new year I hope it brings many rich opportunities for growth and happiness.

what's been happening?

A dear lady wrote today and said in the politest possible way- pull your finger out and don't forget the blog!

thank you,thank you, thank you.

for thae last few days I have been thinking of the blog- for some reason I can't put my finger on I do like writing it...I write things and post it - I have no sense of where it goes to and yet every so often some writes to me and I know of another connection I have in the world.

In a way it makes me realise how important the thoughts and actions are that one puts out into the world!

here I am in my office merrily typing away and yet unbeknownst to me I am contacting up with others. We are none of us truely isolated in the world- every deed impacts on some level, some where.

boy what big thoughts for a sunday morning!

September was my last posting- it feels like 3 life times ago- I have been so busy, India- fabulous tour, time for research for other interests

Parveen and I are planning a cooking tour which means eating out looking for the right restaurant, wandering markets, endless foody things.

If my day job is my arts practice, his the travel office in Delhi then our hobby is cooking- so it has been fantastic fun for us to plot and plan togther.

Parveen and I have also decided on where we would eventaully build a guesthose in India-

we can have cooking holidays there, I can have a studio and we can have visitors... just another year or two and I will call Rajsthan my place of residence! And ofcourse we can go off adventuring checking out more art and textiles across the world. India is a more cenral location for todling off- Australia is beautiful but in most instances is really a long way away.

we have aslo been to Vietnam- research for future adventures- such a wonderful place- if you world label India excitement then Vietnam would be peace or serenity.

such a contrast and the textiles were amazing- we had a ball.

I am briefly in Australia for Christams, the NZ for a summer school then India again- yippy!

we have been working on expanding our business- I love teaching but doing weekends and weeks all over the place gets very tiring, I also love travel and sharing new places with others

Parveen and I have been doing that in our tours and getting very good feed back so we are focusing on that and offering those types of opportunities utilizing the skills of other artists as tutors.

have a look at http://www.creative-arts-safaris.com/ for an idea of what I am babbling about...

the photos that will appear above are from Vietnam,

below is a post I wrote but did not get to publish.

I have been in some wonderful locations of late, had some great experiences and spent every spare minute huddled over the computer building a website- what a job! huge amount of work.

Parveen has had to listen to endless re-writes and help with content but I am the designated typer and like a designated driver it is a very sober experience!

oh well we are nearly through the ground work stage of our expanded enterprise I am looking to starting to have studio type daydreams again as I heard off on the next trip around the world....

2 December, 2007-12-02
I am sitting on the front veranda of my hotel, it is 6.30 am, rosters are crowing all around and out of the mist the most beautiful rock formations are staring to emerge.
This is Tan Coc in Vietnam’s north- an area renown for it’s natural beauty. The land is flat – it is part of the Red River Delta, rice fields abound, and all over the place these great forest encrusted mushrooms of rock have emerged from the earth, spectacular and yet a very peaceful beauty.

I came to Vietnam perusing my interest in textiles and boy! There is enough skill and tradition here to have you drooling for many a day!
The added bonuses though have been enormous, Hanoi is such a relaxed and elegant city to start from, the food is delicious and most special of all the people are so welcoming and friendly. Kam un means thank you and you find yourself using it thousands of times a day for all the little kindnesses showered upon you.

The night before last we stayed in a small village in a stilt house, our house was situated over the pond where fish were raised for dinner[ sweet, tender, delicate in flavour they are too!] The siting area looked past beautiful pink water lilies out across the rice fields to the surrounding mountains- bliss.

We visited a stunning national park and spent the evening with our friend and his family learning how to make Vietnamese spring rolls and then sharing a family meal- we are very lucky visitors.

I’ll include some pictures of rare beauty both of the natural kind and a piece of second hand textile that has been recycled out of a Black H’mong skirt [Vietnam is home to many ethnic groups each with their own distinctive textiles tradition- and all stunningly beautiful!]