Sunday, December 23, 2007

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!]







2 comments:

Lisa Walton said...

Hi Fiona - no photos have appeared although there are plenty of gaps for them (I assume). You are tempting me deliciously. I wish you all the best in your goals.

Erica Spinks said...

Fiona, many times I've been like that lady who wrote to you - wondering where you were and whether everything was alright. It sounds as if you are blooming! I am so pleased for you.