Monday, August 09, 2010

Home and packing to move and to go to OZ

House and garden are progressing nicely....garden is booming. This little plant is called Chouy Mouy here, I called it Sensitive Plant when I knew it in Australia [there used to be one plant in the Sydney Botannical Gardens which I would always take my boys to visit we called it  the magic plant]
When you touch it, the leaves close up in front of your very eyes! Still delights me.
Madly cutting out circles for The Stitching Ladies to turn into little buttons- looks like confetti...and labeling and packing some of my Pukka Finds for sale at various locations when I am in Australia.

Generally I only buy new work- I believe in supporting living artists and crafts people so they can continue in their tradition....in the North of Vietnam are the Hill Tribes- they are very poor and have lovely things...they trade a lot in re-cycling their used garments...each year it is important to make a completely new outfit for all the members of your family....
I adore their fine work and so relaxed my rule, buying from variuos Hill Tribe ladies on the street. Unfortuneatly tourism has found the mountains but the people who most need to benifit from it,  the the local Hill People are being squeezed out by better educated and more enterprising people from the richer low lands areas of Vietnam...this trend has become shockingly obvious in the last year...so I tip toe around trying to make sure the money I spend goes into Hill Tribe People's hands.
And here is a  shawl produced in the mountains west of Hama in Syria; nearly since silk was smuggled  out of China this area has been an area of excellence, now there are very few people keeping the tradition. The family of Mohammed are all well educated, he is the local school headmaster and he and his children, all at University are committed to keeping the tradition alive- so weekends they produce silk, they have 10 local families also raising worms and they  buy all the cocoons and spend the year producing beautiful products. Father weaves the shawls on his pit loom and Mother crotchets the lovely lace edges...it is boiled for 3 hours to produce this lovely boucing silk shawls....really delightful work.
Lot of yummy Contemporary Kantha work from West Begal- pillow covers and lovely shawls....amazing stitching....it is a pleasure to fondle everything and label it and iron and get it ready to go....
Here are a  few strips of Ashanti Kenti weaving from Ghana, Praveen has one he uses as a muffler in winter, I can't stand the thought I still find winter rather warm....in Ghana many stips would be assembled to make a large wrap- the bigger it is the wealthier you must be...a big Ashanti gentleman dressed traditionally is a very imposing site- they are big blokes to start with and dressed to impact.

A few lovely Khatwa embroideries from Jharakhand- story cloths.
These are especially the Sujani embroideries I have really inspire me- I  love the idea of telling a story through your work; that is a theme informing me in the work I am ever so slowly working on in my personal practice....much to slowly but it is waiting  and I will have more spare time soon!

been looking at my mate Dawn's journals....stories in cloth and in an art journal could work very well together....can see a lot of potential. This caught my eye the other day The Sketchbook Project...I don't have time this year but it is on my wish list for next year- something to encorage me to take some time each day for the creative process...hmmm sounds good

Just re-read this and at the same time was thinking of making another expresso coffee- I think I have had enough for one day -was writing at machine gun pace- sorry about that....rushing around gets under your skin...oh well.
We are planning a few days holiday at the new house just before I fly...just hanging out at home, not going off to work at hotel and stitching project etc...just tinkering around and sleeping under the tree- need to get a hammock up!
wonder how Praveen will go, don't know if I can get him to turn the phone off....I have a few weeks to prime him yet before our 'holiday' in theory he likes the idea....ohh to dream :)

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