Tuesday, January 20, 2015

plots, plans and clever tricks...

Probably a mis-quote but a line from one of my boy's books when they were small and when Gillian is around ideas, inspiration and new works always abound.
Such a pleasure to have her here, busily printing and trying out ideas, spinning more ideas together.
Gillian is like me an early riser, so nice to have a little chat at 6.00 am when we both start work...my lovely Praveen does not function until a few hours after waking.
 
OOps something happened and I published halfway through....3 days with Gillian is way more than that!
Generous, she shared some secrets that she uses to give depth to here Ladies pictures...Derwent watercolour pencils especially for textile use.




We pack kits for Gillian- take a look on her website, she will explain it all far better than me.
Good for the gang to see what happens with all the strange odds and ends we pack and send. They were most impressed to see the books she had published and recognize some local views.
She came out with us to visit our Tawla Ladies, interesting to hear her observations later on the way we work....we are quiet exacting with quality, which is especially important in the beginning phases to impress upon Stitchers what we need to ensure all our work. We have lots of laughs through the process, keep it light but as Gillian observed it is exacting.

This simple picture speaks volumes about Gillian, she is incredibly hard working, 6 am and stuck in, all day busy experimenting in the workshop, catch every tourist opportunity and bubble of fun. Inspiring woman.
Take a look at these few snaps- my vegie guys are always quiet, polite and have the very freshest and best quality around...take a tourist along like Gillian with such interest and a cute little camera and they become movie stars posing for photos, discretely checking out the camera, impressed. You realise travel is not just about the sites, really it is about people....we may look different but friendliness and a big welcome come out the world over.
Whilst she was here, many discussions of her upcoming trip to Ghana- our friends Magie and Bob of the African Fabric Shop are there now, if you can't join us on tour to this Craft heaven, you can get a great fix from them. Stay tuned for her pictures next month.....oooohhh wish we were going too! Here are lots of pictures from our trips and other images to whet your appetite. Most of Africa would be wonderful to explore but for a tour we must be practical- look at stability, are there health concerns, infrastructure....Ghana comes up trumps on all these fronts, unlike many African countries unfortunately and has a very active craft scene. Must find time to go again soon. Do email us if you wish to be in the loop
And
and, and
Bucharest to Budapest - a new tour, we have all the info in place, lots of contacts etc we just need to do a walk through and check all details. Gillian got us enthused on this one and we are going to meet up July 2016 for a wander. It will be on the Agenda 2017. Yippee.
Really this is just a fraction of all we talked about, new plans for the future, new kits Gillian will have available, playing indigo and resist prints, just a lovely time having her buzz through our lives
BIG SMILES
 

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