It feels like about 3 years of stuff pushed into this year so far.
The year started off with a bit of a health worry for me, so lots of this and that and resolutions to take it easier....trying to get that to happen
Our Creative Camp was looming and it was to be a time out for me- cook lunch for our guests each day, otherwise see how they were going on the various activities we had lined up and see where they wanted to take it themselves.
3 weeks from the Camp we get a phone call from the family in Delhi, Impetuous nephew has fallen in love and wants a love match marriage- a small scandal!! but it can be coped with as long as the marriage can be arranged fast enough before he elopes! Oh yes he is a dear bubbly boy but we all know he is head strong and impatient.
So it is all agreed- unfortunately it will happen during the camp and Praveen will have to slip away for a few days but there is nothing we can do about it.
1 week later we get a phone call from Delhi Praveen's lovely sister Krishna, the mother of the groom has dropped down dead. How heart sick that makes me.....and Praveen will have to be away longer because more help will be needed to organize things. Once the promises are made and a date set it is bad luck not to go through with a wedding and Krishna would have wanted it.
whew....and we have visitors coming.
Luckily we had made the 2 trips up to Bagru to order blocks for the group and pick them up before this and everything was in place.....
Our group arrive- lovely.
One, who had a pre-existing condition but had thought she was fit enough to travel found out her pre-existing condition did not agree, the camp started off well enough for her but ended with visits to hospital and an anxious wait at the airport to see if her airline had suitable staff to look after on the flight home. I am so thankful now she is home and making a slow recovery I am told....at 1.00am in the morning after a very long day and 10 hr drive to Delhi, waiting anxiously outside to see if she could go or I would need to 'do' something in Delhi I burst into tears when the support staff came out and said they could look after her.
wow what an adventure.
Drama aside many things worked out well and we learnt about a few things we could do differently/ better/ change.
I had thought the Camp was a space to develop one's own ideas with the facilities we had to use. I had set up a number of activities to seed this and make sure there would be some tangible results.
Hence the starting experience with Sanju and her Sujani embroidery, embroidered shoes, the carved blocks, the visit to the indigo guy, and garments stitched by the workshop.
I had invited Dawn specifically to share her experiments with eco dye and her book binding skills. Dijanne was kind enough to show some of her quilts and talk about stitch and texture and building a piece from an idea.
Informally there was much discussion about ideas, developing them into work, moving from one idea to another, developing a body of work with an exhibition in mind....twists and turns with techniques already used, how other things could be included.
Some participants already have ideas for coming back and what they would like to follow up- more indigo, using the workshop as a base for independent projects as being away from home with a studio to work in gives time for focus and experimentation, travel to other areas of India to see even more indigo and stitch techniques, explorations!
A criticism was that we did not formally sit down and do some of these discussions....though they did happen?
More actual demonstrations should happen? hmmm still up to people to run with it.
I do want to create a space for people to explore...follow their own initiative but can see a little formality might help some to reach that zone.
So I think next time we will start with a 'meeting' of show and tell- perhaps just a brief talk about what one has done and what one would like to achieve during the week.
Make a list for those that need it of what they want to do during the week....I will write a few 'course notes' to seed explorations perhaps that will kick start things if anyone wants to use them....this time though in most cases that happened of its own accord.
We use the train as it is the fastest and easiest way from and to Delhi, it does make a Farwell dinner a little awkward so I think I'll add an activity in Delhi to give us a night at the end to have dinner and say good bye.... a session on discoveries and perhaps where it will lead?? I know I would like to see where some of the things that were started and talked of bare fruit.
Much to learn but a good idea worth developing further.
Mr Om our shoe maker
Zav helping print mud resist for indigo dyeing
ohh indigo...watching it dry is a fine time
hand made paper for journal making
elephants for Holi
The year started off with a bit of a health worry for me, so lots of this and that and resolutions to take it easier....trying to get that to happen
Our Creative Camp was looming and it was to be a time out for me- cook lunch for our guests each day, otherwise see how they were going on the various activities we had lined up and see where they wanted to take it themselves.
3 weeks from the Camp we get a phone call from the family in Delhi, Impetuous nephew has fallen in love and wants a love match marriage- a small scandal!! but it can be coped with as long as the marriage can be arranged fast enough before he elopes! Oh yes he is a dear bubbly boy but we all know he is head strong and impatient.
So it is all agreed- unfortunately it will happen during the camp and Praveen will have to slip away for a few days but there is nothing we can do about it.
1 week later we get a phone call from Delhi Praveen's lovely sister Krishna, the mother of the groom has dropped down dead. How heart sick that makes me.....and Praveen will have to be away longer because more help will be needed to organize things. Once the promises are made and a date set it is bad luck not to go through with a wedding and Krishna would have wanted it.
whew....and we have visitors coming.
Luckily we had made the 2 trips up to Bagru to order blocks for the group and pick them up before this and everything was in place.....
Our group arrive- lovely.
One, who had a pre-existing condition but had thought she was fit enough to travel found out her pre-existing condition did not agree, the camp started off well enough for her but ended with visits to hospital and an anxious wait at the airport to see if her airline had suitable staff to look after on the flight home. I am so thankful now she is home and making a slow recovery I am told....at 1.00am in the morning after a very long day and 10 hr drive to Delhi, waiting anxiously outside to see if she could go or I would need to 'do' something in Delhi I burst into tears when the support staff came out and said they could look after her.
wow what an adventure.
Drama aside many things worked out well and we learnt about a few things we could do differently/ better/ change.
I had thought the Camp was a space to develop one's own ideas with the facilities we had to use. I had set up a number of activities to seed this and make sure there would be some tangible results.
Hence the starting experience with Sanju and her Sujani embroidery, embroidered shoes, the carved blocks, the visit to the indigo guy, and garments stitched by the workshop.
I had invited Dawn specifically to share her experiments with eco dye and her book binding skills. Dijanne was kind enough to show some of her quilts and talk about stitch and texture and building a piece from an idea.
Informally there was much discussion about ideas, developing them into work, moving from one idea to another, developing a body of work with an exhibition in mind....twists and turns with techniques already used, how other things could be included.
Some participants already have ideas for coming back and what they would like to follow up- more indigo, using the workshop as a base for independent projects as being away from home with a studio to work in gives time for focus and experimentation, travel to other areas of India to see even more indigo and stitch techniques, explorations!
A criticism was that we did not formally sit down and do some of these discussions....though they did happen?
More actual demonstrations should happen? hmmm still up to people to run with it.
I do want to create a space for people to explore...follow their own initiative but can see a little formality might help some to reach that zone.
So I think next time we will start with a 'meeting' of show and tell- perhaps just a brief talk about what one has done and what one would like to achieve during the week.
Make a list for those that need it of what they want to do during the week....I will write a few 'course notes' to seed explorations perhaps that will kick start things if anyone wants to use them....this time though in most cases that happened of its own accord.
We use the train as it is the fastest and easiest way from and to Delhi, it does make a Farwell dinner a little awkward so I think I'll add an activity in Delhi to give us a night at the end to have dinner and say good bye.... a session on discoveries and perhaps where it will lead?? I know I would like to see where some of the things that were started and talked of bare fruit.
Much to learn but a good idea worth developing further.
indigo
in the market in Ajmer
slippers embroidered to one's own design
Inspired by Sujani....following anew course 
hmmmmmmm :)
