Sunday again

I think the only way I keep track of time is noticing the Sundays as I  am at the workshop again.
I had a date with indigo, the henna leaves have been cooked but had to put it off until this afternoon....
Workshop again.
We work like crazy but just can't get far enough ahead... So Bulbir my pattern guy and I are in for half day, the builders are here for full day.
I am perched on a stool in the corner of our lovely, freshly renovated cutting room, extra fans installed make a nice breeze and typing on my phone.
If I don't go upstairs and turn the computer on, perhaps I am not so much here.
Samples are for Anjelms... So looking forward to seeing this all come together. It is going to be a strong collection. Keep your eye on her. It is a little last minute but we've got set dates now for next range so there is not the pressure and she will be ready to start chasing wholesale. Contact her if you are interested.
We've stitched for Gaelle for quiet a few years now, really appreciate a kindred soul around fair trade, sustainable production and heritage techniques and her warmth and encouragement. She is such a hard working member of her community. She sets the design agenda... we support with ideas on how to bring it off.
This week has been busy.
Got off the train from holiday.... all 1 free day of it ! At 6.00am and was in the workshop by 8.00am!
My grandmother Chalton was great on bon mot and used to say "no rest for the wicked" wish I could remember what I did, and do hope it was fun because I am certainly running double time now.
NAN C always made things fun. Even as a little kid if she wanted you to stay clean while she got ready to go out, she would challenge you to a statue contest. Just how long before you move?
I really appreciated her kindness in my life ( better than the slap I would have got at home (: ) and it taught me to look for fun as an approach. So we work incredibly hard but Praveen and I have a lot if laughs along the way and generally instil that into our gang. Some days a strict boss needs to growl but generally not often. Yeh

I have been sort of vague for a while over enquiries for workshops with us, interest is increasing so we spent time this week writing up some offerings.
Look at the studio link on our websites.  Got a few more ideas to add in as I sort out photos and info sheets.... must have been so, so wicked haha!
Pricing it is so hard... there are materials to cover, easy enough but I also have to allow for my time and staff time pulled from other jobs.... It adds up a bit but I think it is fair.
I know we offer a good experience to people and they are welcome to hang around and soak up the ambience. Our workshop is a great place to sit in the corner and fiddle and watch everything happening.
I hope to have more time for that one day. Haha.

Summertime

I remember the old song... beautiful woman's voice. I wonder who?
"Summertime and the living is easy....."
Not quite like that here....days are 40+ and nights around 30. Just charming.
What us good is we are home and not having to run too far for a while.
We have survived the huge wedding of Praveen's eldest.

He was run ragged but as his wife not mother of bride or anything I only had to swan around and enjoy myself.

Which I did.

Everyone's finery was amazing, and all the carrying necessary for a flashy Indian wedding unbelievable.

Never thought I would see my old man in a turban and I felt flash in a silk sari, although it took ages to get on because it was so slippery.

 Entry was via a long corridor all pink and pretty with lots of sparkly lights, in fact sparkle was the theme, sparkly lights hanging from the giant tree up one end.
Here weddings are held in open air gardens, the grounds all carpeted, a huge stage one end for the groom to sit on a throne and wait for the bride to arrive.
there is a dance floor and lots of teenage boys being silly, a huge area with all types of food set out and you wander and graze, an airy gazebo with many comfy lounges cooled by floor fans that had sprays of rose scented water being dispersed by them....lovely

 The lounge,  up on one wall was a giant screen and wandering a few photographers and video cameras....we are going to get hours and hours of film of everyone there.....ohh joy oh bliss, I will get to sit through it all at least once....haha

Finally after midnight Pretti, the bride arrived, she was escorted by many of the family under a canopy dripping with jasmine flowers....

You know how a western wedding there is a tall cake with model bride and groom on top...well Indian style there is a central stage the bride and groom mount and there the first step of the wedding ceremony starts when they exchange giant rose petal necklaces or mala.

To the sound of conch horns and bells the stage started to slowly spin, poor Pretti got quiet a shock and lucky her groom was so responsive he caught her and steadied her.

The most amazing thing was this giant leaf blower thingy that showered the whole area in rose petals.

what a fine time we all had.

I finally got to meet so many of the extended family....let me say SSSSOOOO many of the family, boy does Praveen have some relatives!!

It was lovely, my Hindi is limited but friendliness and warmth is easy to share and I was handed around everyone.

I had a truly lovely time and got dropped to my hotel at 3.00am.
Praveen and the immediate wedding group moved back to his mother's house where there we many hours with a priest and fire....poor man he was in tears by 8.00am as she finally left to her husband's house.

so that was a week or 2 ago, we are home, sweating and back in the workshop, working like crazy.

We need at least 2 more professional machinists- do you know anyone.

A woman Muna started a few days ago, I don't want to jinx it...it is so hard to keep women machinists on staff but she does seem very professional in her ability, no training needed and I DO hope she is a keeper.

work, work, work and I want to find the time for a few new samples I am imaging...

Quilts almost ready

almost a quarter...and

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

indigo

in the market in Ajmer

slippers embroidered to one's own design

Inspired by Sujani....following anew course 

hmmmmmmm :)

 

Last minute= million details

 Last Friday we had a party for our departing students - it was great we invited all our Stitching Ladies and Nandu our Block Print Madam and the gang from the workshop....wonderful to have all our ladies in one place and celebrate how special they are to us...and what a big team we are all becoming.
Present time- a gift for Papu-ji from the girls for being amazing in the workshop...keeping everything going AND stitching a million samples for the girls....and for Praveen and I a donation to kick start our library.
Hope Initiative is at the fiddling around with paperwork...how do we register it here???
Good question we are onto it.
We are starting our with a library- it will all be in boxes and can be throw in the car and taken from one school or village to the next. If you can read a little, with books it can become a lot! If you can read you can learn anything!
One day we will have bricks and mortar as a base and a computer centre but 1 step at a time.
Name of the library Kitab= Books [ kitab is Hindi for books we will label in English and Hindi and to start have mostly Hindi books]
Glad to feel we have a clear direction...we want to work on girl's education as well but that is a big challenge, we are talking to some groups who have a lot more experience and working our way into that idea.

 Our lovely Manju checking our some of the students work

 A whole heap of our Ladies with Sanju from Bihar our Sujani embroidery teacher in the middle.

I had a whole heap of washed saris there to go to the workshop they were a brilliant ice breaker with the Ladies dressing the students as proper Indian women....many, many laughs.
Ohh what a good day :)

team building

 We don't have fancy seminars here on team building, instead we haul 400kg pieces of machinery about the place.
We have a brand new generator- indepenece from black outs- yeh!! but oh what fun trying to get it into place.....first lots of contemplation

 Then a blessing- swatchstika for good luck, long life and prosperity, a dab of sweets to the Gods first to share the sweetness of life and the red bow to bind prosperity to us - yes please!!

 Baba thankful he does not have to help....

 much tean effort grunting and communicating to get it in place- and we did finally!!

 Baba in camel dream land....far removed form our earthly struggles....

 Christmas day was spent very productively visiting some of our stitching ladies, paying for work and sharing prosperity around- lovely day.

 One of our ladies Setan, is not a good stitcher but she does need work- as a widow she is quiet desperately. Luckily we discovered her ability with funda [or camel flowers as I call them] and so she made us these ropes of flowers to go on our moon bag....unfortuneatley she went a bit rogue and did not get the spacing right so they won't fit and they were very late.....oh well they are lovely, lovely and I want to string them all over the house.....

We will just have to add flowers to the bags by one, by one.
We will try Setan again with a new slant on getting the spacing right- who knows what might happen?
Happy New Year to everyone, may the coming year be full of learning and realizations, happiness and adventures.
love and best wishes from Fiona and Praveen

Stiching Women's Stories

Ohh it has been busy, but finally feel I am getting somewhere, this week has been lots of office work [necessary for the fun side of being on tour], sorting out supplies for a few people, and grading patterns for all the designs we get produced for Leafy Seadragoon Designs http://www.facebook.com/leafyseadragons. That is a long slow task and the good side of it is have plenty of time for daydreaming!

I have been daydreaming particularly of my next piece of work...

I have a little bag of treasure from Marion of Beautiful Silks, it is white pre-felt and it will become the glue of a piece I have wanted to make for some time and the core of a workshop. I am working for Beautiful Silks in October http://www.beautifulsilks.com/workshops/fionawright.html.

The workshop is called "Stitching Women's Stories"...it has been something I have wanted to explore for some while so when Marion invited me I was thrilled, nothing like a date to get the mind focused.

This is also a great theme for a workshop for The Pukka Studio [our home]- we see it as a place for groups to have a work space whilst exploring much that Rajasthan has to offer...and we have some discussions already underway for groups to come here and take advantage of a home [and studio] away from home.

Here is the bag of pre-felt calling to me...the theme of the workshop is universal we all have a story [or two] inside us...here is a format to portray it...it is good to reflect upon our Stories too and see the silver lining to events in our life.....

Of course so much of what I see here in India's textile traditions has a big influence in the way my thinking is going for formating the lay out. This little piece of Khatwa embrodery is a simple picture [this is the piece iIam keeping out of my stash of them as it tells the story of a group of embroderers coming to Delhi to sell their work- see Pukka Finds]

Traditioanl Kantha work tends to have something, usually a lotus in the centre to connect to the Gods, and markers in the 4 corners, again often relating to the Gods and then images to relate to their story over the rest of the field. This is all brought together with lots of hand stitching to create a very dynamic feel to pieces. Look at the front page of the book Handmade in India [a fantastic reference book by the way, for anyone interested in Indian Handicrafts and where to find them]

Contempory Sujani work which has come from that origin is vey lively and full of symbols and images relating to contemporary life, a few self -helpgroups use them as a bsis for education as well- so many things to digest...all mulling around in my heart and head....I am going to make the base for my work out of a felted silk and wool sandwich [a big step away from tradition many of which started with re-cycling]

 1. because I  like to felt and

2. thinking of sharing this in a workshop- it will give us a dynamic surface to work into, without needing millions of hours of stitching; a dynamic surface that will be all the better for our stitching and can be got to a certain point where it can be used and more stiching added as time and desire arrive.

Praveen bought back more stocks of threads from Delhi, when I stack them in my Studio I feel like the scrouge of No8 Anchor threads, sitting on a mountain of them! They will soon turn into a mountain of panels ready to go out and be transformed  with the next person's layer of imagination!

The Stitching Project has its ups and downs as you may have guessed form my last post, but on the whole is a very postive initiative.

Beautiful Silks

Just made a very quick visit to Melbourne to visit my friends Marion and Elephant of Beautiful Silks. http://www.beautifulsilks.com/index.html
We had a very busy programme of plotting and planning on many fronts
1. was a workshop I am teaching for them later in the year http://www.workshops.beautifulsilks.com/fionawright.html
2. discussing ideas for products produced by the Stitching Project- Pukka Compnents http://www.our-pukka-place.com/thestitchingproject.html
3. starting to plan a tour to take in Textiles and development work with the group she works with in Mandya....[and I have other friends working with some fabulous women in Bihar....could develop a real theme here- just need to wait until I get home to work this out with Praveen....things to do!]
4. mostly though I seemed to spend my time drooling over her shop!...talk about kid in a lolly shop! and permission to grope everything except the husband---pretty good!!
so have a look at somelovely textile porn...this is not a paid advertisement just drooling

Picture above is the shop dummy, but not so stupid, hanging out there waiting to invite you in.

lots and lots of wonderful things....

lots and lots of beauttiful colours

dolls galore made by the Women's group she is associated with in Mandya

shelves of silks, silk bits and wool all ready to play with

They get some of their yarns amde especialloy for them....that wiggly one called a silk cheille felt sensational!!

and source other things for far and wide....this recycled sari silk year is the nicest I have come across, very soft and light so if you knitted a vest or top it would not be too heavy

and colours gorgeous
In house dying to produce a beautiful range of silk products- felters heaven

all that drooling makes you hungry and morning tea was delicious pastires- yum!

I had lovely coloured dreams last night...this shop is up there with my 3 best textile fixes in the world!

NZ

Finally made it to New Zealand after missing my connections for every flight along the way- what a stresser!!
Still here now, got to hang a few of my finished pices from the series "The writing is on the wall" at the tutors exhibition. great to see them in a gallery, quiet pleased to be working again in the studio after such a long break.

Wanganui Summer School opf the Arts is a wonderful experience, good students- working well, good facilities and very well organized..all in all worth the effort to get here...

Delhi, NZ, Oz and then Ghana here we come!!

Just running out the door, getting a million things sorted and left here and there for projects to continue while we are away.
This is my studio and the pic encapsulates ourlife at the moment....some studio work being finished off, my latest series "The Writing is on the Wall".
I have been taking pictures of Grafitti from all over the world for one of my sons [it is so fascinating once you start looking, some of it is over 1000 years old and is in Berber carved into a 2000 year old Roman temple wall- technically still grafiti]
Anyway it, along with the class I am about to teach Text and Texture in NZ, grafiti and writing seems to be large in my mind...these works were made mostly during the fiasco of a conference in Copenhagen...really I felt like I was sceaming- think, do something, change!!!!....anyway my personal beliefs...
Under that is things for posting the etsy stuff I sell; another great milestone, Kunal our assistant will be looking after that while we are away....I have heard of delegation for years, but always done things myself [touch of a control freak?- don't ask my kids]...now we are starting to get some people around us who are really helpful- boy is it good!...can't wait to be able to hand more office work over!
Behind the etsy is our small, small pile of boxes of No 8 Anchor thread we use for The Stitching
Project, in another room is a big pile of sorted and paired up saris to be transformed while we are away....so proud to see that pile of thread, somehow it encapsulates the headway we are making

Life is so busy but full of small triumps for us these last few weeks...and here is another one, parsley. India has the most amazing array of fresh foo; one thing that is not common at all is salad herbs of the green and leafy variety, possibly because the monkeys like them so much...plan B has been to grow them in pots in protected locations and last night's dinner had our first proper Australia salad- yum

More of our friends, some of my oldest friends were visiting us from Sweden- for the pleasure of being with us and being in India and to plot and plan. They are fabulous caterers - Groovy Food in Gotenberg, and we are plotting and planning they will bring some clients with them next time to share what we always do together- COOK!! They have the most wonderful Kitchen in Sweden...we hope to have something to rival it by the time they next visit.

We are just negotiating on a block of land with fruit trees and old farm buildings on it...looking very promising - will definitely be the home of Our Pukka Studio and Cooking Classes...say a little hpeful prayer for us.

Our friend Panalal helped Rory order this wonderful Nehru suit- doesn't he look dapper?

bye for now we are off on new adventures!