shapeshifting in paradise

imagine a wild garden with twenty five ENORMOUS mango trees

[bigger than those oaks and buckeyes in California, to put them into perspective for those reading on the other side of the pond]

and

a rosa mutabilis, a persimmon, an abundance of citrus

ferns growing with weedlike vigour

bougainvillea, eucalyptus

Avril's garden was frankly heavenly and it was unalloyed joy to be in it for three days.

we worked on a beautiful porch

supervised by Winston

who sometimes found the responsibility exhausting

we had a quiet but curious visitor

who may have been attracted by the dressmaking tools

that were being made

[a whirled without string is a whirled in chaos]

i was introduced to the 'ice cream bean'

whose botanical name Inga edulis sounds like she could be Latvian :o)

there is fluffy stuff inside

which is fabulously delicious

 

 

the usual suspects

which opened up to

the 'shapeshifter' class really keeps me on my toes

because everybody arrives with different cloth

and their personal collection of pre-loved goodness

ready to transform 

and

it is my responsibility to make sure that everybody goes home happy

with something beautiful

the Dogs Above were kind

i wore my hoodie because it was cool

[i meant the weather, but the hoodie is too]

and that gave some people ideas

i usually frown on people bringing tumeric to class

but those yellow spots there

were from the home-grown variety

[curiously that fern print later oxidised to a golden brown]

 my grey cells had a lot of exercise

and

i had a very happy three days

thank you, everybody

in case you want to wrap yourself up...

just a couple of places remain

in the one-day wrapclass at the Grau Haus

as far as i can count on my fingers, the only other workshop places left this year

will be at Maiwa in September and in Portland in November

most all the other ones are taken

and

the diary is making squeaky noises and popping at the seams

so

it's highly unlikely i will be adding anything else to the schedule this year

especially if i am to realise that other project 

that's warming to a simmer

on the back hob

happiness + hey ho, hey ho, it's off to work i go

driving to the airport this morning

through swirling fog and mist

watching the dawn light break through to the treetops

i realised that what my work is about

is happiness.

i might be pootling off to teach people how to shapeshift in cloth

or make an ecoprint bundle, or felt a landskin

or magic colour into paper and make a book

but no matter what the subject of the class

the outcome is happiness

which comes from the magic that mother nature creates

when we set the stage in a certain way

by paying attention to small things

leaves, sticks, stones, a rusty bottlecap or a shred of aluminium foil

and wrap those bundles that are really presents to ourselves

and by coincidence, this morning's mailbox had something from
Zen Habits ...The Little Book of Contentment
you may want to have a look [confess i haven't read it yet
- will do that later in the day]

wishing y'all a happy day

....i'm optimistic for mine!

pescadero sloppy hoodie

i am going to be so snuggly warm in my hoodie

stacking rocks at dawn on the Atlantic coast next month

the photos [using shake-it photo app] don't really do it justice

[but they make old-fashioned polaroid noises come out of the batfone]

stitching a few shiny pearl buttons on

to ward off the evil eye [just in case]

and of course

there is a pocket for a poem

a mite overexposed...

carpe diem and a mailbox mystery

when i was much much younger

i thought that 'carpe diem' meant 'a fish a day'

[a bit like the doctor-deterring apple]

now i know it means something else and is quite Sagittarian.

[that Nike slogan 'just do it' sums us up quite well

and though it can sometimes lead to trouble

most times i find it a good plan]

anyhoo

when the Dogs Above were having me land stateside a couple of days early next month

i took it as a sign that they wanted me to do something there.

and when i floated the idea to my friend Claudia at the GrauHaus

she thought it showed signs of promise as well.

which means that if you're in Hollywood and at a loose end on the solstice  

you might like to join us for a day of play [and delicious lunch]

[if you're in Australia earlier in June, your playdate could have been found here, except that i just checked and it looks as though it could be booked out]

and thank you so very much to all those who took the time to comment on the previous post

especially if you had trouble with google and had to resort to trailing through the contact page on my website to encourage your pigeon to fly - it means a lot to me

awaiting a few more quotes from printers and then i shall be taking that big leap off the diving board

[fingers crossed no-one takes the plug out of the pool]

finally

i do love getting stuff in the mail

but

this one has my grey cells morris-dancing [with bells on, in nineteen different positions]

.... why is it that i can think of at least nine people whose hand-writing is just like this?

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thoughts?

 back in 2008, on the ides of January to be quite precise, I dipped my toes into the sometimes murky waters of the whirled of blogging for the very first time, posting a first experimental scrawl on the wall, just to see if [as I wrote then] the paint would stick and what sort of fish one might catch with it.

and I have to say that the fishing has been such fun. I’ve been frankly astonished that 1143 of you are swinging by regularly and delighted to meet quite a few of you out in the real whirled, at classes, exhibitions and the occasional conference.

 

The blog has given me a chance to share some roadpix, tell stories and sometimes rant a bit. [sigh. The latter isn’t really the most effective way to spend my remaining and precious days on the planet]

And when it comes to the crunch, reading a blog

involves scrolling down a screen. On a machine.

 

I’m a girl who likes turning pages, preferably with a delicious beverage in hand…whether that’s Bombay, Bourbon or simply a fragrant cup of Lady Grey tea [loose leaf, Twinings]…and while turning pages I also like to make marks on them. scribble in the margins. Underline. Maybe paste in something extra that I’ve found elsewhere. A smear of dark chocolate for fragrance [but only if the crumbs have fallen on the page, dark chocolate is meant to be eaten]

 

I like a book I can stuff into a small bag or a biggish pocket. Something I can build on in wanderings. Mutable, not fixed. Good paper stock. Something that makes me want to write and draw in it

 

So I am cooking a plan [y’all know how I LOVE to cook]. I’ll be launching it on the coming solstice [midsummer for those in the North, mid-winter if you’re in the South]

 

There will be actual pages. A good big handful of them.

They will arrive, beautifully bound, three times a year. There will be pictures

Stories from wanderings. Charms to murmur over the cauldron. [And in amongst the other treasures, those recipes you’ve been asking for…the ones for things to eat]

There may be

Precious pieces of ecoprint cloth and there will be patterns for things you will want to make and wear.

And of course other amusing [and useful] surprise presents because, frankly, presents are fun.

 

It means

You’ll be able to look over my shoulder while relaxing in your favourite armchair with a furry friend

or on a grassy hillside or while wriggling your toes in warm sand

or strapped into your seat while the captain is revving for take-off

But

Perhaps not while in the swimming pool.

 

The pages might get soggy.

So, what do you think? want to come along for the ride?

sustainable shapeshifting

i hit the ground the day before yesterday

running and dancing with excitement

that trip to New Orleans and NorCal was better than an intravenous vitamin B shot

today i sewed a shapeshifter dress - from a pre-loved bodice

and a pile of remnants, including a panel of silk pockets

that once graced Beautiful Silks' showroom

 i sewed another dress from an old silk curtain

and then

i made my Pescadero Sloppy Hoodie

by combining everything bar the ribbed waist bits

of three soft and fuzzy things 

[two were pure cashmere and the other a mix]

found at the Pescadero thrift store

[just across the road from my favourite taqueria]

there was one frustrating moment

when the thread on the overlocker snapped

and i found not one but two knots in it -

what is the point of tying in a tiny morsel of thread literally 9 inches apart?

 

the hood was once a vest

[the oil in the eucalyptus leaves i plan to use for dyeing will get rid of that pink]

i decided it was too short

so i added a big chunk to the lower edge

the sleeves of the garment that donated the extension

became a lovely big kanga-pocket for the front

which will be stitched on by hand

then all that remains is to add a little unifying pattern

but those are jobs for tomorrow

because

now

it

is

bedtime.

.

.

.

...

.........goodnight.........

...

.

.

.

the last 9 hours before the pond hop

on the beach at San Gregorio

no stones, so i piled driftwood

a favourite winding road

California poppies wild in California

Pacifica

i spend my last nine hours in California revisiting favourite haunts

driving familiar roads that take me back in time

stacking wood and then some stones - that pale one on the top

came in my pocket from Drakes Beach, near Point Reyes

and 

the third one down

was found perfectly split

i had a perfect and ridiculously cheap lunch

at the small taqueria that occupies part of the gas station

at Pescadero

across from the thrift store where i found a number of cashmere sweaters #

my friend Claudia gave me this white stretchy dress

one of a new series she is working on

it has great shape

and fabulous pockets

i stitched around the neckline while waiting for flights

[it won't stay white for very much longer]

there was an all too brief stop in Auckland
followed by a fabulous view of beautiful Awhitu

and then after a few more hours i was home
where someone was waiting
[and immediately took up her position on the suitcase]

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#  to be transformed into a big sloppy-joe/hoodie arrangement

with a big pocket across the front for my hands to meet in

and perhaps a tiny silk pocket on the back, just in case of notes.

i need something warm and soft and comfy for cool evenings

local colour in California

i've just finished teaching two classes in northern California

though only a couple of hours apart [in terms of travel time]

the colours we achieved were radically different

buckeye or California horse chestnut [Aesculus californica], a cousin of the conker [Aesculus hippocastanum]

at lovely Inverness, the local colour for May is very definitely green

from buckeye, wild carrot, nettles and ferns

punctuated by luminous reds and oranges from eucalyptus

[plants which can also be found there, though they don't belong]

...and a few slices of purple carrot 

inland [plotting a course east by north-east] at Loomis

the climate is warmer despite the higher altitude

and the flowering season well advanced on that of the coast

purple prunus abounded and eucalyptus flourish [weed-like] all over the place

 

 

the thread that ran through both classes

[and which runs through them all i think, no matter where they are

or what the exact focus of the class]

is the warmth and community that we share

when we retreat from the busy-ness of the whirled 

to bundle cloth and settle down to stitch

for however many [or few] precious days we have set aside

thank you 

Emma and Sharon at the Tin Thimble ["that could"]

Claudia and Pam [the Gorgeous Grau Sisters]

and all my lovely warm-hearted and enthusiastic students

for welcoming me to northern California

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where i am also able to indulge another passion

architecture of the Art Deco period