Tuesday 12 September 2017

where did the day the week the year my life go?

the title of this post is running like an earworm in my head.


since we last met
I have been in the west of Scotland
and also in the west of Australia


both beautiful.





I took a few days on my own after teaching at Newburgh (the two reddish pix are details of 'shibusa felt', followed by printed paper and then some stitched and dyed organic eri+cotton cloth (acquired from Maiwa)



we had students from all over the whirled...both coasts of the USA, as well as the south-west, Australia, New Zealand , the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland, as well as lovely locals.
all gathered together in happy community around a dye cauldron
(and the delight, for me, of bilingual teaching...good practice!)




then I sailed for Harris
where I exhumed last year's bundle
and made a small film
and thought about music


it was hard to tear myself away
but journeying through the Wester Ross brought other delights
notably the extraordinary Inverewe garden, just north of Gairloch
where I spent a happy morning dodging midges


before driving onward for a glorious studio visit
exploring common ground with my friend Kerstin Gren


home again
I was called west, to the Dryandra Woodland
where we had to step carefully, with tiny orchids underfoot
and were required to apply for a permit to gather windfalls
(which, technically, all leaf printers in Australia gathering anywhere that is NOT private property, are legally required to do)



and where we found the perfect pot, with only one small leak that was successfully plugged with clay, scraped from the edge of a nearby dam


now I'm home again, briefly
and thinking about next year.

because I can no longer teach in the USA
(the current regime is not keen for wandering dye-stained gypsies)

those who wish to spend time with me
may like to hop the pond to Scotland (November next year) where
plans are afoot for some new explorations (details to follow)
or
or Norway (September)
when I shall be adventuring with Arts and Cultural Travel



5 comments:

  1. This all sounds/looks like a beautiful film India. I was very happy to meet with you in Tilburg.....

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  2. Just catching up on blog reading--You can't get a visa for USA? I am so embarrassed that my country has turned into this awful place. Is there anything we can do to help you get a visa? I've never studied with and can't really afford to but I want you to have the opportunity.

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    1. unfortunately the USA requires me to have letters from employers ...I have been freelancing since 1986.
      also they want me to submit ALL previous passports...again, gonna be tricky as the first four were burnt in a bushfire in 1983. is just too hard.

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