gardens of the heart

staying at home for the summer has made so much sense.

it's given me the space (and grace) to play :: to make new work and to dream new ideas.

in January I made the wee book 'bagstories' and was stunned to find the welcome it received, and then delighted to see how the 'bagstories' group (on Facebook) so quickly became such a lovely supportive gathering of like-minded spirits.

that foray has led to me deciding that I should make a February project every year. Also, at long last, I will offer distance learning for those who suffer physical, geographical and/or economic difficulty in getting to a class.  more on that very soon.

but for now, let me tell you about 'gardens of the heart'...a  project in poetry and cloth that will culminate in an exhibition for the 2019 Adelaide Festival Fringe, that I am coordinating with the h.ART group who have been the backbone behind the establishment of an Artspace in the old Onkaparinga Woollen Mills in Lobethal, South Australia. You can sign up via the Facebook group, or (if you aren't on fb) leave me a comment below (or email me) and I will assign you a 'line number'. Why line numbers?

it's because 'gardens of the heart' is based on the three-line poetry that I have been sharing with students in recent years...which results in collaborative aleatory poetry...beautiful words gathered by chance from groups of (three) people.

each person stitches their line along a piece of cloth (450mm x 150mm  :: 18" x 6") together with the number of dots they've been assigned.

then all the pieces will be stitched together by me (and some friendly volunteers) next February to form three-line poems, which will be installed at the Woollen Mill Artspace in Lobethal, South Australia together with a cloud of suspended flowers.

are you in?

'gardens of the heart' group

the fabulous book I am reading right now

a link to the person who suggested reading it

email me to join the project (if you aren't in Facebook)

look deep into the heart of a flower

photo by Christi Carter

if you bother to follow this blog then i probably don't need to spell out my thoughts on politics...suffice it to say that given my family history
and the stories i have been told by both sets of grandparents
each of whom chose exile over compromise
the results of the American election
coincidentally announced in Australia on the anniversary of Kristallnacht
fill me with foreboding.

what can i do about this? not a great deal
except
continue to live life to the best of my ability
continue to be care-full for my fellow humans
continue to hold true to the path that has been given me

now, i am surer than ever
that bending my work to the poetics of place
paying attention to being present, in 'being (t)here' as a way of life
rather than simply teaching "how to print leaves onto things"
is the way i must go.

yes, it means continuing to fly about in planes (windsurfing takes too long and my journals get wet) but that also means planting more trees at home to mitigate my share in the emissions
and because so many of you have kindly told me, both to my face, in emails, and increasingly in beautiful hand-written letters
that giving yourself the gift of time
(in a place that is not necessarily home)
to explore the small wonders of the whirled
through dyeing, drawing and writing
has made life better and richer for you,
i plan to continue doing this work.

because it gives me hope, too.

this past month i wandered to the remote western isles of Scotland
found deep magic there
took time to re-examine aspects of what i offer in 'being (t)here'
sat on the wild hillside and sang aloud
walked barefoot in the cold waters and refreshed my soul
brewed dye samples from gatherings around me

and thought about the return to my beloved Bay in February.
decided to make it smaller, more intimate
and to give the participants and even more beautiful collection
of things to work with, to experience and to take away with them

there will only be spaces for seven people this time
working with me, being fed by our chef (my daughter) Violette, and being guided in Yoga and breathing by my friend Shelley Boles

three places are already reserved.

please contact me here if you'd like more information

i'm also returning to New Mexico in 2017....in the spring and in the fall

and now, if you've made it to the bottom of the page, give yourself a beautiful moment. take a deep breath. look deep into the heart of a flower.

being there by the Bay (and some paeonies)

last week i helped my Ma to tick something off her bucket list.

last night i decided to tick something off my own.

Ma was keen to see paeonies blooming in abundance in lovely Aotearoa (so was i, quite frankly). so we went.

it was absolutely wonderful, but more of that later on.

the thing i'm ticking off my bucket list, is a workshop in San Francisco

as those of you who know me are aware

though i have been utterly and irrevocably in love with San Francisco since 1976 

(i love you too, New Orleans, you know that...but only since 1983) 

i have avoided giving a class there and kept the Bay area as a kind of sacred space.

now i have decided to be generous and share my love. it is time.

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the poetics of place : being (t)here on the Bay

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Join me in one of my favourite places in the whirled, for three delightful days exploring the exquisite poetry of plant-derived colour on paper and cloth.

We will gather leaves and words, make experiential drawings, print and dye paper and cloth and explore the translation of drawn marks into stitch. From these investigations we will form a series of beautiful folded books that will map our experience of place and through our understanding of landscape we develop a deeper familiarity with our selves.

The lapping waters of San Francisco Bay, the cries of the waterbirds and the splashings of the seals will combine to make songs for our hearts and provide background music to colour our readings.  

 As usual there will be good food, wine and chocolate. I am carefully curating a lovely collection of materials so you won't need to bring a thing other than some comfy walking shoes, "clothing that doesn't matter" and a cheery smile.

there'll only be nine places. keeping it small and intimate so that i am able to spend time with you all.

please email me for for detailed information

mail[at]indiaflint.com

and now back to those paeonies.

they were utterly glorious.

 my Ma having a fine old time

 there's nothing quite like a G+T while prone in the paeonies

and if you really truly love them

you can buy this farm

i've been tossed a beautiful bouquet!

just as I was thinking I'd have a quiet and cold July at home between exhibitions (in the UK and the USA) and taking up my residency at the Arid Lands Botanic Gardens...I was tossed a beautiful and fragrant bouquet in the form of an invitation to teach at the organic flower farm tended by Raquel Trejo and her partner Andrew at Scotts Head on the mid-north NSW coast.

Raquel has been my student several times, both in Australia and in New Zealand. I immediately said yes "so long as I am given a leave pass from the farm". Happily that pass has been issued 

so it is with great joy and delight that I am able to tell you there will be a 'being (t)here' retreat here in Australia in July 2016.  details below, in Raquel's poetic language...I should mention that the being (t)here class to be held at Beautiful Silks in November 2016 filled by word of mouth before it had been published to the whirled, so if you're interested, do please drop Raquel a line sooner rather than later

being (t)here

Mid North Coast, NSW,  Australia

July 2016

Journey with India Flint to a place where beauty is part of simple living and living is simply beautiful.  Spend five days being (t)here, on a little biodynamic farm, on a river, by the beach. Explore by thought and by foot the forest and the farmland of this stunning part of the mid north coast of New South Wales where the rivers wander to the sea.

Meander with India in cloth, stitch and locally gathered plant dyes on a country lane of drawing, writing, mark-making and paper-folding, to make a small and intricate workbook mapping the journey of time shared, a hand stitched cloth to enfold it, and a hand twined cord to wrap around it.

Contemplate the honesty of country life with the making and stitching of an apron, thrifted from an old shirt, with pockets for books and poems and places to tell stories, and a tsunobukuro bag to keep it safe.

There will be music and silence, poetry and times of deep listening, experiential drawing and the gathering of gorgeous nothings. Be nourished by our biodynamic vegetables fresh from the farm gardens, home baked and raw treats (with occasional tastes of real Mexico) provided by your host Raquel, and India will share her love of cooking by making a pot of soup for lunch each day.

“Turn on, tune in, drop out “ with India in an intensive masterclass focused on the deep experience of being (t)here. Places are exquisitely limited.

Dates: July 18th to 22nd, 2016

Venue: 923 Scotts Head Road, Scotts Head, NSW 2447

trejora[at]gmail.com 

this one's for you, Ma

one of the things I love to do in New York is get up earlyish and totter across to the Chelsea Flower Market

it's a visual delight and the fragrances are intoxicating - i wish this could be a scratch-and-sniff post

and then the contents of the gutters had me wishing for a dyepot

the year to come (and where to find me)

I’m sitting at my table here in France writing while at the distant edge of the fields the sun is beginning to think about rising. Outside a lone bird witters away to itself and about twenty big paces away from my window a brook continues its mad rush over the rocks. Today is day four of our class here – past students will know what that means. Time to bring out the chocolate!

It’s a good time of year to be dyeing in Europe. Elderberries and blackberries are ripening in the hedgerows. The first walnuts are almost within reach. The last of the St John’s Wort, that ubiquitous little yellow flower that rewards us so beautifully in the dyepot, lingers along the roadsides. Evenings are long and soft, washed clean by the occasional rainstorm.

The St John’s Wort reminds me that a few places still remain available in the two retreats that will be held in Mansfield, Victoria, Australia this year....both are limited to nine participants and are one-of-a-kind events unlikely to be repeated elsewhere.

November 9-12 'bloomin lovely' making beautifully dyed, hand-sewn bloomers, slips, scanties and undies 

November 14-17 'spring sewing circle', working on your own project with guidance from me (and support from the rest of the sewing circle – always a source of much wisdom, not to mention a good deal of laughter)

You’ll be supplied with delicious lunches, wine, fruit, chocolate and a package of useful treasures to supplement the materials you’ll want to bring. We’ll work in the light-filled garden studio at Crockett Cottage and gather our dye materials from the abundant eucalypts in the district. Poetry and drawing will add further richness to our days. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the odd small book didn’t appear and dive into the dyepot as well!

2016 is shaping to be a very full year for me with two solo exhibitions (USA and UK), a residency at the Arid Lands Botanic Garden in Port Augusta (South Australia), a tour of New Mexico, workshops in Canada and the USA, a return visit to bonny Scotland AND my mother’s 80^th birthday – so these (and the two classes at Beautiful Silks Botanical Studio) will be my last workshops in Victoria for the foreseeable future.

And why did St John’s Wort remind me?

Because most years the Mansfield district has an abundance of it. In Australia it’s a noxious weed and can be gathered with impunity, whereas in Europe it's a wildflower that I gather either with permission on private land OR when it is clear that it is about to be mown from the roadside

Please drop me a line though the contact page here if you think you might like to give yourself the reward of a retreat to Mansfield in November. I think it will be a very fine time indeed.

happy wanderer

You know you're working in a good place when neighbourhood dogs swing by for a quiet word with the house pups and are welcome to hang out together in the sunshine for a while

I've been made welcome too and am being pampered within an inch of my life. 

Our outdoor studio is just beautiful. 

Each afternoon the pot goes on the fire

In the mornings I step out (carefully) into fields of flowers

My grandmother would have loved the dandelion patch below. She used the flowers for champagne, the leaves in salad and made ersatz coffee from the roots

We are making exquisite bundles

And above our heads

notes about dyeing with plants

flutter like prayerflags in the breeze

I'm counting my blessings today

grateful that my work takes me to magical places like this

(and so very happy to be so wonderfully hosted by Hilary, John, Binou and Diva)

fieldnotes

as I walked to the Bywater yesterday evening

for the opening of my exhibition

fieldnotes

I heard music coming from this house

somebody was practising the Bach piece that my father played every night when he came home from his work at the university

as a child I lived to sit under the piano to be enveloped in the music

This evening I had to be content with standing on the street

Thank you everybody who came last night

I had no idea I had so many friends in New Orleans!

And thank you NOCCA and particularly my friend Nikki Jackson for the exhibition opportunity 

thank you too, to my friend Shelley for simply being. 

Thank you Frank from the Joan Mitchell Center for schlepping in my "twig" collection (and going back for another load)

and also the JMC for once again hosting me here in beautiful New Orleans 

And thankyou Christine

for sending me beautiful fragrant flowers 

an unexpected joy. 

,,,sorry about the lack of links, I shall fix that when I arrive home in a few days. Haven't quite worked out how to do that on the Batfone !

Magnolia heaven

New Orleans is known for her magnolias

usually though, we think of the evergreen kind

the appropriately named grandiflora

this is the first time in all my wanderings that I've been here in spring

and it's simply glorious