longing(be)longing

two places have become available in the only fully residential retreat I will be leading this year, in beautiful Bretagne - Brittany, on the shining edge of the shimmering Atlantic Ocean.

this is one of the thin places of the whirled, where it feels as if you could easily step from this one to the next. 

the layers of history are dense and complex :: at our accommodation there is a fig tree with a girth so big it seems as though it could have been planted by a returning crusader

at the foot of the garden there is a path winding down to a burbling stream that wanders through a faerie-tale forest, the kind in which you expect to see unicorns leaping lightly over fallen logs or to find a strand of Melisande's hair

our workshop is called 'longing(be)longing' and will take us deeply into the investigation of the poetics of this place, one that seems to allow us to see further, hear more clearly and feel more deeply.

time slows in this place.

we will be hand stitching and dyeing, making a journal and capturing poetry as it drifts in on the breeze.

all meals are provided by our chef Geraldine (a specialist in mindful eating)

and at night, the Atlantic Ocean will sing you to sleep.

does this sound like something you need?

please contact Claire des Bruyeres to secure your place.

blue seas blue skies blue daze

from Mukilteo i took the ferry to Whidbey Island

and discovered

to my great delight

that our studio space was positioned in a most romantic place

Camp Casey

on the coast, by the Salish Sea

with a forest behind

and remarkable fortifications to explore

the buildings were spare and beautiful, white walls, wooden floors

and with a room above the studio that we could use for installations, poetry readings, the occasional dance...and a good space in which to practice my lovely Native American flute

the beach proved a marvellous studio space as well
and falling leaves from the forest behind coloured cloth as well as paper


and such beautiful stones


from Whidbey I came to Vancouver, which seems to be a city of stone stackers

at Maiwa East we worked on our aprons, wrote poetry, received the blessing of blue

and made string

some of the string found itself transformed

and all of it became blue in the course of time

eucalypts, as ever, seem to be incurably fascinating, and a student was very happy with her work (below)

especially when combined with local colour

in our class at Maiwa we had a songbird
here's one of the songs she sang for us (or rather, to the indigo vats)
unaccompanied and with the voice of an angel
and may i say
her version eclipsed the original, and the Sarah Mc Lachlan cover

i'll be on my way home soon
dreaming blue dreams way up in the sky

in the air and on the ground

silkymerino rolls looking much like bread dough

 last week i followed an old marmalade stain on the map

and found myself back at lovely Glenmore House

it had been a long day so i was particularly happy to be lulled to sleep

by the scent of my favourite jasmine [polyanthemum]

thoughtfully placed in my room by Mickey, bless her

a sniff and a whiff of that particular flower and i am seventeen again

at least

on the inside

we had a glorious sunshiny bluesky day for our "heart and hand intensive" 

botanical alchemy workshop

during which i was so busy that i hardly managed to take pictures

fortunately Mickey [and Alex the kindly gardener]

took lots. you can find them here

i did manage a happy snap of the cumquat icecream and rhubarb compote

swoonworthy deliciousness. 

and of our cooking fire

had there been time we would have stitched the glowing morsels [below]

into tsunobukuro bags

but by 4pm everyone was worn out

the next morning i prised myself out of bed
and hit the road for Tamworth
where I had been invited to come and inspect the gallery
prior to my exhibition there in December
the plan was to arrive on Friday evening, in time for the opening
of the 2nd Tamworth Textile Triennial

unfortunately
the inadvertent slashing of a tyre
caused by avoiding a close encounter of the unpleasant kind
with another motor vehicle
delayed my arrival until well after ceremonies had concluded
it would have been cheaper and faster to fly
even without the added cost of a new tyre
but the four hour wait was good writing time
and the five hour + drive was good thinking time
even if i did have to drink an awful lot of coffee





wandering around Tamworth on Saturday morning
i found a lot of men in hats



a rock from which someone had chipped all the bits that did not look like snake



an old friend far from home
[California poppy in a dry creek bed]



some stones to play with



and some rather too friendly seeds
Bidens pilosa
which had to be individually removed
NOT something i want to take home to the farm
even if they do resemble tiny stitches

after i had picked my dress clean
and had some breakfast i betook myself to the gallery



my favourite among the works in the Triennial
was that of Ilka White



the work below, by Gillian Lavery
based on a simple premise
of timed daily sitching
10 minutes with a piece of thread that measured from her
mouth to her belly button and back
needle in, needle out
breath in and breath out



every day for one calendar year
remarkable in its dedication and execution

there were others too
that i would have liked to have shown here
[but did not want to embroil myself in Viscopy issues]
including Kate Campbell-Pope
whom i had last encountered when we were together in the 'Seven Sisters' exhibition curated by Kevin Murray in 2004

it is an exhibition well worth seeing...and as it is touring Australia for the next couple of years many red island readers stand a good chance of finding it not too far from home.

transported : and a lucky dip

one minute i was in rainy England

the next [well, not quite, more like 1560 minutes later] I was back in rainy South Oz

i flew back on Emirates and while their seat wasn't quite as comfy as Qantas

the food was simply fabulous. best airline fodder ever.

[long haul Delta still does the best cocktails]

you may think these are small things...

not if you are spending 26 hours in transit.

i finally arrived home at about 11 o'clock last night

and after the usual formalities [saying hello to a multitude of furred and unfurred people] tucked myself up with a loudly purring Martha-cat

in the later afternoon today the sun came out and so i pulled on the wellies

for a plod about my favourite paddock

 stacked a few stones

[you can't tell in the picture, but the stones of home are sparkly]

 found the soak to be full [small happy dance]

 enjoyed the setting sun

and the rising moon

and then i had a very good idea

if those of you who purchase the bundle book

[and those who have already bought it]

email me a copy of your receipt

then

i will make a lucky dip

choose three names from a tsunobukuro bag

and send a hand-embellished ecoprint tsunobukuro bag

to each of those three people

if you happen to mention the book on your blog or facebook

[and send me the link]

you will receive a bonus entry for each separate site on which you do so

entries will only be accepted via this email address

wanderbear[at]gmx[dot]com

the lucky dip closes at sunset on August 3rd 2014, Pacific Ocean time

Leaving the islands behind

I have to say teaching on Whidbey Island was an absolute joy.

Lisa Bernhardt (who runs the Pacific NorthWest Art School) and my wonderful assistant Nita Wester spared no exertion to make it so. 

The island itself reminded me so much of Latvia. Lopez does too (but has lots more hills. I love it. (

We gathered dyes within walking distance of the studio...with the exception of a delightful field trip to Ebey's Landing. 

I feel I've only just begun to discover some of the magic of this gorgeous scattering of jewels in the Salish sea 

We remembered Fred Gerber and his method of analyzing potential mordants

Made sure to avoid the plant that dispatched Socrates

The species name of which - conium maculatum - warns us to watch out for spots

Driftwood came in handy

The ritual continued

And everybody looked after their string

Bless y'all,

I'll be seeing you. Sometime in 2016...