remembering to breathe

bother

the class in the Forest of Dean had filled nicely and i foolishly thought all was well
and then my friend and organiser
Sally Stafford kindly inspected the Festival website with a view to attending the performance of
Breathe
[which was my reason for coming to the UK in the first place]
and found
the dates had changed from those i had been told

so there's been an enormous muck up
and a number of people have been inconvenienced
and i am very sorry

but there may be someone out there who would have preferred to attend on August 27,28,29

i hope so.
trying to remember to breathe.

in quiet retreat

it is time for quiet retreat in the cool of the Deep South
a time for wordlessness and mindfulness in the season of mist and fog
preparing for summer days in various parts of the North

and of course for the Natural Dye Symposium taking place in Melbourne [AUS] in a little over a month's time [where i think a couple of places remain available in the classes i have been assigned]

the class planned for Santa Barbara [USA]
has filled, as have those in Cleveland [USA] in the Fall

the class in London seems to be getting some interest [despite a certain large sporting event vying for attention] and there's a possibility of two days in France early in September...pencilled but not permanently inked at this stage

so i have some things to think about
materials to gather
marks to make on paper
and marmalade stains to apply to maps

draped in fur

after some hours happily stitching inflight
and then a couple more spent chugging through the ranges
in the Red Terror [otherwise known as the Farm Ute]
i am home again
draped in welcoming cats and consuming quantities of honey-sweetened tea

having enjoyed eleven or so blessed days in paradise

all colours derived from locally gathered plant material - including windfalls, garden prunings and the dessicated contents of a vase

with grateful thanks to the keepers of this blessed garden.

ontrack in the wide brown land

it's been a while, but
i have been enjoying gentle wanderings in very good company in this beautiful Wide Brown Land

along with my friend r
who kindly spent two days stoking the fire under this marvellous cauldron

and who took the photo below as proof of the pudding [the workshop was held in the building second from the right in the distance]

the group shared splendid lunches [** a hint of turnip/swede in one of the delicious soups took me straight back to a similarly warm and friendly workshop at Gore NZ some years back. KiaOra in case any of you are reading this!!]

we enjoyed much laughter and story-telling, joyful singing and lots of bundling

wonderful colours were produced

and did i mention the Prickly Bears? sometimes Cochineal insects can be found on them...

on a less pleasant note...short-sighted politicians and mining companies have a plan to dig up this magnificent piece of country, literally the food bowl for the region, in order to flog the coal for short-term gain. sure there might be a few jobs for the next decade or so, but after that it will be a desert. the soil here is like chocolate cake. it's been built up over millions of years and will not easily be restored if the carnage goes ahead.

lastly for those of you nibbled from your sleep by kittens at dawn on Sunday May 13 and in need of something to put you back to sleep
a link to Radio National's small soundbite from yours truly

moon, stones

siLverLiniNgs

 Warrnambool TAFE have cancelled their May workshop with me [with only three and a half weeks notice...hmmm] - this means that the only other opportunities Australians will have to take part in a class with me on home turf this year will be at the Natural Dye Symposium in Melbourne next month.

shall be taking those trusty boots to the US [twice], the UK and likely also France in the second half of the year

i'm teaching a class at the wonderful Geelong Forum in September[class full, thank you] but there are places left with other [and excellent] tutors. click on the link to find them...

and the sparkling silver lining in that cancellation is that i can get my garden in shape for some filming in June and make new work for an exhibition in Cleveland, Ohio for October. a door slams...windows fly open!!!

making tracks

these are my besties.
wool socks knitted by Jo of Aotearoa's South Island
and nine-lives boots acquired circa 2005
that have been around the whirled a few times
and up and down a few hills
wandered along lakesides
and through quiet woods

today i picked them up from the boot hospital
aka Roberto The Cobbler who has been mending my footwear
for some thirty years, bless him

this time he sewed on a few more leather patches
gave them tough thick rubber souls
and new heels [time wounds all heels]
ready for the stairways of San Francisco
later this year

but for now
my boots and me are off for a while
out into the whirled up north
where the dust is red
the mopoke calls
and the stars hang low at night

more thoughts on careering wildly

thank you everybody for your contributions to the discussion in the previous post. I hope the Lamb has found information of use there and let me say it was never my intent to be callous, sarcastic or hurtful in my answers, merely as honest as i could be.

it occurred to me that i should have included more in my answer. eg that my income is not derived entirely from simply colouring cloth
but from a number of sources

it is important to distribute the eggs between several baskets
in case you trip up
in my case it means writing books and articles [most of these don't pay, Handeye bless them, DO]
making costumes for dance
teaching classes in dyeing cloth/paper , felt-making, stitch, garment re-construction, pieced cloth
or various combinations
taking the odd dress commission [but only from people i feel empathy with, otherwise it's too hard for me to make something that will work]
and in between finding time to 

i do teach a lot.
teaching is the main source of keeping body and soul together.
to keep the teaching fresh
no class is ever exactly repeated
the topic may be similar
but there will always be something [at least] a little different
otherwise
i might speedily find myself confined to social nutworking in a secure facility
luckily
the kind of work i do
seems to attract interesting people
with whom it is a pleasure to spend time
and
plants and water are different around the whirled
which means there is always something new for me to learn as well

i noted among the comments to the earlier post
mention of health insurance, long service leave etc.
these benefits do not attach to this particular sole practitioner
on the other hand
i don't have to ask for permission
if i suddenly decide that pouring walnut dye onto a piece of organic cotton canvas in a motel carpark on the California coast is the best way to spend that particular morning

i noted also that one contributor mentioned she had found her soulmate early on and that the soulmate made it possible for her to chase her dreams
she's one of the Lucky Ones
i've met quite a few folk whose Significant Other is happy to be a Patron of the Arts.
guess the other option is to chain your soul to an educational institution in the hope of the security of tenure
but then
you also have to do the Devil's Work
administration / marking / constant justification of you being there / sucking up to people you might not otherwise want to give the time of day

as a friend of mine [who sadly drank himself to death in his 39th year*]
once said
"life is a rich tapestry
of loose ends"

*Christine's comment to the earlier post about a life on anti-depressants strikes firmly home here

by request

firstly this is for Samm cos she asked how the flotsam dress worked [see previous post]
hope the scribbles make sense, adjust sizes of bits to fit own body
[hint - measuring with a piece of string much better than using a tape-measure]


and then in answer to another request which arrived as follows [published with original spelling but name removed] :

...I am about to graduate from college and I was hoping that I could email you a few questions because I am really interesting in your chosen occupation and want to know what to expect...

 to which i initially responded :

To be honest I never had a career plan other than architecture but shall do best to answer queries as long as you don't expect an essay! 

I'm curious about the phrase "what to expect". I have few expectations and so find that I go through life being pleasantly surprised. 

and then came the reply [my answers are in green]

I was just wondering about simple questions like what do you do on a typical day at work. Do you find the work repetitive or is it different every day. it is different every day. thank goodness.  

How long does it take you to die [um i'm hoping you mean "dye"] the material [oh thank goodness, you were referring to cloth. i'm not ready for the other yet] and then begin designing your clothing? i make the object first and then dye it. it could take a couple of days, or six months or a year  

What kind of work can I do beforehand to be successful at finding sustainable plant dyes and making clothing designs? be curious about everything. it helps if you treat it as play rather than work 

Would you recommend any type of classes or something that will make a person ready to start creating dyes besides reading your book? yes, mine. or Tracy Willans'. or Roz Hawker's. or Nalda Searles'. 

Do you plan out your own designs before you begin with the dye or is it purely experimental? depends on the project  

What kind of salary do you make if you are just beginning in your field. wondering if this question is a joke. i have never had a salary in this field. even now after over twenty-five years professional experience i barely end up with a profit. but i have enough and that is all that matters 

Is there anything really good or bad about your job that persuaded you to start besides being really good for the environment? i didn't choose my field of work just for the environment. i do this because i cannot "not" do it. it's called a passion. if you don't have it, don't do it. that goes for anything.  

Do you have any advice for people that want to follow in your footsteps? see previous answer. and it's better to make your own footsteps [people walk at different rhythms. try walking in someone's footprints on the beach sometime. can be tricky.] 

 Is there a lot of demand in what you do or is it very difficult to start? it takes 100% of me and then some. that's what makes it fun.