I've been on a roll hand painting silk during these lovely hot days. I took a 6 year fiber artist break so it feels good to be whirling colour into magic on our front lawn. The last couple of months I've dedicated to learn how to use two types of silk dyes and various techniques. It has been very rewarding, very messy but I plan to market not just silk scarves, but other interesting creations. (shirts, camisoles, sarongs, yardage etc.)
Wandering barefoot between pots of dyes in a hot country just warms my heart, reminds me of my long history (studying batik in Indonesia, doing jungle fern prints in Costa Rica and selling them locally, climbing a mountain in Tahiti where the ferns were so tall they were over my head. Then gathering a myriad of different Tahitian ferns I had never seen before. I printed cloth by the South Pacific where I met a talented Japanese photographer who I taught the process. His results were inspirational!
I love walking barefoot around dye pots, and even don't mind this unexpected heat wave. I seem to be solar powered. There is a breeze in the afternoon, the house is always cool, birdsong and tropical flowers fill our senses.
We had a lovely break today above the lake where we swim for up to an hour beneath the palm fronds. It felt like a holiday as I've been a bit obsessed with (work) production, learning, and experimenting. I hope to set up some kind of studio back home and try lots of other methods.
It is our last week and we celebrate Ivan's 85th Birthday on April 8 at Vive Mexico. I have been sorting and packing and closing up this casa that we have adopted (or did it adopt us?). We even have a borrowed cat named Alibaba who will move to Livier and Verner's place. He provides endless hours of amusement and entertainment and he is a whole lot healthier than when he appeared. (ferile and starving)
Hope spring is coming to the Sunshine Coast day by day and that everyone everywhere is doing well.
We arrive home on April 13 if all our flight connections work out:)
I look forward to being with family and friends, hiking and completing my course at VCC during the next series of months.
Evi
