Carpet Weavers in India

The wool yarn is wrapped, knotted & cut in one quick motion.

Naturally dyed yarns from Ibyx goats, sheep and silk worms are used in the carpets.

Dyed skeins are wound into sausage-shaped balls.

The finished carpet is washed with water & salt then left out in the sun to dry for up to 2 weeks.

Paper Makers in Jaipur

We spent a wonderful morning touring Kagzi Industries, paper makers in Jaipur. I was so interested to see the range of papers they made, particularly because I had previously purchased a large amount of their paper from Costco in Canada. Understanding how the paper was made makes it so much more interesting when I work with it.

By the time our tour group was in Jaipur, India was experiencing the coldest temperatures in 40 years. You can see in these images how the paper makers were wrapped in thick shawls, blankets, sweaters & hats to keep warm.

Fresh rose petals are added to the pulp before the sheet is pulled.

This factory makes a vast range of hand made papers and paper products that are exported all over the world.

More Turbans in India

This collection of turbans is in the Cultural Museum in Udaipur. Sorry about the quality of the images. My point 'n' shoot camera couldn't handle the low light or the shiny display cases.

Turbans in India

In India it is amazing what a length of cloth says about it's wearer

Tanvi Kant, Textile Jeweller

Tanvi Kant, a textile jeweller, makes neck art out of old saris having started with one of her mother's. Her parents were born in India but Tanvi has lived all her life in England. We met up with her in Ahmedabad where she was about to begin an 8-week artist residency to develop her designs, meet local crafts people and make connections. It is a UK Art Council programme that plans to develop exchanges with Indian artists & crafts people going to the UK.

We sat on the verandah of the Darbargadh Poshina heritage hotel we were staying in while Tanvi talked about her work and showed us some samples.

Rope making in Patan

Mashru Cloth, Patan, India

Our tour group watched as Mashru cloth was woven with a pit loom

Skeining the hand dyed rayon & cotton thread

The double woven cloth is starched to make it smooth & shiny

Patan Patola, India

I didn't finish telling you about the master weavers who make double ikat silk textiles. Here father and son (an architect) work side by side ...

on a traditional silk sari pattern that they can weave 8" to 9" per day.

This sari took 5 people 6 months to make. No wonder the family members travel all over the world to demonstrate their amazing skill, www.patanpatola.com

McMullen Gallery Artists' Reception

Donna Clement and my artists' reception at the McMullen Gallery on April 24th was most successful. We received lots of positive comments about our work. I feel so good about having work in this particular gallery. It is a special place run by very positive people. It is a refuge from the stress and activity going on in the rest of the hospital. They have a programme called Art on the Ward where patients can request visual and performing artists to visit them at their bedside. While we were conducting a workshop a student came in with a guitar on his back and asked where he should go. A patient had requested to listen to some guitar music and the student was on his way to play for him. A poet stopped by to organise his papers before going onto a ward to read to a patient. People came to the gallery just to sit and look, including staff in their lunch hour. It is a peaceful place.

Textiles in India

Back to my travels in India. I didn't finish telling you about all of the textiley things I saw on my travels. We spent a morning in Patan with the Salvi family who are master weavers of double ikat. The family has been producing these unique silk saris since the 11th century.

The tying of the warp & weft threads is one of the steps in the process of making the textile. It takes 15 years of training to master all 15 steps.

They use natural vegetable dyes on the silk they import from China.

The patola is woven on a primitive hand operated harness loom made out of rosewood & bamboo strips. The loom lies at a slant.

McMullen Gallery, University of Alberta

Early in the morning Donna Clement and I packed the car then headed north to Edmonton to the University of Alberta Hospital Mc Mullen Gallery to install our work.

The large gallery space was daunting as we laid out our work.

But with help of family members we found a place for everything by early evening.

Donna and I will attend the Artists' Reception on April 24th from 7 to 9 pm.

Banff Centre, Artist-In-Residence, Articulation

The conservationist, interpretive guide, author, Benn Gadd, spoke to us one evening ...

...and took us on a walk up the Tunnel Mountain road the next morning.

He told us the Blackfoot tale about why mice try to hide in Douglas-fir cones.