Silk Road to Palmyra

Thank you for all the kind comments about my village scene quilt. I think it will be alright to exhibit and fit in with the other work.

I have shown a photo of this quilt before- showing just the foiling on the lutradur and the damascen silk strip. I decided it needed hand stitching in the lighter acqua/turquiose areas but I had been waiting on silk threads- can't make a quilt about a silk road destination and not have silk thread! I did do some hand stitching awhile ago but it is very densely stitched so it takes time to have anything to show. ( I will pull out the darker hand stitched area- as i think i will place some printing of aramaic writing in those areas- to suggeest the layers of the ruins in Palmyra- roman and aramaic) I took some photos of inscriptions on an aramaic tomb- the writing was really dense and textural and very ornamental.

I seem to have caught a dratted cold- so hand stitching is just the right activity- sitting in a warm room. My sewing machine seems to have developed a cold too- it is refusing to co-operate today , so back to more hand stitching.

And it's official- I will in the future be co-leading some creative arts tours for Creative Arts- i am really excited about this as their ideas and philosophy coalesce with so many of my own. This is the blurb I had to put in about why I do what i do;

I had to provide a bit of a travel CV:
Languages;Fluent in Dutch, some French ,German and Italian.
Travels1989- travels in Europe
1990- 6months of travels through Egypt, Africa ( Kenya to Morocco-through Tanzania, Burundi, Congo, Central African republic, Cameroun,Nigeria, Niger, Alegeria and Morocco) 6 months of travels throughoutEurope.
2000 Three month residency at Chateau de Chassy near Chateau Chinonin the Morvan region of France ( side trip to Italy)
2000-2008 regular trips to Europe for teaching purposes and exhibitionpurposes ( usually twice a year) focusing on France and theNetherlands.
2006- travels in Egypt and Syria, United Arab Emirates , Kuwait (with my 14 year old daughter-9 weeks)
2007- travels in Syria ( with my 11 year old daughter)- 4 weeks

Who I am and what i do:
A life in pursuit of textiles, travel and adventure, with the odd doseof good food and enjoying the ambience of place sums up my passions-ohh and books. I am a practising textile artist, enthralled by the possibilities of textile, the history of textile and its cultural imperatives- to understand the maker, know what their hands know and delight in the visual dance of colour, line and texture.
I teach creative textile courses embracing many facets of textile practice and am much inpsired by the textile culture of third world countries. Once textiles inspired the great caravan routes thattraversed the known lands , silk spoke of richness and wealth, courts employed artisans to create fine embroideries in threads of gold andsilk, and india printed fabrics were forbidden in the courts ofeurope under threat of death. This rich and exotic history still exists- largely shunned by " industrialised" west which has seen the maker separated from their creation.It is my aim to revere the practises that still exist, to make textile a rich experience in daily life.


Books that will inspire the journey ( Syria); all listed on my favourite book website Book Depository

Come, Tell Me How You Live: An Archaeological MemoirAgatha Christie
Edition: New ed
It is little known that Agatha Christie's husband Max Mellor was aninspired archeologist who spent some considerable time in Syria asdid Christie in often inhspitable conditions.

Monuments Of Syria: A Historical Guide This book is a must for anyone is interested in archeological sitesand the wonderful monuments and ancient sites still in existence inSyria. Burns was a diplomat in Syria and fell in love with the place

Damascus: A History Ross Burns


Samarkand Amin Maalouf Edition: New ed

Amin Maalouf writes in French and has won the prestigious PrixGoncourt and even in translation his books are wonderful tales of apast and glorious history . Samarkand follows the very eventful life of Omar Kayyam ( lived around 1207 and reputed to have been a tentmaker by trade) author of the Rubayyait which he was ordered to write in a blank book as punishment for intrigue against the sultan

Balthasar's Odyssey Amin Maalouf Edition: New ed
Another kind of journey in pursuit of a rare and old book TheHundreth Name through Syrian and Turkish lands to Lond on and back.

My Name Is Red Orhan PamukEdition: New ed


Snow Orhan Pamuk

Istanbul: Memories Of A City Orhan Pamuk

Embroidery From Palestine (fabric Folios) Shelagh Weir

From The Holy Mountain: A Journey In The Shadow Of Byzantium William Dalrymple