Indian Fun

First of all- update  on Pozible pledges being delivered in France, Europe and the USA: I bulk airshipped books to France for posting to various places from France- I shipped before I left only to be told by the shipper that the books are stuck in customs in Marseilles- this is not unusual but simply means more delay. I am really sorry about this, but they have to pass through customs, so it is an unavoidable necessity and one which is causing more delay. We hope to have them in France this week so we can start posting finally.

The last two weeks in India have simply flown by. So many impressions and lovely experiences, and some creativity thrown into boot at  Creative Arts Safaris creative Camp- which I will share at the end of this post. We saw lots of things , and though I wished I could bring a suitcase of treasure the reality is that my suitcase already was pretty full with books, teaching materials and exhibition pieces, so I have had to be restrained! I did buy some hand made paper from Kadamb hand made papers in Jaipur. The papers are made from cotton t-shirts/jersey knit which has been shredded. This makes lovely paper which  takes stitching as well as water colour and writing- heaven!

So some impressions; people and modes of transport:

The ubiquitous motor-bike, noisy, and apparently you can ride them any where a person can walk- oh a turban helps as do super cool sun glasses!

Elegance in a little back alley in Ajmer!

More elegance whilst churning butter in Fiona's backyard!

And then there is door ways....blue is a favourite colour, and despite rubbish, electricity lines and grotty looking alleys doorways are objects of fascination.

Little shrines in every shop and on every corner- with the smell of incense wafting on the air

And bling- so much bling, that i was overwhelmed and forgot to photograph though I did buy some- peacocks. But the reds are just wonderful and this bling belonged to wedding saris.....Beaded embroidered, silk just over the top bling!

And last but not least. Whilst at the Creative camp I played around with the hand made paper and made a book of sorts. It still needs a cover, but Fiona had given us off cuts from The Stitching Project and the printed fabrics they make in the workshop. We also played around with some of the wood block stamps they have designed at the workshop.  I have both water coloured and stitched the paper and used some of the stitched  off cuts and  used woodblocks to print the paper.