BirdBrain Designs

new Luna and 4 Jan bags

March 2, 2013 by Birdbrain 1 Comment

One of the best ways for me to process a significant experience is to throw myself into the activity of ‘making’. I learned last year that a month in Kenya, living alongside the people there — not travelling to and looking at — but living with them, is a marvellous gift. But it is a gift that takes time to process and then from there to take action. I’ve learned that I do my best processing when I am involved in making something. I’ve been sketching from the photos I took while there. I love the elegance of the women as they go about their daily chores and I am trying to capture that in my sketches. And I’ve been in the studio working with some leather and evocative pieces of cotton. For me, the leather and lining of each bag tell a story. The leather has had a former life–and the lining evokes the day, the place and the emotion surrounding its purchase or creation. Heavy freight for a bag you throw your wallet and your lunch in? Yes, maybe. But it is where my mind goes when I am making and how I work the memories and the plans into the texture of my days.

Below is the Bondo Luna bag made from 2 remnants of pebbly chocolate leather and a small piece of the Montreal black biker leather pants. Inside is the cotton fabric bought in the Bondo market. The colours are the colours of Bondo. The bag is 13″x12″x4″ with an adjustable shoulder strap, two interior leather pockets and a zipper closing.

And then I have been making some small shoulder bags out of various pieces of recycled leather. These measure approximately 6″x6″ with a shoulder strap of 43″. They have a pocket both outside and inside and a snap closure. Update March 4: the turquoise and black bags are sold.

And again, the lining tells its story…

holding my breath

February 28, 2013 by Birdbrain 1 Comment

These are the lively and crowded streets of Bondo, Kenya. This town is 7km from Matangwe where I taught school and rug hooking for a month and over 60 km from Kisumu, the third largest city in Kenya. I loved visiting Bondo — the market was full of activity with vendors selling produce and other goods. In the last post I shared pictures of the booths which lined the street with women (and a few men) sewing on treadle machines. The food market had any locally grown produce you could wish for — if you could afford it.

However, it only took a second for the bustling, lively shoppers to become a huge crowd blocking all traffic on the highway when a string of trucks and vans pulled into town with one of the ODM candidates. The candidate had a loud speaker system and he brought the crowd to cheers and jeers within minutes. It felt like it wouldn’t take much for this huge crowd to become a mob.

And now as it comes closer to March 4, election day, reports in the press of potential violence are becoming more frequent. No one wants a repeat of the violence of 2007. But I am holding my breath, worried about my friends as they face this event. The schools are closed for a week for the election. Let us all hope that the children and teachers can return to school next week unharmed by the corruption and violence that characterized the last election.

kenyan fabric finds

February 24, 2013 by Birdbrain 3 Comments

I love East African fabric. The women often wear several different pieces–on their heads, over their shoulders, tied as a baby carrier and worn as an overskirt. They are mesmerizingly beautiful as they walk or work in groups of colour. The large square pieces of fabric are called Leso, pieces of colour and design I was hoping to find.

The market in Bondo is filled with merchants offering an array of food and goods, including women in stalls working on treadle machines, surrounded by fabric. You can have an outfit designed and made especially for you and this is what many of the local women do. I am told that the top place to buy fabric is in Busia, on the border with Uganda, where the prices and selection are the best. But since the Ugandan officials wanted $50 for me to pass into their country for a couple of hours, I missed this chance. However, the Bondo market had lots of fabric to make up for my loss. Below are the seamstresses, each delighted to have her photo taken and show off her wares. Although they would have preferred to sew a dress for me, they happily sold me some fabric which comes in 3 meter pieces.

We also went to the Kibuye market in Kisumu, one of the biggest markets in Kenya. This is definitely more crowded and much dirtier than the Bondo market–and it is best to be accompanied there by someone who knows the terrain and the customs. It is a daunting place, but I had been last year and we were able to find the fabric stall once again. You can see the selection in the third picture. The prices here were lower than in Bondo and the choice greater. In the last picture are some of the pieces which I bought or were given to me–batiks and other lovely prints.

However, it was not until Nairobi that I found the Lesos I wanted. The Lesos are a bordered fabric and often have a Swahili saying on them. They young man I purchased them from patiently translated each one for me so that I would be sure to be purchasing something appropriate. The purple one pictured here says Love is like a flower; water it and watch it grow. Now who wouldn’t feel happy sporting that pleasant thought? The other messages were less romantic–the second purple Leso says, Trust a person’s actions, not his words. A sobering reminder, amid the colour and design.

Kenya report #4: the ultimate hooking class

February 22, 2013 by Birdbrain 2 Comments

My time in Matangwe, Kenya is over for another year. It was a rich time, a time of learning and teaching. I was delighted with the response of the young women to the idea of hooking mats. We met every afternoon at the Community Centre and the group had grown to 11 by the time I had to leave. Of course, in many ways we were just getting started. It’s one thing to learn how to pull loops, (a challenge in itself using hand cut t-shirts with no frame), but learning the level of quality required for selling takes longer. But that said, I came home with several pieces for sale and I left them all with additional pieces of burlap and plans for new mats. I am already friends with one of them on Face Book! I am hopeful that our connection and hooking production will grow.

Above is a picture of Alice, with the three pieces she designed and hooked. Below is Catherine, a new student who joined us the last week, being shown the techniques by Daisy. This is an example of the generous attitude which I met everyday and which made teaching this class so enjoyable. The afternoons were filled with laughter, but it was the underlying sense of mutual acceptance and support which was truly instructive. There is much to learn here.Below is Catherine’s piece after just one day, and the next day she brought it completed and ready for a trip to Canada.And here are some of the final pieces which I brought home with me.

Hooking progress: Kenya report #3

February 3, 2013 by Birdbrain 6 Comments

The hooking group is making great progress. Some are working on their second and third projects. We are runnimg out of t-shirts so they are bringing material from home. And we have found big rolls of jersey in dark colours in the supply cupboard. This will be great for backgrounds–and every rug hooker knows it is a comfort to have enough background.

Last week two groups of elementary students came to see what we are doing. The young women were so helpful teaching the children and the two teachers got a chance to try their hand at hooking. All the donated hooks were in use! It was a delight to watch.

the colours of Matangwe: Kenya report #2

January 31, 2013 by Birdbrain 3 Comments

Work on the new school continues and in the meantime some of the students are in tents and some under the trees. We had a big storm yesterday and everyone ran for cover. No one complained–in this very dry country every drop of rain is appreciated.

first Kenya report

January 27, 2013 by Birdbrain 7 Comments

It is the end of my first week in Kenya. This year I got a sim card for my ipad so can keep in touch right from the village. I have been teaching a class of 60 grade 7 students with Jackie, my last year’s teaching partner who is filling in on her break from university. Those of you who are supporting her will be happy to know she is doing very well.

The first photo shows that the new school is well in its way to completion. But for now students are in the older building, under tents and outside under the trees. Here are the grade sevens getting ready to answer their letters from Park Dale.

In the afternoons I am working with a group of young women and we are hooking with t-shirts. They are very interested and making great progress.

They have drawn their own patterns and are making small trivets. We have no frames or cutters, but their progress is amazing.

The days are full, but I will write again soon.

leaving for Africa

January 18, 2013 by Birdbrain 2 Comments

I have my bags packed to the limits with school and hooking supplies–and also my sketching gear–a new moleskine, my paints and three fountain pens filled with Noodler’s bullet proof. I’ve decided that is my favourite way to sketch–straight to the page in ink, no sceond-guessing. It is such an amazing place I am returning to. I am so excited to be in that community again. There is much I hope to do. But I will also take time to capture this very different world in my notebook–and share it with you. That you for all your good wishes both on the blog and by email. Stay tuned for updates.

Christine

ps It’s the best when I do get to a computer to find an email from home!

t-shirt houses

January 16, 2013 by Birdbrain 4 Comments

Amidst the getting ready, I am hooking houses. T-shirt houses. This is a totally new medium for me. It has taken me a while to figure out the optimum width–and the general answer is that narrower is better–easier on the wrist and neater loops. But that said, each t-shirt has its own properties, its own heft and stretchiness, and needs to be tried out first. You can see that I have not made too much progress. That is because I have pulled lots out–to recut, to find a more suitable colour, to rethink. I actually really like t-shirts and am learning how to work with them. But they are not wool. They don’t come in subtle colours and interesting textures. They are for the most part bright and solid. And they don’t rip like wool. At all. Many have to be cut, painstakingly. If you are lucky they rip easily, and I have found the best t-shirts are the ones without side seams which rip around and around, like peeling an orange.

All this is because I am preparing to teach hooking in Kenya. Many thanks to all the local rug hookers who have donated burlap, hooks and t-shirts. We will have lots for our first project–and from there we will see how it goes. How wonderful it would be for the women to start a small business making mats and bags. Right now it is a dream…I will keep you posted.

thoughts before going away

January 13, 2013 by Birdbrain Leave a Comment

This illustration is from Larry Smith’s Ted Book, a collection of six-word memoirs by students. I love the graphics of this one by Elizabeth Kay Oh–the colour blocks and the pen and ink girl whose wide eye gives all the expression needed–and I love the reminder. Things don’t have to be complicated. She seems to be reading a map, temporarily stopped, but prepared to move forward in spite of complications. Check out some of the other 6-word memoirs through the link–it’s contagious! Smith now has me composing one of my own.

I am enjoying the computer today, as I read my own maps and prepare for the trip ahead. I am going to rural Kenya where I will be without connection for much of the time. It makes me realize how accustomed I am to checking ‘my’ sites, staying in touch with those online places I value for news and ideas and inspiration. I’ve been downloading a few podcats and some music but mostly I plan to go without, immersing myself in a different space and time, absorbing the life and the lessons there. So after this week, blog additions will be from sporadic to non-existent. But I promise to write when I can and fill in the details when I get home. I still have a little bit more to say this week before I go. In the meantime, here is another blog to check out. You may find some inspiration and if you have time, click on Saori Weaving and read that too!